It’s the time of year where we rush to stores to buy the latest gadgets on sale, save a few dollars, and act like untamed animals which inevitably results in multiple news stories about awful things that people have done to others to make sure they got the deal they were looking for. All for something that we’ll probably forget about in a year or two, if not sooner. There’s plenty of evidence showing that experiences provide much more happiness than material things. However, most Black Friday deals revolve around getting a good deal on a “thing” rather than an experience.
Obviously, we can tell from above that I’m not a Black Friday shopper. We hear every year about some of the horrible things that people do to others on this day and I don’t want to have to witness anything like that. I don’t even want to watch it on the news. I get stressed out enough just going to the grocery store on a busy Sunday.
Evidence tells us that more stuff doesn’t provide happiness to our lives. Take a second and think about your own life. How much stuff do you have in your garage, your basement, your attic, or that extra room in your house that you haven’t used in the last 6 months? The last year? The last 5 years?
Is it really that important to keep around if you haven’t used it in that long? Do you really need a whole room in your house dedicated to just storing the stuff that you never use? Not only is that an inefficient use of your space and money, but it’s clutter in your life that you clearly don’t need.
I think a lot of the time people get sucked into Black Friday deals without actually taking time to consider if they really “need” what they’re buying or if they’ll actually use it once the new wears off.
Think about it this way: If the item you’re going to purchase on Black Friday weren’t on sale, would you buy it anyways? Most of the time, I’d bet the answer to that is “no” and that tells me that it’s probably not really worth that much to you.
I challenge you to reconsider what you’re going to purchase on Black Friday, and for holiday gifts in general. Is it really worth standing in line forever and witnessing some of the things that people do and say to each other just to save some money on something that you’ll probably forget about or replace in a year or two? Are the gifts that you’re planning on giving to people really going to provide long-term happiness to them?
What if you took that money and instead provided an experience that they’ll be more likely to remember and feel is special, rather than giving them a material gift? Take them out to dinner, give them tickets to a sporting event, or take them to do something that they’ve told you about but haven’t gotten around to yet. Even though you don’t have a tangible good to show for the money that you spent, I still think this is a better use of it.
We’re one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet the majority of us have very little saved, or aren’t saving, for retirement. We have houses full of stuff that we rarely use but we’re still enamored on getting deals on things on one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Are we that much more worried about having new stuff and toys than our own futures that we can’t exercise the discipline that it takes to save? We spend so much of our money on “wants” rather than “needs” without regard to where money will come from in the future when we’re no longer able to work. What does that say about us?
Fortunately for me, I have others around me who aren’t obsessed with getting a deal on Black Friday and I’ll get to spend time with them. If I do end up getting a gift that came from a Black Friday sale, then it’ll probably be tickets to a Pacers game and I’d value that much more highly than some t-shirt that probably won’t fit or some trinket that I’ll never use. That experience will mean more to me, last longer in my memory, and probably make me happier than any material thing that someone could save a couple of bucks on at a Black Friday sale and give to me.
Yeah, you might save some money, but is it worth it? Especially for something that comparatively probably won’t provide you that much happiness. For something that you’ll be excited about for a couple of months and then forget. For something that’s going to add more clutter to your life.
