Do You Bank Local? A Sonoma How To Guide

Though continues to rock the east bay, the one-day took a more streamlined approach. Protestors focused their efforts on , calling for residents to move their money to smaller, local banks.

The 'bank local' movement is growing. Move Your Money, a website calling for workers to move their money out of large banks such as Bank of America, Citigroup and Chase, runs a countdown of those that promise to make the switch. Almost 60,000 pledged.

Closer to home, Sonoma County GoLocal, a cooperative of businesses and residents who advocate for keeping spending dollars near home, has designed a guide to help Sonoma residents make the switch.

Rolled out earlier this year, the 'Bank Local' guide offers motivational YouTube videos (take a look, at right) and a wealth of information on the benefits of shopping local – with your banking provider.

What's in it for you? "Lower fees, better service and a stronger local economy," according to the GoLocal website.

To make it easy, the site offers series of profiles of local banks and credit unions and, once you've selected your favorite local banking provider, a step-by-step guide to making the switch.

(The site even lets you search for the nearest local bank by zipcode.

In Sonoma, and top the GoLocal list. (Though, the newly opened is pretty local.)