Boston Buying Power is an energy buying group designed to allow small businesses to purchase energy at a long-term fixed price through access to the deregulated energy market. Boston Buying Power puts small businesses on a level playing field with the largest of commercial accounts and enables them to take advantage of benefits that until now have been unavailable to the small business community.

“Boston is committed to encouraging and supporting strong business communities. One of the ways we can do this is by advocating for small businesses and providing resources during difficult economic times,” Mayor Menino explained.

“Boston Buying Power is designed to give our hard working small business sector the peace of mind that comes from long-term price certainty and budget stability.”

Enrollment is easy and not only will Boston Buying Power begin saving you money today but they can lock-in that lower price for up to five years providing long term price certainty and budget stability for small businesses. More information can be found at www.bostonbuyingpower.com.

– Julie Edwards

For example, are the Sox on the road, and you are looking for something to do?  Well, head on over to Kenmore Square anyway and celebrate Taco Tuesdays at La Verdad Taqueria Mexicana, Ken Oringer’s newest offering to Boston.  Every tuesday, enjoy $1 Tacos and choose from chicken, carnitas, pork…Up to 5 per customer!

Or maybe you are in the mood for something sweet?  Well Sweet Chistopher’s Dessert Cafe on Centre St in Jamaica Plain has a treat for you!  Stop by anytime, and mention that you saw them on Citysquares… You’ll get a free cupcake!

Free, You ask?  Yup…and here is another one: Check out Bostone Pizza, located on Newbury St in the heart of Back Bay.  Their pizza is killer, and you can have any slice for FREE.  Just print out the coupon.

Darque Tan offers free tanning for a month, for you and up to 3 friends!  Watch their video,read more information, as well as print their free offer here! Darque Tan has two Boston locations,  locations in Newton, Revere, Swampscott and is getting ready to open their newest location in Saugus Mass!

How about making a few bucks this month?  Check out Mt. Washington Bank on CitySquares.  They have several locations in the Boston area.  Bring in your old debit card and checks, and open an account with them, you can get cash on the spot!  Mentioned that you saw them on CitySquares.

Well, I am not going to reveal all of our great offers, you will have to visit CitySquares.com for more info.  We update them all the time, so keep checkin back!

– Kim

Chocolee Chocolates in South End, Boston is an adorable boutique chocolate shop that specializes in handmade chocolates and truffles.

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All Things Chocolate is located in the heart of Boston in the Back Bay.  This family run business offers a variety of chocolates and candies.  They do a beautiful job of creating delicious gifts for all occasions.

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I hope you were able to make it through both of these videos before having to run down the street for your chocolate fix!

We have many other videos that I cant wait to show you. Stay tuned!

– Kim

“Even though I was apprehensive about only buying local, I actually really stuck to it aside from this past week in California…I mean lets be serious I had to try Inn and Out Burger’s secret menu and dine amongst the stars at Mr. Chows. That aside, when in Boston I got the majority of my groceries from a local store called Symphony Market and on the way back from the beach in Rhode Island on the weekends I would stop at the farm stands and buy my fruits and veggies for the week. I stopped going to Starbucks all together and now go to Espresso Royale. Even though I really enjoyed the local markets, now that the challenge is over I will probably start going back to the larger super markets, simply because they are more affordable and convenient.”  – Caitlin

“Buying local was easy in the dining out and bar scene since I live in a city. The biggest upset is that I wanted to buy flowers locally and didn’t know where a local florist was. Since I was out of town, and driving, I used GPS to find one but it was 15 miles away. I ended up going to a Shaws and spending a fortune on a floral arrangement that I probably could have gotten cheaper from a local florist.“  – Alexandra

“I am buying entirely local more successfully. I’m eating at local establishments, buying at only local businesses including Tags Hardware and Porter Square Books, I’m even buying local beers. I’m starting to really enjoy it and the more I practice this kind of Buy Local behavior the more I find myself objecting to non-local purchasing/commerce. It’s starting to just become routine. I’m not finding myself purposefully working at it as much now, it’s just sort of happening on its own.”  – Ben

