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Economizing is a Community Mentality (Buy Local, or Bye, Local)

How you can economize by supporting local business.

The definition of economize is: to spend less; reduce one’s expenses. Economizing means: to practice economy; avoid waste or extravagance. Economizing is on everyone’s mind. When it comes to economizing around your home, reducing one’s expenses of home includes heating and cooling, as well as repair or replacement due to hastened degradation by elements or neglect.

A regularly maintained home by a local business supports economizing by keeping your home clean, therefore lowering potential for damage, degradation, and wasted energy. Instead it actually saves you money in the long run by reducing energy costs, repairs, allergens, accidents, and time and money spent endeavouring a more short-sighted plan of DIY. What is more, supporting your local business to clean and maintain your home means you have professionals trained to identify any potential problem areas around your home that might otherwise be missed.

Why support Local Businesses? Local businesses depend on community support to thrive. And these businesses take seriously the responsibility to care for the needs of their community. Such reciprocity feeds the community, keeping it strong and stable, providing jobs and personalized customer care.

Modern, but not Austere: For example, when my husband and I first married we lived across from a modest hardware store, owned and operated by two brothers. It was a delightful little store, the older gentlemen so eager to assist us with any question or issue we had. Sadly, that time came to an end. Replaced by warehouse style stores designed to save you a buck or two, what is gained in square-footage-supply and demand is lost in customer service and knowledge. Most queries for assistance end in blank stares and shrugged shoulders. Maybe it doesn’t seem like a big deal in the midst of the information age, where a few google taps or alexa-proddings get you an instantaneous answer. But here is the tricky part: the broader knowledge of old school trade and service men has been denigrated to an inferiority to plastic and ones and zeros. Now, this requires extra time learning about the issue behind the DIY. If something goes wrong, its back to the drawing board (or google search). This is NOT the definition of economizing, or of avoiding waste.

If that sounds exhausting, we’re here for you. As a local business in the Lehigh Valley, we take pride in providing our customers community support by professional and friendly service, knowing that we, likewise, are supporting other local businesses of the Lehigh Valley. While we use modern equipment, tools, and practices, we won’t sacrifice the old-school-principles of kindness and professionalism. We are your neighbours, after all.

At Grime Fighters, we delight in giving back to our community. That’s why, for the month of August, we are offering our SUMMER BLOWOUT SPECIAL. Any service booked by August 31st but scheduled for September or October, will receive 15% OFF!

If you’ve already benefited from our services, you can still support our local business. In fact, according to signpost.com, “referrals count for 82% of new business growth and 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know.” So if you are not currently in need of our services, you are currently in the know.

Support our local business by:

  1. Referring us to friends and family
  2. Supporting us on social media and online, and
  3. Leave a positive review with google.

These small gestures go a long way in building up local business and that means more savings for our customers. Economizing is a community mentality.

“Paying It Back” is Better Than “Paying It Forward”

Why Paying It Forward May Not Be Enough…

We’ve all heard the expression of “Paying it Forward”, which carries the idea of a random kindness with no attachment. It may do some good, but the anonymity carries a vacancy. What has real longevity is connection, community, and genuineness. “Paying it Back” has power to build relationships.

As a local business that prides itself on helping our neighbors to have cleaner, safer homes, we feel a community responsibility to do our part to educate our neighbors and support those who give back to us. October is NATIONAL FIRE PREVENTION MONTH, so it is important to know how we can practice fire safety in our homes and at our workplace, while supporting our community. What are common fire dangers, and how can we avoid them?

6 DANGERS

  1. NO WORKING SMOKE ALARMS. 3 OF 5 HOME FIRE DEATHS RESULT FROM NO ALARM.
  2. LESS THAN 50% OF HOMEOWNERS HAVE AN ESCAPE PLAN.
  3. CARBON MONOXIDE (CO) IS THE #1 CAUSE OF ACCIDENTAL POISONING IN THE U.S.
  4. LESS THAN 50% OF HOMEOWNERS HAVE CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS.
  5. 60% OF HOMEOWNERS DO NOT TEST THEIR ALARMS MONTHLY.
  6. THE #1 CAUSE OF HOME FIRE: UNATTENDED COOKING.

PRACTICING SAFETY

AT HOME:

  1. INSTALL SMOKE ALARMS ON EVERY LEVEL OF YOUR HOME, INCLUDING INSIDE AND OUTSIDE BEDROOMS, KITCHENS, AND BASEMENTS.
  2. TEST ALARMS MONTHLY, REPLACING BATTERIES AS NECESSARY.
  3. HAVE A FIRE ESCAPE PLAN. PRACTICE 2 TIMES A YEAR. IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE ELABORATE. EDUCATE CHILDREN HOW TO SAFELY EXIT THE HOME.
  4. IF THERE IS A FIRE: GET OUT, STAY OUT, CALL FOR HELP.

AT WORKPLACE:

  1. REPORT ELECTRICAL HAZARDS SUCH AS FAULTY OR BAD WIRING.
  2. DO NOT OVERLOAD OUTLETS OR CIRCUITS.
  3. DO NOT USE DAMAGED ELECTRICAL OUTLETS OR CORDS.
  4. ENSURE PROPER STORAGE OF FLAMMABLE MATERIALS.
  5. KEEP COMBUSTIBLES AWAY FROM ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT.

The best way to practice fire safety is to take seriously the responsibility to keep our homes, families, and communities safe from hazards. But more than that, we can support those who put their lives on the line to keep us safe in times of emergency. Pay it Back to those volunteering their time for us. To quote LOWER MILFORD FIRE COMPANY, “We’re neighbors helping neighbors.”

Even the smallest donations can make a difference. Support your local fire company.