I may be early on the topic of Black Friday; this capitalist, American holiday encouraging people to spend their money on products that have a reduced price; but this is only because I noticed a certain sentence whilst scrolling on a website.
If you don’t know who Martin Lewis is, he specialises in personal finance and economics, producing television shows and websites on how to save you money. I had been browsing his website (www.moneysavingexpert.com) looking for the best place to buy a new computer. As I reached the end of the page explaining the deals, this sentence was written:
“Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the Black Friday hype, and only ever buy what you need and can afford.”
Now, before you click away after realising “wait this is common sense”, allow me to explain.
No matter who you are, everyone has impulses, it is genetic (Bevilacqua & Goldman, 2013). There is nothing quite like finding a good deal for a product, only because our materialistic society has instructed us of its importance. From my experience, it is shocking how easily I can fall into the trap of buying something new because I “believe” I need it or “once I get this, I’ll be happy”.
News flash for the world! Products should not be the source of happiness. One might argue the example of video games being a source of happiness, but I can counteract it with it being the experience of the game itself not the console. There are many ways the statement aforementioned can be dissected, but the main point from it is if you are purchasing a product for the sole reason that it is the only thing that will make you happy is wrong.
From this sentence on this money saving site, I can understand my urges a bit more. The only reason I was looking into getting a new computer was because I thought it would make me happy. I would watch videos on Youtube, saying how “the M1 Macbook Air is the best laptop around and an essential for students”. This would be woven into my consumeristic brain that the laptop will make me a 1st Grade University student, when in actual sense, I just needed to put in the work.
To conclude, it is important to write down, truthfully, why you need to make this purchase. A brief mental note helps as well. It will help stop and control the impulsive behaviours we instinctively all have.
Good luck my friends!
Bevilacqua, L., & Goldman, D. (2013). Genetics of impulsive behaviour. Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 368(1615), 20120380. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0380
From My View 