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You may have a general idea of what you want to spend on gifts this time of year.
Maybe you even went ahead to find out exactly what someone wants. . .
as an attempt to make them HAPPY.
Is your quest to make someone else happy going to make you miserable with a big credit card bill that you can’t pay?
Consider this quick test.
Before you flip thorugh the circular, ask yourself this:
Can you realistically afford to shop on Black Friday or even Cyber Monday? If the answer is no, then that’s a HUGE problem. Here’s how to fix it.
Instead of splurging on gifts, why not splurge on time? People will often say, I don’t have time to do X. So why not fill in the blank with something you normally don’t have time for like exercising, reading a book, or making a homemade meal. Turn Black Friday and Cyber Monday into a day where you spend time and not money.
Jim Rohn once said:
Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money but you can’t get more time.
Click to tweet this quote here.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday : Splurge on Time, Not Money
Here are some alternatives to shopping on Black Friday that I happily put together for you:
1. Eat Thanksgiving leftovers with friends you haven’t seen in a long time. Make turkey croquettes , a tangy turkey with capers appetizer, or a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich.
2. Share your snack time fun on Twitter. The Chew talk show created the #SnackFriday hashtag to encourage people to spend time with friends instead of participating in the Black Friday madness.
3. Catch up with your hobbies or do something you don’t normally have time to do.
4. Get a book you’ve been meaning to read.
5. Start a new tradition and make homemade gifts.
6. Declutter your house, sell what you want to ditch by writing a Craigslist ad that sells.
7. Decide not to exchange and write letters of appreciation to each other. My family and I did a variation on this idea and made acrostic poems. Use the letters of each family members’ name to write something nice about them.
8. Join the Empowered Dollars’ idea to spend love and not money this year.
9. Have you always wanted to run a marathon. Consider a cold weather run.
10. Give your family’s personal recipe book out as a gift or part of a gift this year. Have each member of the family print out 2 favorite recipes and assemble it as a book. Attach a card and a candy cane.
11. We all take videos on vacation but when do we revisit them? Make a new tradition the day after Thanksgiving to watch old vacation videos together.
12. Make a free holiday planner and carefully plan your shopping with a set amount you can afford. You can print out a list for gifts, cards, holiday recipes, memories, and more. I use this every year and save the print outs from years past.
The Bottom Line
Don’t overspend or go into debt to keep others happy. Give yourself permission to please your wallet by creating alternatives to shopping. Choose to spend time in a meaningful way over money.
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