It seems like as soon as Halloween is done, the Black Friday sale ads start in full force. December holiday music starts following me around any store I enter, and it makes me want to buy things. It’s on the TV. It’s on my social media feed. It’s in my mailbox and my email. I see the ads and think, “Oh….I’d love to have that! And my husband would like one of those.” It’s a dangerous time of year.
This year in particular I’m trying to keep my holiday spending to a minimum. I know from the news reports that my winter heating bills are going to be higher than last year, and prices at the grocery store and the gas pump are spiraling upward. That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for things I don’t need.
Need is the key word here. When I think I want to take advantage of those Black Friday deals, I first ask myself, “Do I need it?” In most cases the answer to that question is no. That makes it a “want” rather than a “need.” Then I ask myself, “Do I already have something else that fills that purpose?” Often the answer to that is yes. And that’s usually enough to end my internal battle. If it is something I don’t need, and I already have something that does the job ok, there is no reason to buy something new. At this point in my life I don’t need a lot of frivolity. I’m not a “fragrance and jewelry” kind of girl. I wear the same silver hoop earrings and stainless steel wedding band every day, and my favorite fragrance is Dove soap (followed closely by the scent of campfire smoke). Wanting something just to have it is really not my style.
Would it be cool to have a new smartwatch? Sure! But my old Fitbit still does the trick. Would a new smartphone be awesome? Of course….but my old one is still going strong. The wish that almost sucked me in was wireless earbuds. I felt weak…and I even added the ones that match my smartphone brand to my online cart. And I actually needed something to replace my Bluetooth earpiece that disappeared several weeks ago (because my aging cars don’t have Bluetooth connections for talking on the phone in the car). But then I found a cheap knockoff set of earbuds for $25 and bought them instead…and they’re working great.
Advertisements are strong this time of year. We are pummeled with “BUY NOW!!!!” from every turn. Unless you are immune to this kind of pressure, it’s important to have a plan to combat it. For me it’s the pause to ask myself the questions of whether it’s needed. Sometimes it’s placing it into my online cart and letting it sit there while I ponder the necessity. If it survives both of these tests, sometimes I will actually buy something…but I’ll be certain that it was a purchase that makes sense.
How do you combat the Black Friday ads? Are you able to tune it out? What is your plan to make sure you don’t make unnecessary purchases this time of year?