Black Friday Is A CyberBully

It is, you know. Black Friday IS a Cyberbully.Not only does Black Friday stress you out as you freak out trying to grab deals – you end up being blackmailed into spending money you never meant to in the first place – money you could have put to better use.

Celebrate White Friday instead of Black Friday. Support International Buy Nothing Day.

“Today, humanity faces a stark choice: save the planet and ditch capitalism, or save capitalism and ditch the planet.” Fawzi Ibrahim

Give Black Friday the Black eye

First, give it a thrashing and rinse it out and turn it into #WhiteFriday. Yes. It is easy. It costs nothing. Literally! You need:

• Mindset
• Attitude
• Willingness

Once you adopt all three, just decide not to buy anything over the weekend, except food and groceries. Yep, you can eat.

Celebrate International Buy Nothing Day – an international day of protest against consumerism celebrated annually just after Thanksgiving.

Here are five great reasons to celebrate International Buy Nothing Day instead of Black Friday.

Held on the last Friday in November, Buy Nothing Day coincides with the start of the Christmas shopping frenzy. This year, Buy Nothing Day lands on November 28, 2014. It is an international, informal annual event dedicated to raising awareness of over-consumption. Participate by not participating!

How to boycott Black Friday

• Get your family together and tidy up your home. De-clutter. “Hey, my home is spotless, and so are the glasses”, you’re thinking, right? Fine. *Stifling my envy* So pick up a box or bag and go around your house. Pick two things from each room to giveaway. You can, you know. If you live in one room, that’s fine, too. Just look around. I did that once. I went around the neighborhood asking people to donate a couple of things, and visited them again half an hour later to pick it all up and carry it over to the local welfare home.
• Donate cash to your favorite charity. I have a list I choose from, besides my annual contributions which I make in January every year.
• Call your friends for a get together. Remind them to wear good walking shoes, because you’re all going to the park for a stroll, a brisk walk or a jog – whichever suits you. Then, come back to your place for refreshments. Years ago, my friends and I used to do this. Meet up in the morning, go for a walk, come back to my place for coffee, a chat and a breakfast of fruit. We enjoyed it so much it became a habit. Where’s the time, you’re asking, I know. If there’s one thing I can say about human beings – it is this: how badly they want something determines the effort they’ll put in to make it happen. We solved our time problem by meeting at 6 am…which meant waking early. It was so worth it.
• Plan a family get together. Just you and your loved ones. Laze around at home. Cook and eat together. Watch movies at home. Talk. Have conversations. Tell each other how much you care.
• Take a mini digital vacation. Switch off your devices. Focus on real life – make time to smell the flowers.
• Talking of flowers, why not plant a tree? Or get a potted plant? Hey you could even start your own kitchen garden.
• Indulge in your hobbies, some DIY. No hobbies? No problem. Have fun trying a recipe. Plan a project. Listen to music. Write a book.
• Look up your calendar for birthdays. Make some greeting cards. You don’t have to be an artist. Address these cards and keep them ready to send out. I know I grew up without the internet until I was 34 – but receiving an actual greeting card is such a novelty these days! Just like sitting across the table with your friend face to face.

The idea is – instead of spending money, you spend time looking after your home, your family, your community, yourself. It could be a day of giving – but hey, we got a whole other day for that on December 2: Giving Tuesday.

How are you celebrating Black Friday?