Now that we upon the holiday shopping season, the question arises as to where to spend your money. Whether small or large, our dollars add up and show our support for those companies that we do business with.

To help you in your consumer consideration – I’ve scaled down the full 2008 Buying for Equality Guide to some of the best of; check out the full guide for all companies listed.

The companies listed here are the best of the best in the report – those that scored in the top rating of supporting equitable and progressive labor practices. Please note that I’ve only included brand names, as the lists are thankfully long.

Where to Fill Up – BP, Amoco, Chevron, Caltex, Texaco, Shell Oil
* We should note that sadly Exxon Mobile scored the worst of all gas companies. James & I currently hold stock here and I think we’ll be seriously considering looking elsewhere and letting them know why.

Where to Shop – Best Buy, Future Shop, Geek Squad, Magnolia Home Theater, Borders, Waldenbooks/Brentanos, GameStop, EB Games, Sears, Kmart, Lands’ End. Supervalu, Acme Markets, Albertsons, Cub Foods, Shop ’n Save, Walgreens, Costco, Staples, Hallmark, Whole Foods Market, Home Depot, Rite Aid, Amazon.com, Food Lion, Reid’s, Target

Home & Garden – Dupont, Corian, Kevlar, Teflon, Tyvek, Zodiak, Herman Miller, Rubbermaid, Lenox, Sears, Craftsmen, Kenmore, Whirlpool, Gladiator, Jenn-Air, KitchenAid, Magic Chef, Maytag, Owens Corning, Home Depot

Banking – American Express, Ameriprise, Bank of America, LaSalle Bank, MBNA, Capital One, Charles Schwab, Schwab Bank, Citibank, Citifinancial, Citimortgage, Smith Barney, Countrywide Financial, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Fannie Mae, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan Chase, KeyBank, MasterCard, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, SunTrust Banks, U.S. Bancorp, UBS AG, Visa International, Wachovia, WaMu, Providian Financial, Wells Fargo, E*TRADE Financial, Barclays Capital, A.G. Edwards, Freddie Mac,
PNC

* Interesting that the banking industry appears to have very high representation on the list of equitable companies.

Apparel & Accessories – Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, J. C. Penney, Levi Strauss, Dockers, Liz Claiborne, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Lucky Brand Jeans, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Nike, Cole Haan, Converse, Nordstrom, REI, Sears, Joe Boxer, Lands’ End, Target

Eating Out – Chili’s, T.G.I. Friday’s, Starbucks, Seattle’s Best Coffee, McDonald’s, Boston Market, Applebee’s, Olive Garden, Red Lobster

Food & Beverage – Anheuser-Busch, Clorox, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Starbucks, Campbell Soup, Diageo (liquor products), Miller, Procter & Gamble, Target (Geez – these companies take a big chunk of the market here!) Plus – who knew that Godiva is under Campbell Soup!!

Fun & Games – Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Hallmark, Mattel

Hitting the Road – Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Armor All, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Volvo, General Motors, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, OnStar, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Subaru, Toyota, Lexus, Volkswagen, Ryder, Shell Oil

Household Products – Clorox, Rubbermaid, Johnson & Johnson, 3M, Kimberly-Clark, Proctor & Gamble, UniLever

Medicine – Bausch & Lomb, Eli Lilly, Estee Lauder, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, Schering-Plough, Novartis

Travel – American Airlines, Carlson Companies, Global Hyatt, Harrah’s Entertainment, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Marriott International, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Cheaptickets.com, Orbitz.com, US Airways, The Walt Disney Company, Wyndham International, Alaska Airlines, Hilton Hotels, The Waldorf-Astoria Collection, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hotels.com, MGM/MIRAGE, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, JetBlue Airways

Entertainment – Clear Channel Communications, Katz Media, Starbucks Entertainment, Time Warner, AOL, Cartoon Network, CNN, HBO, Looney Tunes, New Line Cinema, TNT, Turner, Warner Bros. Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, A&E, ABC, Disney Channel, ESPN, History Channel, Lifetime, Miramax Films, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures, Viacom, Comedy Central, Dreamworks, MTV, Nickolodeon, Paramount, Spike, VH1, Cox Communciations, Travel Channel, XM Satellite Radio, Comcast

Technology – Adobe Systems, Apple, AT&T, Cisco Systems, Linksys, Corning, Dell, Eastman Kodak, Google, Blogger, Picasa, YouTube, HP, Compaq, Snapfish, IBM, Intel, QuickBooks, Quicken, TurboTax, Lexmark International, Microsoft, Motorola, Sprint Nextel, Sun Microsystems, Xerox, Cox Communications, Memorex, TDK, EarthLink, Avaya, Symantec, Norton AntiVirus, Verizon, Alltel, Amazon.com, AMD, Comcast

For more on insurance companies, kid stuff, etc, check out the full guide.

Happy shopping!

Miel

MANAGE YOUR MONEY TOGETHER

Here are some simple guidelines for DINKS to build wealth:

1) Collaborate: Meet regularly to talk about money, set goals together, track and monitor them.

2) Understand and respect your partner. Take time to understand your partners values about money.

3) Watch the numbers. Get a budget, monitor your spending and track your net worth.

4) Max your retirement. Maximize contributions to your tax deferred retirement accounts.

5) Invest in stock. Stocks perform better than bonds or cash.

6) Avoid high interest debt. Credit cards and title loans are financial cancer.

7) Diversify. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

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