Why We Don't Support Black Friday

I don't often share this with just anyone, but I feel like it's important enough - especially this year - to share with all my blogger friends. :)

Robert and I no longer do any Christmas shopping, per se. That's part of the story. Another part is based on a personal conviction that I had last year around my birthday about spending $$ at Christmastime.

But I should start at the beginning (because that's a very good place to start, right?) :)

In 2010, we had one consistent income we could count on - Robert's. I was babysitting, but although I loved it, it didn't bring in the same amount of income I had when I was working full time. We were on a tight, limited budget, and Christmas was scaring me more and more as it approached. But, we were able to buy all the gifts for the people we wanted to, and stay on a good budget, so I felt (somewhat) pleased.

But something didn't feel right about it. Although we did use mostly (about 95%) cash to buy all the gifts, and the small percentage that I used a credit card for was paid off immediately, it just didn't sit well with me.

Thus began this journey we're on to becoming debt-free. But another story for another time.

In 2011, I was convicted to make all of the Christmas gifts we'd be given. We had already agreed that we'd be purchasing a new television for our home for each other for Christmas with the extra money we had saved for the holidays, but I couldn't stand to buy gifts for people that I wasn't sure they'd like or appreciate. Don't get me wrong; no one has ever dismissed anything I've given them! But I wanted our gifts to truly matter to people.

So, I invested in a couple of moderately-priced magazines and other sources to help me plan the gifts we'd be giving. Admittedly, we did make a lot of the gifts in bulk, but were very selective about whom we gave each gift to. A lot of thought went into each of them. And it ended up working out perfectly well, so that we were both excited to give each and every gift. The really amazing part about all of it, though, was the fact that everyone we gave the gifts to was genuinely thankful for each one!

Here are some pictures of a few of the things we made last year, but if you want to read the blog post on it, go here. 

And you know what? I didn't worry about them worrying about how much or how little we spent on the gifts, because this overwhelming sense of calm washed over me about it: the price does not matter. I know we can all say that, but I finally believed it, in terms of giving gifts. I've always enjoyed giving more than receiving, but this was like an amazing reward for following my heart.

So, we decided we'd be doing homemade gifts again this year. (Well, okay, I decided, and Robert said, "sure, sounds good.") But we're both excited to do this again, because we had a lot of fun doing it last year! We worked together on each project, and it made it more enjoyable and special every time we saw someone open our gifts. :)

In short, we will not be doing any Black Friday shopping this year, and there are many reasons:
1) We don't need to - we're making everything we're giving! (and already have a lot of the gifts ready to go, or at least have all the supplies)
2) I refuse to participate in being a statistic on Black Friday (I'm not a fan of consumerism, really)
3) I have no desire to stand in line with a bunch of people who are just as impatient as me, and end up being shoved and pushed around, and risk being robbed (don't kid yourself; Black Friday is every pick-pocket's playground)
4) The need to spend is not there for us
5) The temptation to use credit is too great (we do not use credit anymore, we are paying it off) 
6) I don't care to fight people over parking spaces
7) It's cozier at home with my hubby and/ or family
8) I have better things to do with my time, and so does Robert
9) We are excited to give homemade gifts instead of shopping online or in-store
10) I truly believe that people value the homemade gifts more than the ones we bought previously

And the list can go on and on. But that's a brief explanation. And I'm sure there are people who disagree with me, and that's okay, but we're standing by this decision.

How do you feel about Black Friday?