Feeling good about spending money and surfing the web

Okay, my posts are starting to take on a little Christmas theme lately. I think that my attitudes about Christmas are changing this year...I'm a little less Scroogey about the traditions of the season. Heck, I wasn't even annoyed like I usually am when I started hearing Christmas music on the radio (although the Scrooge in me will never like the song "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire." What a lame song).

Anyways, I'm posting to talk about some cool websites I found out about: GoodShop and GoodSearch. The idea behind the sites is that if you use them (either to shop or to do normal web searching), then money gets donated to your favorite charity. There's a little box on each site where you just type in the name of a charity (for example: Red Cross, LDS Philanthropies, etc.).

For Good Search, I think it donates 1 cent per search or something. It doesn't sound like lots, but it adds up.

For Good Shop, there's a list of websites you can shop from (and yes, they're places you've actually heard of before: Kohl's, WalMart, Target, Amazon.com, Best Buy, iTunes, etc.). Each of those places has a contract with Good Shop, and they will donate a certain percentage of your purchase to the charity you chose.

So just thought I'd share that. I think it's neat. It's not going to save the world or anything, but you might consider it if you're planning on doing any online shopping this season. It's just one way we can try to help others and remember the spirit of giving rather than the spirit of commercialism and greed.