Made in Michigan

Let's face it. Michigan can really benefit from a few less dollars heading overseas. We as individuals may not be able to control our jobs leaving our state, but at least we can try to keep as much of the money we spend from leaving too.

Saving the Planet Within Your Budget

Here is a Michigan based company that is making an Eco-friendly line of laundry products. We use the unscented soap for our family's laundry and the Outdoor Extreme for my husbands Army ACUs (They can get pretty rank, and this stuff works wonderfully).

View my Selestial Soap lens!

My favorite place for all of my outdoor gear is Moosejaw. If you want a good laugh just reading their catalogue is enough to get me chuckling. Their rewards program is awesome, and they always are having cool sales.

Hand Made in Northern Michigan

Here are some really sharp looking shoes manufactured here in Michigan. They will custom make you a pair to a tracing of your foot. Thay have a nice variety of shoes and sandals from which to choose.

Looking for more USA Made Shoes?

One easy way to buy more Michigan goods, is to start at the grocery store. In many produce sections, I have been seeing signs telling customers which products are locally grown. Buying local produce usually means fresher food, since it doesn't have to travel as far, but that also means it has a smaller carbon footprint as an added bonus for the environment. Personally I thing Michigan peaches and apples taste so much better than their out of state counterparts.

Michigan sugar is an item I always buy, and Pioneer brand makes it easy to spot with the state of Michigan outline on the front of the packaging.

When I have a taste for sunflower seeds I always pick up a few packages of Pic-A-Nut brand seeds. This company is based in Warren, Michigan. When my family has Italian for dinner, we almost always serve Cole's garlic bread. I also love Romano's brand pasta sauce. They come in mason jars that you can reuse when emptied.

For when we have friends over I like to have Better Made chips and Faygo pop on hand. And once you've tried Vernor's regular ginger ale will pale in comparison!

Sunday morning pancakes are delicious when made with Jiffy baking miix.

Next time your out driving and you need to stop for coffee, stop at Biggby's to fill your caffeine need. Hungry for a sub? Tubby's was always my uncle's first stop when he visited from California.

If you've got a sweet tooth Michigan makes plenty to fill it!

There are so many great sweets made in Michigan. You may have heard we as a state have a bit of a weight problem, but can you blame us with treats like these. Morley Candy makes wonderful chocolates. It wouldn't be Easter at our house without Morley's in our baskets. Hudsonville Ice cream is a real treat. We top it with Saunder's Hot fudge. If you've ever been to Mackinac Island than you should know about Mackinac Island fudge. My husband's favorite is Murdick's Fudge. I'm not as picky - I like them all. Hudsonville even makes a Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream!

American Plastic Toys makes some cool toys for kids. They make tricycles, play kitchens, beach toys and snow toys to name a few. For my daughter's Beach Themed Birthday party we used their sand pails as favor buckets, and the kids loved them. I can often find their products at Kroger's when I do my shopping. An impulse buy is guilt free when it supports your state!

Riot Outfitters has you covered!

Riot Outfitters has some awesome iPod cases. We bought my daughter the pink diamond gel case last year, and I just recently picked up The yellow powder coated slider case for my new iPod Touch. They sell them on their website and at Bestbuy.

Riot Outfitters Slider Shell Case for 4th-Generation Apple iPod touch - Pop Yellow The cases look cool and keep our iPods working great even with an occasional fumble. They come with a screen protector too, which is great - especially for my four year old daughter!

Do you buy Michigan products?