Make Black Friday A Debt Free Friday

Calendar November 26, 2009 | Posted by Brad Chaffee

black fridayIf you ask me, Black Friday is the worst day of the year. Add my least favorite thing to do—shopping—and you have yourself one turned-off Dad. Just show me some pajamas and the remote, and I’ll show you what contentment actually looks like. I’d even settle for watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” with my wife, but don’t tell her—she’ll be skipping the marketing festivities as well.

Now that you know how much I hate that particular Friday let me share with you why.

The most obvious downsides are things like bumper-to-bumper traffic, over-crowded stores, and tons of hyper-zealous shoppers prepared to go to war in order to get their hands on “the” deal of a lifetime!

The not so obvious pitfalls—at least to those who participate—are things like gratuitous overspending, massive debt accumulation, and bad driving. Today, I am going to talk about the first two, and leave the bad driving part to your new police officer friend. Could you tell me again why Black Friday is so darn popular?

Let me take a stab at it, shall I?

That’s no typo folks. Great marketing is the reason why you think it is the absolute best day to shop. I do realize that there are a few really good deals for the people willing to camp out for hours before the stores even open, but who the heck wants to do that? Not me. First of all, those people are nuts, and second, how much money do you save if you spend more than you should of on credit cards to take advantage of the terrific deals?

Those few deals are what they use to get you into the store, but just before you got there, two people were just arrested for fighting over the last digital camera—the same one you wanted. What’s a potential debtor to do? I’ve been there before, you go and look around for something else, after all, you’re already there.  May as well stock up.

Try doing something different on Black Friday this year. If I can’t talk you out of going out and battling the crowds, can I at least talk you out of charging everything that is on your Christmas list? Spend cash, or at least less than you make. Don’t let Christmas drag around behind you until June or July. Instead of relying on other people to fund your Christmas gifts, become more self-reliant and spend only what you have. Rely on yourself.

Have a Debt Free Christmas, so you can enjoy the time with your family and friends. It’s never too late to start spending less than you make.

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Brad Chaffee is the Enemy of Debt, and a regular contributor here at the Self Reliance Exchange. Brad has lived without credit cards since March of 2008, and has recently become debt free by paying off $26,076.75 of debt in 20 months. Learn more about Brad by reading his bio. You may also contact him here.

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