In the spirit of the holiday season, shopping blogs abound by offering advice on how to find the best deals on winter purchases. If you go online, you can read any number of articles with tips on budget snipping and holiday steals. At the same time, shoppers are bombarded with advertising for high-brow designer items on billboards, in magazines and on television.

But buyers should not be fooled by this charming illusion. The reality is the origins of these luxury items rarely differ from those of the $5 shirts at Wal-Mart. This holiday season, the focus should not be on price or label, or even on personal savings. Instead, consumers should consider the impact their buying choices have on their local communities. The Pullman Chamber of Commerce kick-started the Pullman Perks program on Nov. 5. As an extension of the year-round Shop Pullman First! program, Pullman Perks provides incentive for people to shop locally at small retailers. Residents who spend $100 at participating businesses before Dec. 31 can bring their receipts to the Pullman Chamber of Commerce and receive a $10 Pullman Buck. Pullman Bucks work just like checks and can be spent anywhere in Pullman where checks are accepted.

Tammy Lewis, the executive director of the Pullman Chamber of Commerce, said the program has shown great returns. Since Thanksgiving, Pullman residents have been coming by the Chamber of Commerce office to collect their Pullman Bucks. Happily, the success of the program extends to local businesses as well. “Larger retailers offer similar perks,” Lewis said. “It’s a great way for smaller businesses to compete.” Participants include retailers such as Simply Nails & Tanning and Crimson & Gray. So if you need a last-minute winter bronzing or Cougar paraphernalia for a family member’s Christmas gift, look to these locations first. And know that you are contributing to a nationwide campaign to promote independent retailers.

Indeed, the first local shopping initiative was created in Boulder, Colo., in 1998. Since then, the movement has grown to include more than 130 groups representing about 30,000 independent businesses across the country. The explosion of such campaigns has prompted consumers to make their holiday purchases with increased awareness of the impact they have on immediate economies.

“This is a growing movement. Now, it is on the minds of consumers in a way that we haven’t seen in the 10 years that we’ve been following and tracking this stuff,” said Stacy Mitchell, a senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in an interview with the New York Times. “More and more people are seeking out local businesses.” Last January, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance conducted a survey of 1,100 private business owners. It found that during November and December of 2008, a time when all retail sales fell about 10 percent nationally compared with the previous year, independent stores saw a sales decrease of only 5.3 percent. Moreover, communities with buy-local programs experienced a sales drop of only 3 percent.

You could drop $100 on a designer blouse, you could spend $100 and get 20 shirts at Wal-Mart or you could invest the money in the growth of your community, partaking in modest but effective programs like Pullman Perks. The opportunities to be a conscious holiday shopper exist, but if only you take advantage of them.