Warning: Black Friday and Cyber Monday can lead to bankruptcy Tuesday
As originally appeared in The Jerusalem Post on November 18, 2022.
“You may have heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There’s another day you might want to know about: Giving Tuesday. The idea is pretty straightforward. On the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, shoppers take a break from their gift-buying and donate what they can to charity.” -Bill Gates
Just as I sat down to write this column I received a text message from my credit card company tipping me off to ‘big’ Black Friday discounts if I use their card. Then I heard on the radio an ad for ‘Black November’ where the whole month is a sale. Apparently, just like on Yom Haatzmaut there is an obligation to Bar-b-que so to the end of November means an obligation to shop.
I remember a trip that I made to Seattle around 5-6 years ago at this time of the year, where I read an article about how expensive holiday shopping is and that there is data that shows 40% of Americans don’t have $400 to cover an emergency but will spend way more than that on presents. The upshot of the article was that it may make sense to take out a personal loan, which can be paid back over 5 years, to cover shopping costs. Oh and how banks, credit unions and online lenders are more than happy to provide you with those loans with no credit checks. So altruistic of them! Just imagine now with surging inflation, how hard it must be to buy those gifts.
Seriously?
No offense but this is insane. I am not against buying things. And if you need to buy something I am all for getting the best deal that you can. I am against buying things that you can’t afford and most probably don’t even need. If we have gotten to the point where people go into debt to take advantage of a good deal what does that say about us as a society?
Ash Exantus, financial empowerment coach at BankMobile, puts it best. “Shopping, especially on Black Friday, is psychological warfare. You are literally in a battle between you and your pockets vs. retailers and marketers. They know that many can’t resist deep discounts and that’s why you MUST be psychologically ready to say no and close a blind eye to what is not on your list, what you can’t afford, and what you can’t buy with cash.”
In this week’s Torah portion we read about the death of both Sarah and Abraham. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of Blessed memory, writes, “The first sentence of this week’s Parsha of Chayei Sarah, is: “Sarah’s lifetime was 127 years: the years of Sarah’s life.” A well-known comment by Rashi on the apparently superfluous phrase, “the years of Sarah’s life,” states: “The word ‘years’ is repeated and without a number to indicate that they were all equally good.” How could anyone say that the years of Sarah’s life were equally good? Twice, first in Egypt, then in Gerar, she was persuaded by Abraham to say that she was his sister rather than his wife, and then taken into a royal harem, a situation fraught with moral hazard. There were the years when, despite God’s repeated promise of many children, she was infertile, unable to have even a single child. There was the time when she persuaded Abraham to take her handmaid, Hagar, and have a child by her, which caused her great strife of the spirit. These things constituted a life of uncertainty and decades of unmet hopes. How is it remotely plausible to say that all of Sarah’s years were equally good?”
“Abraham breathed his last and died at a good age, old and satisfied, and he was gathered to his people.” In that verse, Rabbi Sacks asks, “He had been promised that he would become a great nation, the father of many nations and that he would inherit the land. Not one of these promises had been fulfilled in his lifetime. How then was he “satisfied”?
He answers, “But in truth, it was there from the very beginning, from Abraham and Sarah, who survived whatever fate threw at them, however much it seemed to derail their mission, and despite everything they found serenity at the end of their lives. They knew that what makes a life satisfying is not external but internal, a sense of purpose, mission, being called, summoned, of starting something that would be continued by those who came after them, of bringing something new into the world by the way they lived their lives. What mattered was the inside, not the outside; their faith, not their often-troubled circumstances.”
Having more and more material stuff won’t bring happiness and satisfaction. If you need to buy clothes or a new fridge, and you have set aside money in your annual budget for such purchases, then go ahead and take advantage of the amazing sales that are available. Stay focused on buying only what you need. Let’s internalize the lesson of Sarah and Abraham, and realize purpose and mission are the main ingredients to serenity, not another pair of Air Jordan’s.
The information contained in this article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. or its affiliates.
Aaron Katsman is the author of Retirement GPS: How to Navigate Your Way to A Secure Financial Future with Global Investing (McGraw-Hill), and is a licensed financial professional both in the United States and Israel, and helps people who open investment accounts in the United States. Securities are offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. (www.prginc.net). Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, SIFMA, FSI. For more information, call (02) 624-0995 visit www.aaronkatsman.com or email aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il.
