CLEANERS AND TAILORS
I had an ink stain on a silk cocktail dress.  My fancy neighborhood cleaner wanted twenty dollars, with no guarantee that the stain would come out.  I had only paid two bucks for the dress at a rummage sale, so I decided to shop around.  I tried another local place, and they assured me ink stains are impossible to remove.

I left my neighborhood and went to a dry cleaner in a less genteel area.  They removed the stain on the spot, and charged me eight bucks.  I also discovered that their tailor charges half of what I pay my local seamstress.  Location, location, location.

AUTO REPAIR
We have found this same location rule to be true of auto mechanics: prices are lower in blue-collar neighborhoods, and the quality of the work can be excellent.  Of course, it takes a little time to get there, and I sometimes succumb to laziness and pay extra for the convenience of nearby shops.


SERVICE CALLS
I do stay local when it comes to household services like heating and plumbing: the big chains charge a lot more than small independent companies.  I needed to change the locks on two doors. The large chain would have charged $45 for the visit, plus $86 for each lock.  The local guy came for $35, plus $64 for the locks.  I’m not good with numbers, but even I can do the math on that one.

I will admit I got a little nervous when the neighborhood electrician arrived.  He was so old and frail that I had to help him up the front steps.  Then he forgot a tool in his van, so I had to help him down the front steps and back up again.  Fortunately, he was not charging by the hour – and he ended up doing a swell job.  This was no surprise, as he had ninety years of experience.

MENTAL HEALTH
Recently, I decided to get back into therapy.  There is nothing seriously wrong with me – except on the days that I’m a loony nutcase, which is happening more and more frequently.  I couldn’t ask friends for referrals because I’m limited to doctors on my insurance plan.  I had to scroll through over a hundred names and – after crossing off substance abuse and eating disorder specialists – I still had no idea how to narrow it down.

Then I noticed that one of the shrinks has an office ten blocks from my house.  That means I can take a nice walk, vent for an hour about the people in my life who are responsible for all my problems, listen to a kind, gentle woman pretend to agree with my warped point of view, and then take a nice walk back.  Works for me.