Today is Black Friday. This year, many of the stores opened at midnight - apparently 4 a.m. wasn't early enough. In L.A., a woman pepper-sprayed a crowd of fellow shoppers at a Walmart so she could get first dibs on the cheap electronics. Further north in Cali, one shopper got shot when he wouldn't give up his merchandise.
Sure, these are extreme examples of materialism gone amuck, but I'm still not a fan of the crass commercialism of the Christmas season. In recent years, I've tried to avoid the craziness altogether by observing Buy Nothing Day on Friday and then maybe celebrating Shop Local Day on Saturday. But this year, I'm taking it to the next level.
Today marks the start of my Year of Buying Nothing. ::cue dramatic music::
...Which is to say, of course, I'm still going to buy groceries and deodorant and cat food, and I'm still allowed to Christmas shop for other people. Wedding purchases are also kosher. But the point is that in order to save money for our wedding, I need to get serious about the silly frivolous purchases that eat up so much of my spare cash. I have to come up with $6,000 between now and next October. So, from now on, until I become a Mrs. (and hopefully for a while after), I hereby swear off all nonconsumable, unnecessary purchases for myself, including but not limited to clothing, shoes, jewelry, knick-knacks, kitchen gadgets, decorations, DVDs, books, and so on. These add up more than you might think. Mad props to my friend and super bridesmaid Eliza, who inspired me when she did a Year of Buying Nothing earlier. And she survived.
I chose to kick this off on Black Friday for symbolic reasons. The Man laughs and says my shopping strike won't last very long, but the doubt of others only strengthens my resolve. One day down, 364 to go...
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