Sustainable and Minimalist Black Friday - Bradipocondriaca's Blog
Discover how to navigate Black Friday sustainably and with a minimalist mindset. Tips for creating wishlists, budgeting, and making thoughtful purchases.
Skip to content
We are almost there, and Black Friday is waiting for us (in case you've just returned from a deserted island and didn't know, in 2020 Black Friday is on November 27!). For a series of reasons mainly related to neuromarketing, Black Friday is a real test for minimalism. This is because, by its very nature, it pushes us to make impulse purchases, which can turn out to be complete flops. We feel an insane rush (“wow, we can only buy at a discount today!”), but rush is not minimalistic, so I'm here to give you a couple of tips for a sustainable and minimalist Black Friday.
But why is it called Black Friday?
The origin of Black Friday, like all consumerist holidays, is American, and it always falls on the first Friday after Thanksgiving. There are two theories about why it’s called Black Friday: one suggests it refers to the exhaust fumes from the cars that take you shopping, while the other suggests it relates to the color traditionally used to mark profits in accounting books. In any case, even if the name doesn’t sound great, it doesn’t stop us from crowding into stores or, as is advisable this year, crashing the internet!
Can minimalism and Black Friday coexist?
Why am I in favor of Black Friday? Simply put: because buying on sale is better than buying at full price. Remember that minimalism doesn’t mean not buying, but rather buying things we will use, and in this light, a sustainable Black Friday is not a mirage at all. But how do we manage the discounts that come at us from every angle? How do we resist the emails from our favorite companies and the perfect ads on Facebook?
The solution to saving during Black Friday is one, and it’s called a wishlist.
Why a wishlist is necessary
The problem with Black Friday is that it clouds our judgment: maybe I need a cordless vacuum cleaner, and I end up buying a multifunction hair straightener. However, if I have a wishlist, I can look with great suspicion at any item that doesn’t appear on it and therefore avoid pressing the dreadful “buy” button. I usually make five lists:
- clothes and accessories
- makeup, creams, and cosmetics
- books
- creative items
- online courses
Of course, if you have a budget, the ideal is to make one purchase per list and not focus only on one area, because in that case, the feeling of overwhelm is guaranteed. Ideally, you would buy just one very expensive item that you have desired for a long time, but it’s not always easy to find specific items on sale. Wishlists made directly on brand websites are great because you can go straight to the target without being distracted by other offers! Here are some well-known brands that have wishlists directly on their site: Stradivarius, Feltrinelli, H&M, Sephora.
Plan a budget
If the wishlist isn’t enough and you feel tempted to overspend, you can still make Black Friday sustainable by setting a maximum budget for purchases, perhaps dividing it between what you will buy for yourself and Christmas gifts. Once you exceed that, there are no exceptions, and you must stop: I bet that this way, every purchase will be more thoughtful, and in the end, you will only buy what you will really use?
Watch out for discount percentages
How does Black Friday work in practice? There’s no rule. Some brands offer very high discounts (recommended, given the competition), others provide free shipping (mmm…), and others still offer super discounts but only on certain products (and you have the wishlist, so in this case, you are super advantaged!). Here are some general guidelines, keeping in mind that you know what you really need and can ignore the rest:
- Frown if they offer you less than 25% off
- Be cautious of brands that often have sales and don’t increase percentages during Black Friday. Come back another time
- Watch out for the classic “the more you buy, the less you spend,” where they increase the discount percentage based on the number of products you buy. In reality, the more you buy, the more you spend, even if the discount increases: it’s fine if you need that item (read: it’s on your wishlist), otherwise “run away, fools!”
So, I hope my tips are helpful, and I would be thrilled if you stop by to tell me what you bought during Black Friday and if you managed to make it sustainable and minimalist. But in the meantime, tell me: have you made your wishlists? Ah, if you want to know what I will buy, I’ll tell you in real-time on my new minimalist profile! If you want to stay updated on blog releases, there’s the newsletter, complete with a freebie for managing fragrances in a minimalist way!