Too Much?

I realize that today is not the best day to mention this, but... did you know that today is

BUY NOTHING DAY?

It's true: the idea is to be counter-cultural. Instead of responding to ads and sales, YOU get to decide what's important. It's to be a "special day for you to unshop, unspend and unwind." To do nothing for "the economy", at least for a day.

I think it's awesome. Two very important caveats: 1) I've never been a huge black friday shopper and 2) many times, I'm traveling on this day so to NOT buy something would be much harder. Pack a lunch to go on the plane takes a bit more planning than I like to spend. Or my husband puts up with. And honestly? A good latte in the airport goes a looooong way to soothing Mama's travel nerves.

But I like the idea of Buy Nothing, as well as the Hundred Dollar Holiday. We set that as a goal one or two years and realized that $100 wouldn't work, but were able to make it under $250. That was for the entire (extended to neices/nephews) family as well as friends, secret santa, etc. But we started planning in the fall, and shopped a lot of sales. Another year we started planning in the summer, and handmade a lot of stuff.

So Black Friday isn't exactly the best time to think about *this* Christmas. But on years like this, where I haven't planned anything and have a budget without a lot of meaning(other than not going broke!), I like to start thinking about Fair Trade and a "green" Christmas and what kind of holiday season I want. I give myself a pass for the year, but become a bit more intentional about what we buy (or not) and what we do (or not). And I try to scribble my thoughts down somewhere so that when it comes to next year, I have a better idea of how to have a holiday full of peace and meaning.

Hopefully!

In the meantime, I take the "Buy Nothing Day" and adapt it to my life. Some Advents, I've chosen not to buy anything on a particular day of the week (like Friday). Instead I'll do something Christmasy or Adventy or just visit friends or family. It's a kinda neat way to enjoy shopping without making my life revolve around sales :)