Interesting essay at TheMinimalists.com “The Blackest of Fridays,” commenting about the biggest shopping day of the year following Thanksgiving “On this day, people consume gluttonously without regard for the harm they’re inflicting on themselves. On this day, greed becomes ravenous. On this day, people live without real meaning, buying gifts to fill a void that can’t possibly be filled with any amount of material possessions.”
Bold statements for sure. It does seem insane that following a few hours of excessive eating, shoppers are tearing down the doors at stores that couldn’t even wait to open Friday, and instead opened Thursday night. Many financial difficulties can be traced for sure to our consumer culture. But was this all frantic consumerism, people just getting into the holiday spirit, or something else? I know hundreds of people that are really struggling financially, some in part to no fault of their own. My wife had an interesting question, she wondered if some of the frantic shopping was actually people with very modest means trying to get deals for loved ones, or buying basic needs for themselves.
I plan to visit this website, and checkout their book to learn more of what they are up to in their minimalist journey, so far it is all good. When I put on my financial planner hat, and consider retirement, living minimally definitely has numerical advantages. It sure is a lot easier to plan for the future when expenses are low, and under consumption probably has positive effects on health, which will have good financial side effects too.
