“Black Friday is a day when sane people lose all random thought and reason and shop for things that they never even thought about before” – My mom(she’s a genius)
When you have an addictive personality like mine, you tend to over indulge in almost everything, from working out to researching, to cleaning. Luckily for me, most of these things last a few short amount of time, everything but shopping. I love shopping, I love the idea of getting a deal and days like Black Friday , Cyber Monday and boxing bring that part of me out. And because I impulse shop quite frequently, my bank account has suffered as a result.
I am Canadian, and I live about an hour away from the US border, so for the past 7 years I have taken the day off from work to plan our annual shopping adventure. Let me honestly say that I am absolutely ashamed at the amount of things that I have purchased and never used. I am pretty sure I spent $100 at a store I didn’t even like because they were giving away a really cute teddy bear. I have also stood in line for Best Buy, Coach, and a ton of others to save 30% off an item I had no use for. Originally this post was going to be about not going shopping, but in actuality I have gotten some really great deals, but those are deals that I researched and was prepared for.We don’t really drive all to Buffalo to go to Walmart, we go to buy bigger items, like TV’s, a snowblower, printers, laptops etc.
If you do decide to indulge in a little Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping this season, do yourself a favour and be ready for it. Make a list, and stick to it. Don’t be like me and purchase a Coach wallet because you had to justify why you stood in line for an hour, especially when you don’t even like the brand. I used to always get pulled in buy 2 get 1 free deals.
The things to get on Black Friday and Cyber Monday for me now are things that don’t get discounted during the rest of the year. Things like TV’s, protein powder, sometimes jewellery. Clothes always go on sale. I have found that buying clothes in the off season save me anywhere between 60-70%, same goes for all my snowboard equipment. Black Friday causes smart people to stop being judgemental about their purchases and allows impulses to take over.
Even though the Canadian dollar is performing really well, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for Canadians to go down to the States to shop. One of the biggest reasons being taxes. There a few tricks that Canadians use when we go shopping across the border, such as wearing all of old clothes going into the states and wearing new clothes coming out. Its not a coincidence that the Salvation Army bin is located in the McDonalds parking lot right outside the outlet mall.
This year I am planning on staying home and keeping my credit card far away from me, and keeping myself and my bank account happy.
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this is why I refuse to shop on Black Friday – the temptation to buy stuff I don’t need. Plus I hate standing in lines. Cyber Monday is easier for me to deal with as I don’t “window shop” online
Cyber monday is worse for me. I get trigger happy since i see quantity of items that I may want decreasing.
I have family and friends that shop black friday every year. We live approx 2 hours to the closest US city and although it’s very tempting to go down and shop, I know that I would end up purchasing items that I don’t really need. So I’m staying away too.
Awesome! A lot of my friends are staying this year too. The ironic thing is how many Canadian stores are having Black friday sales.
I don’t know why, but I love Black Friday. It’s not that I like to shop. I love getting up early with a cup of coffee and watching the television chopper circle the Best Buy and huge lines.
Then I get warm a fuzzy that I’m not in one.
Brilliant.
I have never been shopping on Black Friday, except for the drugstores that have a bunch of “free” items!
I think it’s great that you wrote this, so you can also see your thought process, before you get caught up in shopping.
I love the quote from your mom, by the way!
Here in Barbados we had our first ever black friday like sale in which everything under $1000 was sold duty free. Our stores even opened earlier than usual just like Black Friday. I didn’t participate because I wasn’t prepared for it and I had work but looking at the pictures in the news it was exactly like Black friday with people waiting almost two hours in a line to purchase stuff. Our town is really small as well being we are a small island so you can only imagine how it went down, if they do it again next year I would love to participate and be more prepared for it.
Trust me. Its easier if you dont.
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