No holiday ends as abruptly as Thanksgiving. Hours after we celebrate being thankful for all we’ve been given, we switch into full-on consumer mode, buying as many discounted televisions, tablets, kitchen items, and gifts as we can carry home.
The tradition of shopping the day after Thanksgiving dates back to the 1920s. In 1924, inspired by a Toronto department story called Eaton’s, the Macy’s department store in New York put on a Thanksgiving Day parade in front of their store. Because so many people came to see the parade, Macy’s stayed open the following day to allow people to get an early start on their Christmas shopping.
The Friday after Thanksgiving, now known as Black Friday, has long been the highest-grossing day of the year for retailers. According to the National Retail Foundation, at least half of all holiday shopping occurs on Black Friday. In 2011, large retail stores began opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day, and in 2013, Black Friday combined with Cyber Monday for record-setting holiday sales.
Some people enjoy the thrill of getting great deals on Black Friday. Others enjoy being out among the holiday crowds. And some prefer to avoid it all by shopping online. Regardless of how you plan to shop for the holidays, here are some tips to help navigate your shopping this season.
1. SET A BUDGET
There is no reason to go into debt just to impress friends or fill your house with more stuff. Set a spending limit for each person on your shopping list and discipline yourself to stick to it.
This is especially important if you are still in medical school or residency and do not yet earn a full-time salary. According to a study from NerdWallet, “Middle-class families will take longer to pay off debt incurred during the holiday season than some other income groups will:
Families with an annual household income between $50,000 and $75,000 will take longer to pay off holiday debt than will families with an annual household income of less than $50,000.
Families with household incomes less than $100,000 will take longer to pay off their holiday credit card debt (averaging 2-3 months) compared to those with household incomes of $100,000 or more (just one month).”
Budgets help alleviate the stress of holiday shopping. This may sound counterintuitive because budgets can sometimes feel restrictive, but firm boundaries give us freedom by limiting the scope of what we can and cannot do. If you have $50 to spend on a friend’s gift, that limit reduces the number of options and eliminates the pressure to spend more.
Budgets are also healthy for kids during this time of the year. While your children are making wish lists and buying gifts, teach them the difference between cost and value along with how to create and follow a budget. Give them a fixed amount of money and the skills to form healthy financial habits early.
2. GET PERSONAL
Like our children, we, too, need to be reminded about the difference between cost and value. It’s easy to believe the lie that expensive gifts carry more meaning than those that cost less.
In Season 2 of the NBC television show The Office, the employees of Dunder Mifflin drew names for Secret Santa and set a $20 limit for gifts. Each employee purchased or made personal gifts within the $20 limit except the boss, Michael Scott, who used his company bonus to buy a brand new video iPod for the employee he drew. After Michael received handmade oven mitts as his gift, he changed the game from Secret Santa to Yankee Swap, so everyone got to choose the gift they wanted. It obviously didn’t work since most of the gifts were made with a specific person in mind.
Personalized gifts require more planning and thought, but they’re more meaningful and a great way to avoid the barrage of competitive shoppers on Black Friday. You might take an elbow to the face if you have to fight for the last discounted iPad, but you’re unlikely to get assaulted at a grocery store buying ingredients for your friend’s favorite dessert or writing a letter to tell a loved one how much you care for them.
One of the best gifts I’ve ever received was a coffee mug my wife bought for me while in Chicago with friends. It had lines wrapped all the way around that looked like notebook paper. She gave it to me with a note that said, “For my favorite writer.” It shattered recently when one of our kids dropped it, but it remains one of my all-time favorite gifts, and it only cost $10.
The cost of a gift might seem impressive, but the value is what makes it meaningful. Focus your Black Friday shopping on value more than cost.
3. KNOW WHERE TO LOOK
Online shopping is quickly replacing in-store shopping as the norm, especially on busy days like Black Friday. If you prefer to shop from the comfort of your living room, sites like WireCutter.com offer up-to-the-minute deals on discounted items, especially electronics, and Amazon has recently added Alexa-only deals that you can purchase from your Echo device.
If you enjoy the in-store shopping experience, however, there are tools available to help you as well. Target’s Circle app has real-time, in-store coupons and shows you the location of each item in your store. Apps for major chains like Walmart and Home Depot can also help you find items in your local store. H&M app users receive a 15% coupon when shopping in their stores.
Some companies recycle their Black Friday sales from year to year. Sites like BradsDeals.com and BlackFriday.com keep a log of each year’s Black Friday deals, which can be helpful for strategic shopping, and Nerd Wallet has a comprehensive list of this year’s Black Friday store hours.
If you know where to look and plan your purchase route well, you have a much better chance of staying within your budget. Planning will keep you from wandering aimlessly into stores just to see what deals they have. Make your list, map your route, and don’t break the bank on Black Friday.
4. CONSIDER EXPERIENCES
The biggest temptation on Black Friday is to buy things simply because they’re on sale. We convince ourselves that we’re saving money because items are discounted. That could be true if we only bought things we truly needed, but most Black Friday items do not fall into that category. Almost everything is a want. So rather than purchasing more things for yourself or your loved ones, consider taking advantage of Black Friday offers on experiences instead.
For example, there are many travel sites that offer great Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Airbnb and Hipcamp offer Black Friday rate reductions on some of their rentals. Use these discounts to plan a spring break getaway with friends or a summer vacation with your family.
In many cities, annual memberships to zoos, museums, theme parks, the symphony, and the theater are all discounted on Black Friday, even if the venues are closed for the season. Memberships extend your Christmas present throughout the entire year.
You might also consider one large gift for the whole family, such as a new swimming pool for the backyard, camping equipment, ski passes, a basketball goal, or anything else you can experience together well after the holidays are over.
5. STAY THANKFUL
No matter what you do this Black Friday, be sure to remain grateful.
As this article from Harvard Medical School states: "Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of always reaching for something new in the hopes it will make them happier, or thinking they can't feel satisfied until every physical and material need is met. Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack. And, although it may feel contrived at first, this mental state grows stronger with use and practice."
Thankfulness should be a year-round disposition, but especially during the holiday season. While you may want to purchase new gadgets, redecorate your home, or upgrade your wardrobe, remember that there are millions of people around the world who would happily enjoy the possessions you have right now. As the saying goes, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” That’s not to say you should give away all of your “trash” (though making donations is a good thing). Rather, it’s to say that perspective matters. If we are satisfied with what we have and resist the constant demand for more, the spirit of Thanksgiving will remain in us throughout the holiday season and into the new year.
