Mircro Economies

This idea is certainly not for everybody. But in price conscious times this might suit some people. And I think there are implications that are even more valuable than that.

Two parts: Get a good sense of your essential items that you always buy, use every day, aren't ever going to give up. Say, coffee, toilet paper, electricity for your house.

Now, part two isn't going to be something that you can do for each item, but perhaps something to consider for things that essential but also special (like coffee, not like toilet paper). Make a deal with your local coffee retailer or grocery where by you do some bit of work that pays for your coffee habit. (Obviously convinced a company that this is a good idea is the hard part.) Think of it like a co-op grocery, where you put in a little work and get a discount on your groceries. But instead it is exact change for a specific item. Maybe you go in and do four hours of work one Saturday a month and that funds your entire coffee habit.

I know this is completely counter intuitive to our economic system, but I'm not all that trusting of our economic system anyways. And I think it would be good to have a more direct connection between the items we buy and the work we do to get them. I mean, at least for a few things, so you can remember more generally that the work you do is in trade for something. Or maybe that's just me.