Today, apparently, is Cyber Monday.
Really? Oh yes. I should be hitting the keyboard with vigour ordering from every retailer from here to Timbuctoo.
Am I doing that? Well no, I’m hitting those keys, but to post my thoughts on consumer spending this time of year.
Without a doubt I’m slightly biased. I hate shopping whatever the time of year. There are only 2 exceptions. I don’t mind doing my Aldi shop once a week, and I also do like a bit of craft supply purchasing. Both shopping trips enable me to collate items which ultimately will be greater than the sum of their parts. That works for me.
(confession – I’m also a bit susceptible to ski apparel shopping. I get butterflies looking at ski socks and base-layers. It’s not so much the purchases made, it’s the anticipation of what is to come 
)
As we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK, we also do not participate in Black Friday. Although I wonder whether over time the UK’s shopping calendar will officially acknowledge such a day now that consuming is done on a global platform.
The antidote to Black Friday is Buy Nothing Day. Which we do have in the UK. Although if you asked anyone if they knew about it, currently in the circles I frequent I would expect the answer to be ‘no’.
Black Friday always generates an array on anti-consumerism posts from the blogs that I read.
I particularly liked this one;
Okay, so everyone and his aspiring-Buddhist dog reads Zen Habits and you may have seen it already, but in case you haven’t…. (oh yeah who am I kidding?:-))
In the blogging compartment of my brain, I’d already titled a post ‘The End Of The Spend’. About mid-November I’d had enough. Not that I buy a huge amount of gifts, but just the small amount of purchasing I’d done, to date, had exhausted my consumer-resistant mind.
Leo’s post coupled with my current mindset has bought me to the conclusion I will be participating in his challenge.
Any items that I need to purchase for Christmas boxes/gifts will be done by Friday (and I’m hoping this is minimal).
From 1st December I’ll be focusing on what is important to me, creating cards and gifts, baking, decorating the house and spending time with the Kids.
And, of course, spending time with you Guys over here at my virtual home. There’ll be lots of festive fun to post about. I’m looking forward to it!
How about you? How are the holiday preparations going your end?
