Peace of Mind Organizing

Mindful Black Friday shopping

22 November 2022

I’m not a big fan of Black Friday. I hate crowds, so you’ll never find me in a brick-and-mortar store on the day after Thanksgiving. But I do like a deal, so I’m often tempted to shop online on Black Friday. It’s so easy for me (and maybe you?) to get caught up in buying things I don’t really need because they’re a good deal.

I’m at a stage in my life where less really feels like more. And I’m more interested in subtracting physical objects in my life than adding to them.

So I’m trying hard to be really mindful in my Black Friday shopping. This is what I’m doing. If you’d like to resist overspending this week, perhaps it will help you.

• I’ve created a list of items to look for on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. There are maybe six items on it—things that I need that I would buy even if I didn’t find a deal. But I figure I might as well wait to see if I can save a little money.
• I’m carefully looking at the sale emails I’ve been inundated with and asking myself a couple of important questions: (1) Do I really need this? and (2) Where will I store it?
• Since I’m paying attention to my emails from vendors, I’m unsubscribing like crazy to emails from companies whose products I don’t use, to cut down on temptation.

Whether you’re shopping in person or online, I think it’s a great idea to go in with a list and try to resist the things that aren’t on your list, even if they’re a great bargain. Because if you buy something you don’t need and wouldn’t have otherwise purchased, you’re not saving money. You’re spending more money.

But perhaps you don’t need to shop at all. If you find bargains hard to resist and you don’t really need anything, I encourage you to consider an alternative activity this holiday weekend. Find something else to give you that dopamine hit you might otherwise get from scoring a great bargain. And make it something that doesn’t cost you money or create clutter. Maybe you could go bowling and feel the thrill of getting a strike. Perhaps you could take a nice drive to a park for a walk or hike. Maybe you can allow yourself the luxury of binging a beloved TV series or movie franchise.

In my line of work (and in my life) I sometimes see the negative results of bargain shopping. I urge you to be extra mindful with your shopping this time of year!

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