Save small shops, not your small change

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What I won't be doing is sweating over the small change. Last week my newsagent told me his business has suffered a sudden, sharp decline. Everyone's saving on the little things, he says. He's selling a third fewer copies of The Times, and just a single FT a day, down from the usual 10.

His business stays afloat by using credit cards. Though he exclaimed, with raised fist: "Don't worry, I will keep on fighting!", I realised shops like his are on the front line in this recession.

The dangers of this kind of scrimping have never been so evident. Every week in my house we reassess our luxuries. Should we cancel the milk delivery? It works out at 80p a pint, nearly twice the cost of a plastic bottle in the supermarket. And those muddy parsnips, mouldering in the organic box- can I justify throwing them out one more time?

Perhaps I'm being perverse but I'm hanging on to the extras for now. I can't help thinking of the effect on my suppliers if I change my habits. That's the thing about buying ethically - I know where my veg comes from. It's produced by real farmers whose names and life stories are delivered on a newsletter in my box. If they've had a dodgy potato harvest, I know all about it.

My milk - in a proper bottle with cream on top - is from an organic dairy in the West Country. I believe they're doing the right thing, producing good food humanely and sustainably. I'm a scrimping refusenik because I want to keep supporting them.

But there is another motivation behind my reluctance to tighten the pursestrings: quality of life. A carrot with flavour, milk in a glass bottle, a daily chat with my newsagent - these small things lift the day and add a dash of authenticity to my routines. Why should the credit crunch rob me of these small pleasures?

So as politicians and big store owners urge us to spend, spend, spend, spare a thought for the little people. They'll be the first to go as the country tightens its belt another notch. Our lives and our local economies will be worse for it. Don't let them suffer death by a thousand cuts.