I don’t mean to talk about anxiety again, since I went pretty deep into that struggle on Day 3 of My Daily Blogging Challenge, but man, every time I’ve thought to write about something else, Black Friday and Christmas shopping seems to be the only thing on my mind.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good sale as much as the next person. And, by no means, am I anti-shopping. Give me a credit card and a mall, and I’ll do some serious damage.
My struggle with Black Friday comes when I start to convince myself that I need to shop just to fulfill some expectation to save money.
Have you ever done this?
Something you’ve been thinking about buying goes on sale, and you reason with yourself that now is the best time to buy since you’ll save…
Maybe you wouldn’t have made that purchase at all, but with such a good sale at your disposal, how can you say no?
I think I’ve become better at resisting this very powerful marketing tactic as I’ve gotten older, but even when I went to the mall today, there was something in me that just naturally wanted to shop (even though there was nothing I really needed to buy).
It’s almost like a game: how much money can I save? The more I save, the better I feel about making that purchase. Almost like it’s justification for my little shopping habit.
Let’s look at it from another perspective, though.
Perhaps you have Christmas gifts to buy? Or maybe there’s something you really need, but you’ve been putting off purchasing because of the price?
Doesn’t it make more sense to buy these things now when they’re on sale?
Yeah, of course, it does.
Like I said, I’m not totally anti-Black Friday or anti-sales.
Thing is, though, I am anti-purchasing-things-just-because-they’re-on-sale. It drives me crazy when people use “it was on sale” as a way to explain why they purchased something.
To me, a sale should never be the reason.
A sale should just be a bonus.
And yes, for me, I even apply that logic to Christmas gifts. I would rather get a gift that the recipient will really love, rather than make my choice solely based on the sale price.
Again, I understand that saving money is great, and that everybody’s financial situations are different. It’s not like I don’t want to save money. I’ve bought three Christmas gifts that were on sale, today, alone, BUT I also picked these gifts without looking at sale prices. I compared the prices after, and they just happened to be on sale.
Really, at the end of the day, I think my point with this post is just a little friendly reminder to all of us about the importance of shopping with intention, especially around this time of year when everyone feels the pressure to get the biggest and best gifts.
And so, with that in mind, instead of letting sales drive your shopping habits, plan ahead of time the things you want to buy, and then, don’t stray from that list.
This way, you can rest-assured that the things you end up buying were things you would have bought regardless of any sales. That money you end up saving gets to be the bonus instead of the driving factor.
To me, it just makes more sense to shop that way, no?
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