When I was at the opening of think.dk, there was a quote that stuck with me.

“Every dollar you spend is a vote for the world you want to live in.”

This Christmas I took this to heart. Many gifts I have bought have been from Etsy, handmade or vintage and from small businesses (where apparently an actual person does a happy dance). If I have bought a book, it has been either a very old favourite or well-chosen book that I hope the recipient will enjoy. For friends I created something they will enjoy but not clutter up the house after Christmas. My son will, as usual, hand make something for his grandparents.

This year I also gave myself a budget for charitable donations. I donated to Danske Folkehjælp Christmas fundraiser after reading this article. I also donated to Snap og Sokker, who are raising money to buy socks for homeless men in Vesterbro (read more here, their fundraiser is nearly over so don’t delay). A friend of mine instagrammed this photo and I popped over to The Fmly Store and bought one of their cool Christmas jumpers which they donate half the price to Save the Children. Finally, each morning we see a homeless man who has been sleeping at Sydhavn Station and has such an awful cough. He has clearly been living on the street for a long time. I bought a hot coffee and a cheese roll for him on a cold morning last week. I got a smile for the coffee but the cheese roll resulted in the widest, most genuine smile I have been lucky to receive in a long while.

In the wider scheme of Christmas, when I am very aware of how fortunate and privileged my family is, these small things really make my money vote for a world I want to live in.