What to Do Now with No Money
You want to help, you want to survive, and you're broke
I’m not the flee type; I’m the stay and fight. But it’s hard without funds. I’m a preparer by nature, yet the contrasting advice in the wake of the election to both save as much money as one possibly can, to stock up on many items, and to make big purchases immediately is overwhelming—and difficult to imagine on a single or limited income. What can you do that doesn’t cost anything?
A lot.
How to Help Books
Let’s start with my main area. The past few years, it does feel like we’ve gone back in time and it’s only going to get worse with book bans, persecution of librarians, even book burning. As a reader, you can help by buying books, especially those by marginalized creators, the kind of stories that are most threatened. Buy them now, or at least before January 20th.
Pre-ordering them is even better because that signals to publishers that this story is needed urgently, and we need more like it.
Here’s my favorite tip: put banned books in Little Free Libraries.
If you can’t afford to buy books right now, that’s completely understandable. Request your local library order copies. That’s free to do and here’s a brief post on how. Most libraries let you suggest books they should order via an online form. In short: Google your library name, and on their website search for something like “Recommend a Title” or “Suggest a Title to Purchase,” sometimes under the Contact section. Having books in libraries helps writers—and kids.
Another action that’s free but helps writers tremendously? Write a review of their book on a site that sells it, or on Goodreads. This doesn’t have to be a long, considered essay. By review I mean a couple short sentences: I liked it. You should get it. Totally acceptable! Reviews are especially important for writers of color, queer writers, immigrant writers, and disabled writers who have all already been the target of campaigns meant to discredit their work and derail their careers.
Here’s my favorite tip: put banned books in Little Free Libraries.
How to Help the Climate
The shift to blame the climate crisis on the individual consumer is meant to deflect from the real culprits: emissions-producing corporations and billionaires. But even if you’re not a billionaire—and if you are, please help!—you can do some things.
Compost your kitchen scraps at home via a countertop compost bin. You can also use scraps to make broth. Keep a bag in your freezer, and put in vegetable peelings, onion skin, garlic casings. When the bag is full, cover it with water in a pan. Add herbs, spices (and bones if you have them and eat meat). Simmer for about three hours, skim off the fat, add salt to taste, and strain out the vegetable scraps. All food “waste” kept out of a landfill is a win.
We need to realize survival is better than profitable, but we’re not there yet and will not get there in the next administration.
It’s not enough to recycle, as even if we try our best and do everything right, a lot of recyclable material is not recycled because it’s not profitable. We need to realize survival is better than profitable, but we’re not there yet and will not get there in the next administration. What can you do? Reuse those plastic containers of deli food, cottage cheese or yogurt, and takeout. They’re strong enough to use at least few times. I like to use them for my son’s lunch because if he forgets to bring them home, at least their lifespan has been stretched. Repurpose them for storage: containing rubber bands or hair bands or spices or art supplies.
Buy used. I’m lucky in that my kid is into thrifting. Vintage clothes are cool, but they’re also better made, even clothing from just a few years ago. Don’t just buy used clothes. Most charity and thrift stores have a huge selection of seasonal decor (why is it so big? Because it’s discarded quickly). Yes, you can get seriously good holiday decorations this season. Don’t ignore wreaths with cheap plastic flowers. Take the flowers off and spray paint the wreath black for Halloween, or spray paint white or use the bare branches for winter holidays.
I’ve gotten Threshold dishes and a new Chantal kettle used. I love to buy cheap art at thrift stores, and either reuse the frame or paint over or into the picture to make my own art.
Buy less. When possible, I use the pickup option at the grocery store and Target, so I don’t go inside and am not tempted by pointless plastic items I don’t need and the planet definitely doesn’t need. Shop your closet. Trade clothes, books, and kitchenware with friends. Think about the packaging of a product before you purchase it. You can make a lot of your own items: candles, bubble bath, cold medicine. They’re cheaper and better. In the past, I have written about how to make things like these and I will continue to do so in the coming months.
Small, cheap changes: feed the birds. Set out water for crows. Don’t rake your leaves, if you can get away with it in your neighborhood. Plant native plants. Grow vegetables and fruits, if you have the space, and leave out extras for free for your neighbors. Leave out hats and gloves too.
How to Help Each Other
The best thing you can do for each other is to believe each other. Believe people when they say they’re scared and understand that many people’s basic human rights, not to mention their lives, are in danger. Listen. Donate if you can, but it doesn’t have to be money. It can also be your time, your expertise: be it legal advice, education, childcare. Maybe you have a car and can drive people places, including out-of-state. If you have a guest bed or extra food, offer it up.
Educate yourself and protect yourself. You don’t have to go to Thanksgiving. You don’t have to smile at men; you never did. You don’t have to date them, either. Dating apps in particular are ineffective and a distraction from things you could be doing with your life that really matter to you. Something I often like to do is let one of the many T-shirts I already have do the talking, and walk into the woods. I’m the bear.