I published my first post on Substack one year ago yesterday (I’m writing this on Thanksgiving). I appreciate everyone who has read, liked, shared, commented, and even disliked my posts. I won’t gush too much because I’ll write a first-year recap next week. But know that I’m grateful to you all.
Besides the turkey and pies, Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday shopping season—oh joy of joys! I’m not a Christmas person. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy this time of year, I don’t need to celebrate a holiday for months. The holidays give a lot of people the green light to lust after consumer baubles, guilt-free. I realize that not everyone is a hyperconsumer but most people in the US are.
I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t admit that the siren song of Black Friday deals has caught my attention. I am human after all. As I was enjoying the post-Thanksgiving meal reverie, I decided to see if my wish list items were on sale. Sure enough, a few things were at a decent bargain. So, I purchased what I needed but then got sucked into the Amazon algorithm vortex.
The next thing I knew, I was looking at deals for items that I thought I might need.
Hmm, a new MacBook Pro for 15% off. Those things never go on sale and my computer is three years old.
Look! A pair of Bose QC 45 headphones for only $199. Those would be a nice upgrade to my QC 35s that I’ve had for six years.
A new 4K 27” computer monitor would be nice to have since I work remotely and need to read syntax and spreadsheets in ultra-high definition!
After 15 minutes of mindless browsing, I caught myself and thought, “I don’t need any of this stuff.” Come to think of it, my current Mac computer runs just fine. My old Bose headphones still sound great. And my computer monitor does the job it was designed for perfectly even if it’s just HD.
Looking at all of the different deals cured my desire to spend needlessly. Nobody really needs any of the things that are for sale. Here in the US, most of us have enough junk to fill two houses. When is enough going to be enough?
I can’t make that decision for anyone but myself but I’m trying to be a smart spender. I genuinely try to get as much use out of my things as humanly possible. I can’t justify spending money on frivolous things that don’t create value in my life.
So for me, the best Black Friday deal is holding onto my money. I’ll take a 100% deal over 15% any day.
And if you just have to spend money then please find a charity or someone who could genuinely use it. We all could use a little help right now.
As always, I appreciate your attention.
Great post. Thanks for the great read and advice.
Do you hate America!? It’s unpatriotic to not consume with every last credit card. Kidding aside, great post. I see myself as a conscientious objector to Christmas consumerism. My wife, not so much.