What Did I Purchase On Black Friday?

Nothing. I did indeed go shopping, but it was more so to spend time with my friend than to actually buy anything. Well if you count the lunch I bought at the mall, I spent $10. I saw some nice perfumes and really cute clothing, but nothing I absolutely had to have. It probably helps that I stayed out of Zara and H&M, the two stores that are my budgetary kryptonite.

I still plan to use my first December paycheck to load a Visa gift card with $200 and when its spent, that means I'm done my Christmas shopping. I will also give friends, co-workers and aquaintances holiday cards as I have been doing for the past two years. I refuse to incur more debt just because it's the holiday season.

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, I'm just trying to enjoy the rest of my weekend...Monday means back to reality and priorities in the following order: (1) work, (2) two papers to write, (3) two finals to start studying for (4) and a fundraiser (for the non profit I am a board member of) to make final plans for that is taking place next week.

The tragic death of the Wal-Mart employee in New York puts things in perspective and makes me ashamed of the conspicuous consumption that takes place this time of year (even in the midst of this economic slump). No deal is worth the loss of a life.