Ghost of Midnight

… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum

Saving money in Vermont… neighborhood group purchases

Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 by 3 comments

Need to pinch pennies in this tight economy?  Who doesn’t!

We’ve seen plenty of neighbors chasing lower prices by pulling together through Front Porch Forum to form group purchases.  In Huntington, it’s propane.  Other neighborhoods in Essex, South Burlington, Burlington, and Richmond have aggregated their purchasing power to get better deals on driveway paving, trash hauling, fuel oil, house painting, tree trimming, snow removal and more.  From today’s Huntington FPF…

There was a group of folks last year who got this going, and we took advantage.  Thank you to the folks who organized it… It was with Suburban Propane.  Phone: 864-9821  Call them and ask for Tina.  Tell her you want to be part of the Front Porch Forum group plan, and I think it was about $2.67/gal last year based on our small consumption (<500 gal/yr).  This was compared to over $4/gal…

Posted in: Community Building, Economic Development, Front Porch Forum, Local Online, Neighborhood, Small Business Advertising, Social Networking, Stories, Vermont


3 comments

  1. Matthew Yezuita says:

    Hi.

    I think this is a great idea and glad to see it mentioned here. My friend John Maeck and I will be doing a presentation on a similar idea on February 24th at the Fletcher Free Library:

    “FINANCIAL PERMACULTURE & CONSUMER AGGREGATION
    7:00-9:00PM on Wed. February 24, Fletcher Free Library, Fletcher Room. Come and learn how to pool resources and lower costs by starting a group purchasing of food group. Free to attend.”

    Email me at myezuita@gmail.com for more info.

    Thanks!

    – Matt Yezuita

  2. Michael says:

    Good to hear, Matt. Be sure to publicize your event on Front Porch Forum… it’s a good way to sell out an event… http://bit.ly/bCli9f

  3. Lynne Matthews says:

    Getting a group rate is a great idea.
    I am going to suggest we do the same here
    and get dumspters for trash on our
    street. We did this a few years
    ago on Blodgett and Ward St.
    We got a grant from our NPA.
    It was a great success!

    Lynne Matthews – Blodgett St

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