Christmas SHopping on Thanksgiving maybe a new tradition

[frugalfoster]

I am about 70% done with my shopping, so I don't plan on purchasing very much from now on. I wonder if there are more people who are also done purchasing their gifts. I also have to say that I cut the amount I am spending this year by half. The black Friday sales allowed me to give exceptional gifts for half the cost!

[Spirit Deer]

~I agree to an extent Deer but if all retailers move to Thanksgiving shopping, people will start to have to make the choice between celebrating their holiday or shopping for the next one. It may turn into a situation where it would cost you spend Thanksgiving eating, visiting and giving thanks.
Say you have 20 items on your list. Regular prices total almost $1000 but Black Friday/Thanksgiving Creep prices add up to about $500. So not shopping the doorbusters could cost you $500.
Sure you could shop all year and maybe get everything for in the $700 range but Thanksgiving at home would still "cost" you $100-300.
I'm afraid when people start thinking this way, they'll choose to abandon T-day as we know it. When money is tight and expectations are high, people can go a little crazy.
We frugal all year/homemade gifts people are in the minority. Most people can't wrap their minds around other ways to celebrate the holiday. I feel like I'm watching the lemmings race toward the cliff. ~

Still a choice. Some people choose not to shop online and they potentially lose money due to that choice. Some people choose not to enter into the madness of Black Friday no matter what day it's held, and may lose money. Some people can't gather on Thanksgiving Day for one reason or another, so they make a choice to gather and give thanks possibly when the big sales are going on. Again, a potentially money-losing choice on their part. Nobody is forced to buy any particular item at any particular price on any particular day. We all make choices every day. If some choose to shop on Thanksgiving, that's up to them. If others choose not to, then that's up to them, too.

If I have twenty items on my list and can't get some of those items at a price I'm willing to pay, 100% of the time I alter my list to get items I can afford. Frugal people make those kinds of decisions all the time. Therefore, since I'm able to be flexible, it's not going to cost me a thing to stay home. Gift lists are not carved in stone.

Black Friday isn't the only day there are sales during the holiday season, either. Sometimes the sales right before Christmas are even better. So in theory, buying on Black Friday if prices end up being less nearer Christmas could be a money-wasting move, too. As for buying at full retail price, who does that? It's not hard to scare up a coupon, a sale, eBay, Craig's List, or other lower-priced source for just about anything.

Even when we had eight kids at home, we did not get sucked into the Black Friday madness and the massive commercialism that has obliterated the real meaning of Christmas. And we always had a very nice Thanksgiving followed a few weeks later by a very nice Christmas for which we never went into debt. Those were the choices we made and it was never a problem.

To each his or her own.

[nuisance26]

If I have twenty items on my list and can't get some of those items at a price I'm willing to pay, 100% of the time I alter my list to get items I can afford. Frugal people make those kinds of decisions all the time. Therefore, since I'm able to be flexible, it's not going to cost me a thing to stay home. Gift lists are not carved in stone.
Black Friday isn't the only day there are sales during the holiday season, either. Sometimes the sales right before Christmas are even better. So in theory, buying on Black Friday if prices end up being less nearer Christmas could be a money-wasting move, too. As for buying at full retail price, who does that? It's not hard to scare up a coupon, a sale, eBay, Craig's List, or other lower-priced source for just about anything.

~As, I said, most people aren't frugal minded like that though, especially when buying for their children.
Gift lists for many children are carved in stone as far as parents are concerned, hence the fighting in stores over the hot toys.
Many parents will go to the ends of the earth and pay any price to not disappoint their child on Christmas morning. The early bird gets the worm with this kind of thing. So when a parent has items their children are set on and their financial situation is precarious, they may not feel like they have a choice. They know that there are other parents out there who have more money than they do to get the hot toys off Ebay when they become unavailable in stores or online.
I totally agree that it's a choice but certain of us are more educated and conditioned to make that choice than others. I feel like the industry is preying on the gullibility of ignorance by creating such a frenzy of pressure every year.
The country would not be in such financial difficulty if the majority of people knew how to shop sales and use coupons and think like a frugal person.
BTW, you can get a price adjustment on something you bought earlier if the price goes lower. You can also buy at the lower price and return the item you bought previously. So buying early is still the better way to go.~

[227melissa]

On Thanksgiving we give thanks for what we have, not for what we can buy or a great price. Hate this idea.