An Absolutely Perfect "Black Friday"
Yesterday was "Black Friday," which is traditionally a day for Americans to spend enough money for retailers to take their accounts into the "black," which in the accounting world is when revenue exceed expense -- aka profit.
What did I do? I spent the day in my pajamas reading an entire library copy of Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell. I reheated Thanksgiving leftovers and steered clear of any stressful shopping.
American consumers are hyper-pressured into shopping in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we have the choice to not participate!
It's okay to minimize gift giving, both in the amount you give each year, but also the number of people with whom you exchange gifts. It's even okay to not shop whatsoever.
You can source gifts from your Buy Nothing group, things you already own or even a little free library. It's also okay to thrift everything, as there's an obscene glut of already manufactured products available on the secondhand market.
I'm giving you permission to buck retail pressure. You have zero personal responsibility to support the over-manufacture of consumer goods. If we stop buying the junk, maybe they'll stop producing it.