Spreading the Wealth

In this climate of "Occupy Wall Street" and the heated rhetoric of the growing gap between the have and have-nots, I have decided to do my small part in trying to change the way I consume.


I have regular expenses just like everyone else but in the past few months I have spent a new car's worth on dental work that has been in the works for the past year and a half.


I know that I need to consume much less especially in the "extraneous wants" category and stick to a budget but I'm so ingrained with American consumerism that I find it really hard to resist a bargain or a sale.


I'm very lucky that I have a great job and can afford a lifestyle that is probably the envy of quite a large portion of the population and a lot of that can be attributed to luck and circumstance plus some hard work.


I happened upon a post in Ravelry about Kiva.  It is a micro-loan program that assists people all over the world pull themselves out of poverty with business loans in small amounts.  It is in essence a world bank made up of investors.


I firmly believe that if one has to work for a goal instead of just being handed a bounty, it is worth more and valued more.


I decided to lend to women artists with the same amount of money I would spend on my fiber habit.  So for every $25 I spend on yarn, fiber, equipment, etc., I would loan the same amount to Kiva.  This should make me budget a bit more knowing that for every dollar I spend, it will be doubled and I will be spreading my wealth to empower entrepreneurs.


Here are the first three recipients of my Kiva loans.

Sinon Minh from Cambodia

Nemesia Ongco from the Philippines

Rayma Susas from the Philippines


They are all weavers which I think is a good tie in with my fiber addiction.