The shopping season is here, and it’s coming for your wallet. Not only do we have Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, but this American tradition has also spun off into a string of frenzied buying days. There’s now Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday. Of course, I’m not a monster. I do love a good deal. But it’s hard not to be cynical and critical of our hyper-consumerist society. So for anyone looking to mindfully shop this holiday season, here are some things to consider before venturing out into the wild.
Failing to plan is a plan to fail.
I know… this is a 10/10 on the corny scale, but it’s true. Prepare ahead by knowing what you want to buy and looking at prices before Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This intel can help you understand how much you’re saving or if you’re saving anything at all. Once you have a game plan, you can put together a budget based on everything you intend to purchase.
If you’re planning on buying gifts, go full Santa.
Make a list of folks you’re getting gifts for, and plan your purchases before you start shopping. It might be hard to take the time to sit there and think about a gift that your loved one will appreciate. But doing this will help you resist the urge to walk into a Target without a game plan or impulsively make purchases online. Take a thoughtful and considerate approach. Make an organized list. What would this person really appreciate? Have they mentioned they needed something lately? This might make you actually enjoy the art of giving a gift that someone will love.
Bonus gifting pro tip
Create a buy list of gift ideas or buy your gifts throughout the year. This is Jedi-gifting status combined with a psychotic level of organization. I’m not sorry for suggesting it, but it might not be for everyone.
Just because something is on sale doesn’t mean you have to buy it.
Sometimes a good deal is simply a good deal, but even in those cases, it doesn’t mean you need to buy it. I wish this weren’t the truth, but it is. If you weren’t planning on spending that money, is the sale actually worth it? It might be, so take some time to consider that question before buying.
If you have to buy now and pay later to afford something, can you really afford it?
I think the answer is no, and I’m sorry that no is the answer. I’m sorry that BNPL is so widely available because it shouldn’t be. Go fuck yourself, Klarna, and AfterPay.
Understand cost per use
The cost-per-use framework is a way to improve the quality of your spending decisions, especially during Black Friday and the holiday shopping season.
This framework doesn’t just compare how much something costs. It considers how many times we can use an item we buy.
In this example, compare the two sweaters. At first glance, we might be compelled to buy the cheaper one. But the cheaper one might not last as many uses. Which could result in having a higher cost per use compared to the more expensive sweater.
The lower the cost per use, the better the value. Counterintuitively, sometimes paying more can cost you less.
Mind your scarcity mindset.
’Tis the season for the exploitation of your glorious, gorgeous human brain. You’ve got some old technology running on your mushy noggin that you might not even be aware of. For example, there is a theory from evolutionary biology that humans have evolved to pay attention to scarcity. This makes sense if you think about it. It’s valuable to pay extra close attention if water or food is becoming scarce. But in the context of today’s modern world, scarcity looks like limiting sale prices to a 24-hour to 48-hour period.
If you go shopping this season, may the sales gods smile upon you. May your highest self guide you in your financial decisions. I wish you blessings on your journey.