Putting my money where my mouth is!

So at last I'm starting to move our money!

How many years have I been thinking about doing it?  How many times have I started to investigate options?  Well, I think this time it's really going to happen.

In other areas of our life I'm really passionate about what happens to our waste, where our food is sourced from, what I spend my time doing, what I let the children be exposed to, so how come it's taken so long to get round to acting on what impact my money is having on others whilst we're not using it!  It's mind boggling really, and I'm sure that most of it is down to a lack of knowledge on what actually happens with our money that's sitting in accounts.  And part of me feels that it's just something in the ether, so it can't really be having an impact on world food prices, the arms trade, gambling businesses taking out loans, the list goes on.

So a few weeks ago I started asking others what they knew about good places to keep our money, and with a little delay due to the madness and sadness of life currently, I've started the journey of switching. 

• We're setting up small saving accounts for the kids, mostly for money that is given to us for them, and at this stage of life they really don't have many needs.  They're going to have Triodos Children's Saving accounts...they may not make the highest rate of interest (although they ain't bad), but at least we are clear who they are lending to, and we agree with the basic principles.
• For the occasions when we have some savings, I'm looking at Triodos ISAs and their saving accounts.
• And for the day-to-day current account, we're moving to the Co-Ops online bank...smile

We've decided on these due their ethical basis, and I've been astounded by the principles that triodos state on their website, here's what they say:

We're 100% ethical.

We only lend our savers' money to people and organisations who are working to make a positive impact - culturally, socially and environmentally. 

We only lend real money.

We only lend money entrusted to us by our savers, and not a penny more. In a climate that's seen so many banks around us thrown into turmoil, our approach has enabled us to remain solid and stable.

We're totally transparent.

We're completely open about how we use our customers' money. And you can see for yourself exactly who we lend to on our website.

And the 'who we lend to' tool...is amazing!  I could look at where we live and see who they've lent to locally, and there are some fascinating businesses that I've discovered.  Check it out!  (I'm not on commission, honest...it's just so refreshing to see something simple, that makes sense, and that fits with some better values.)

So now I've just got to get through the process of moving.  I'll let you know how the journey of switching is...they have teams to help do all the direct debit moves etc apparently...so fingers crosses.