Black Friday

I do not understand Black Friday at all. I look at the TV coverage and it reminds me of an animal feeding frenzy when I see shoppers pushing and shoving to get in a store as it opens.

One article said that many of the people who charge their purchases still haven't paid off their purchases for last Christmas.

I admit I'm not like many. Debt is anathema. If you can't pay it off the same month, you don't use your credit card.

Why?

Because no matter how great the price is, the interest charges wipe out the savings.

There may be emergency exceptions like if it's January in Boston, a blizzard is coming and your heating system breaks down. There's a Brit advert that uses a similar scenario: it is for a payday lender. At 1000 APR.

Not to sound like a COW (Crotchety Old Woman) but I believe it is better to save up for what you want. There was a point in my life that I needed to use credit to buy a car. If I want an expensive car now, I would still need to borrow. Instead I can write a check for a used car. Our last one that we bought for 2500 Euros gave us at least 50,000 miles. Our new/one is a little more expensive, but not much, and is chugging along nicely. We've decorated it with butterflies to make it special and to be able to recognize it easily from all the other gray cars on the road. No monthly payments, no interest meaning the car cost exactly what I paid for it.

Back to Black Friday. There used to be Christmas Clubs, special savings accounts offered by banks and credit unions where so much of each paycheck went into one. Thus early in December, the money was there for shopping and there was no January blues when the realization that debt levels have increased.

France is thinking of banning Black Fridays, but Europe had a more restrictive attitude towards sales and shopping in general.

In Germany stores were only open Saturday afternoons one day a month. During the week, they also closed in the early evening. Switzerland has finally agreed in some location to let stores open a couple of Sundays in December.

The over consumption of Black Friday means not just billions of increase debt, but tons of items that will end up in storage or if we are lucky being recycled. Very little will be treasured in a couple of months. Bad for the planet.

This Black Friday for me meant getting up early, not so much to fight the crowds for something I probably didn't need or as a gift for someone who probably didn't need it, I had an early dentist appointment and yes, I'd rather go to the dentist than face a Black Friday crowd. That is if I can't stay in bed with a cup of tea and a book or take Sherlock for a nice walk in the crisp November air.