“Coffee is my thing. I need to have GOOD coffee in the morning, afternoon and some evenings. I felt this was the best way to test the local waters.  Buying local meant that Starbucks was out of the picture. Enter Greenlight. The Pete’s Iced Coffee is self-poured and the cups are prefilled with ice. No frills, just coffee.  In just about any other setting this would come off as kind of a pain. However, once you take your simple coffee to the register you are greeted by  a smiling and friendly, non-uniform wearing fella who knew my name after my first visit. My morning coffee became more like what a morning coffee used to be, a daily social activity, not just a caffeine binge. The coffee was half the price as Starbucks and frankly just as strong as my Venti Iced Black Eye (One big coffee with two shots of espresso).  I won’t lie, it will be hard to completely nix the Starbucks, but Greenlight has a new loyal customer.”    - Steve

Overall, this Buy Local challenge was a success. Buying locally is something that’s really baked into CitySquares’ DNA. Because we work with locally owned businesses all day long, every day, it’s a constant reminder. And what’s fun about working at CitySquares too, is that it really puts a spotlight on the communities we work with, and the local businesses within them. Even so, we need a reminder sometimes. Buying things like toothpaste, flowers, greeting cards, groceries, things like that are all matters of convenience. We’re consumers, and we tend to not think about our consumer behaviors. But when we do, when we intentionally monitor those behaviors and try to be a bit more socially responsible with them, we find ourselves enjoying our consumer lifestyles a bit more. As Steve pointed out above, he found his morning cups of coffee to be more social and friendly, and as Ben realized, the more he altered and practiced his consumer behaviors the easier it became.

When we first discussed doing this challenge there was a lot of debate about where to buy certain products. Some of us didn’t realize how much opportunity there really was to buy locally. Ultimately, we all learned some lessons here and we’re better consumers because of it.

– Julie

The easiest part of this challenge has been the restaurants. From Pescatore and Redbones BBQ in Somerville, Union Oyster House in Faneuil Hall, even all the way to Barnacle Billy’s in Maine, we’ve had an unlimited supply of local spots to dine. Downtown Wine and Spirits and local bars like The Draft (which just opened their new outdoor patio, by the way) and The Fours next to the Garden (Go Celts!) were obvious choices for entertainment. Groceries have been relatively easy as well with markets like Foodies in the South End. Farmer’s Markets like the Union Square Farmer’s Market have also been a big help during our buy local challenge.

Aside from a few blunders; a flat screen from Best Buy, a window air conditioner from Home Depot and some last minute Father’s Day cards at CVS we’ve made some major improvements. We’ve kicked our Dunkin Donuts habit and in exchange we’ve been frequenting places like the Buttery. We’ve replaced our Exxon Stations for neighborhood gas stations like Teele Square Auto. One of us even went so far as to drive to Hampstead New Hampshire to buy a power tool from East Coast Lumber! It hasn’t been an easy few weeks, but it’s definitely been a learning experience. We’ve got two more weeks to go and many more lessons to learn. Be sure to check back for more updates this month.

How about you? Do you feel like you try to shop locally when you have the choice? If so, why and if not, why? There’s no right or wrong answer either, so please, be candid!

– Julie

So while we all do try to buy local we’ve decided to make it an official company-wide challenge for the month of June. This month, starting last week, everyone on staff here (14 of us) is participating in what we call the “Buy Local Challenge.” (This effort is partly inspired by our friend Joe Grafton, Executive Director for Somerville Local First, and his “Lokavore Experiment.”) Sure some things will be easy, but we understand there will be challenges along the way, like buying gasoline, grocery shopping, and in some cases we may have to pay a premium. We also know we’ll have some slip-ups but what we’re mainly aiming for is the lessons learned along the way. Below are the guidelines we will follow. Be sure to check back for weekly updates.

Rule 1) If we spend money, it must be at a locally owned business.

Rule 2) When given the option, we will favor locally made products.

Rule 3) As usual we will try to give our business to CitySquares customers.

Rule 4) Take notes! Throughout the week we will all be noting our successes and our struggles in trying to buy only locally. We will update the blog weekly on what we’ve learned.

What do you think of this? Have you tried something similar?