Avoiding Black Friday fever
Consider this your vaccination
Believe it or not, once upon a time, in my tender teens and early 20s, I was a shopping queen. If Ken’s job is Beach, mine was Mall. I wasn’t the biggest spender, because I’d been raised to understand sales cycles and identify 50% off stickers from 40 paces, but I still bought a fair amount of stuff —I just bought it at 40 to 80% less than its actual retail price. Boxing Day was my Christmas, and I was my own St. Nick.
I still love a deal. Deals are my star sign, my enneagram, my Myers-Briggs type. I’ve just redirected my deal hunting mania to secondhand shopping and the essentials of living (i.e., food). And even so, I’ve made more space for values-driven buying, because I love my co-op and very much want it to continue existing.
This preamble is just to say: friends, Romans, countrymen, I too am susceptible to Black Friday Fever. In fact, given my history, I am a high risk.
So, with the epidemic of overconsumption upon us, here are some tips and guidance to help us navigate the psychological warfare of the $171-billion advertising industry.
First, let’s avoid temptation.
Take the long weekend off social media, especially TikTok and Instagram. Consider it an opportunity for an attentional detox! Those targeted ads know what you want, and they’re going to keep showing it to you.
Unsubscribe to promotional emails ASAP. (This saves you from buying things and saves the carbon from unnecessary emails.)
Don’t browse. It is so tempting to have a little look-see. (I’ve done it already this year!) It’s far easier to resist something you don’t know exists. Consider your favourite retailer’s sales none of your business.
Also, don’t be fooled: online shopping is a kind of labour, and if you don’t do it, you get that time back and could do something delicious instead, like take a nap.
Okay, but what if there’s something I really need?
It has to be said: we use the word “need” too liberally. There’s a big difference between “I need a new dress for my holiday party” and “I need hemorrhoid cream.” So first, we have to separate our needs from our wants. And if you still think it’s a need — something that would have a significant, lasting positive impact on your life — here are some questions you could ask yourself before you click Buy Now:
Why do I want this item? What makes it special? Is it massively better than something I have already?
Is this something I could get secondhand? Have I checked FB Marketplace, local buy nothing groups, etc.? (Chances are you can get it there for an even better price than any Black Friday sale.)
Is this a temporary need (Could I borrow it?) or something I would use frequently?
Do I have a place to store this item? Will I have to get rid of something else to make room for it?
Could I buy this later if I still want it? (Maybe even with a Boxing Day discount.)
Does buying this support my values? How?
Who benefits from my purchase? (e.g., Is it your local bookseller or a billionaire?) Does the company I’m buying from have any meaningful sustainability credentials?
Is this something I would buy at full price?
Is this something I can see myself using in five years?
What will happen to this item at the end of its life?
Is this within my budget? If I overspend, what will the consequences be? Is there something else I could spend this money on?
Those questions usually take my deal FOMO down a few notches. And maybe after answering these questions, you still think you should buy. In which case, go forth and get thee a deal!
If it’s a borderline case, consider leaving it in your cart for a few hours, ideally 24 to 48 hours. (Most deals last until Cyber Monday, anyway.)
But Jen, what about gifts? You don’t hate gift giving, do you?
Black Friday does present a chance to discount your gift list. But there are so many good green options for gifting that don’t require buying what these corporations are selling. In fact, I wrote my first newsletter back in 2019 about that very topic! I’d recommend checking out that vintage FMFP for some still-relevant advice.
So, what, are you going to spend Black Friday in a monastery or something?
No, I’m going to buy a couch, actually. Maybe even at full price. (I’m waiting in case of a sale, but my purchase isn’t dependent on one.) I also might buy a used cell phone but, you know what, based my answers to those questions, I might just chill for another month and reassess at Boxing Day.
The bottom line
Buying stuff is fun, but the buzz doesn’t last. (In fact, you are happiest when you are about to buy something. It’s the anticipation of buying that makes us happiest.) Nothing you buy is going to change your life. Your home will be your home, your body will be your body, and your sadness and your worry, yup, they’ll still be there too. Trump will still be president elect, and Doug Ford will still be tearing up bike lanes and prime farmland in Ontario. Purchasing feels like problem solving, but so often it doesn’t solve the initial problem and just creates more problems we don’t see.
Very few of my possessions have been game changers. (Except my hardcore heating pad, my one true love.) If I lost everything in a fire, I wouldn’t buy replicas of most of what I have. The shine of most new things wears off quickly. (Look to your closet for evidence of things that once felt like must-buys.) We’re often looking to buy new things because all of those old things no longer satisfy us.
The things that would actually make us happy on Black Friday? Going for a walk in nature, hanging out with or phoning a friend, cuddling an animal, being silly with a kid, playing a sport or making some art or whatever you used to lose hours doing when you were young. Those things are mostly free and the planet will thank us for not participating in more extraction.
In my Jenny the Bargain Slayer days, I used to think I was getting the better of the Man, like I’d won by giving companies less money than they’d initially asked for. But given the margins on clothing in particular, they were still winning. (If they’re not making money on what they’re selling, they’ll destroy it, not discount it.) In the end, I was still giving them my money, time, and attention.
The best way to win is to close your browser, exit the mall, and play hooky from capitalism for a few days. Freedom is actually free.
If you need more anti-capitalist brainwashing
Watch Buy Now (currently on Netflix)
Read “Nothing I’ve bought on Instagram has ever bought me joy” in the Guardian
Read The Day the World Stops Shopping by J.D. MacKinnon
Listen to “Demonic Possession” on The Happiness Lab
Read The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan by Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller
Parting wisdom
“We the public — how can we bear to pay a price for a piece of goods which will help to trouble one man, to ruin another, and starve a third? Or, still more, I think, how can we bear to use, how can we enjoy something which has been a pain and a grief for the maker to make?” — William Morris, from a lecture in the late 1870s
If you have your own wisdom on buying mindfully (or avoiding buying at all), please drop it in the comments!
Hope you’re all holding up okay in this long November. I’ll be back soon with a series on care.
xo
Jen
Five Minutes for Planet is written by me, Jen Knoch, and edited by Crissy Boylan. Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash.