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Thoughts about Black Friday
By Molly's Brother | November 25, 2007
Yes, I probably should be working on something for grad school. Yes, I probably should be reading some fascinating book or writing some incredibly thought provoking–and well-written–paper about something or other. But I can’t.
Because I can’t get something out of my mind.
In reading the obligatory news articles about Black Friday, I was struck by one single quotation.
“I really can’t afford this TV…”
I woke up this Saturday morning, sipping my coffee and reading the newspaper. On the front page of the Los Angeles Times, there was an article about all the shopping festivities that took place the previous day. Photos of a man rolling out an enormous flat panel television (it was one of two that he had purchased that morning). The reporters caught up with Sawmon Jahagiri, a 19-year-old Laguna Niguel resident. Not only did Jahagiri pay $40 for someone to sit in line and hold his spot, but he was there before the electronics store opened…at 5 AM.
But this was the quotation that stopped me in my tracks. “I really can’t afford this TV–I’ll be making making monthly payments on my credit card until this time next year.”He goes on to say, “But it’s the holidays. You do what you have to do.”
Reduce Debt. Reduce Spending.
I am not singling out Mr. Jahagiri, because I know the shopping malls and big box stores and discount electronics outlets were filled with millions–millions–of Americans who shrugged off their own financial realities.
In order to reduce your debt, you have to cease spending. This might be the most difficult month of the year to scale back the purchases, therefore it is the month when you need to do just that. Here are some helpful tips to keep your spending under control:
- Keep January in mind. There will come a time when the Christmas cheer and Holiday feel goes away. That reality lands with a large thud sometime around the first week of the New Year. Yes, a full week after Christmas. If you think through to the consequences, it may help you curb your Christmas spending.
- Set limits. In order to drastically change your life, you need to set limits. Setting limits happens before you take out your credit card, your debit card, or open your wallet. Setting limits is not the process of negotiating and renegotiating with yourself in the moment of spending.
- Think about Christmas spending all year. From setting limits comes a higher understanding of how you need to successfully budget for gifts. It is a year long process. If, each December, you realize that you don’t have enough cash-on-hand, then perhaps you should redefine your ability to spend.
Probably the single best quotation from that article, and from any article regarding Black Friday, was from Robert Stucken, who was outside that same line on Friday morning.
“No one’s waiting here out of necessity.”
Topics: Debt |