$1 Billion Dollar Back Friday increase over last year...

[Aurora D]

This year has been especially tough for us. I'm a teacher and my husband works for the state. We both took pay cuts last year and there doesn't seem to be a raise in sight. I've been working really hard to get us out of debt. We currently owe less than $1000 in CC,plus two car loans and some medical bills(and our mortgage, of course). We just scrape by each month. When my teenagers complain "Why are we so poor all the time?" I always answer "We're not poor, we're broke". There's a big difference. It's going to be a slim Christmas for sure. Haven't bought a single thing because I just had to take a pension loan to replace our 50 year old furnace, which bit the dust at the end of last winter.....
Anyway, if we're in such a recession, how did Americans spend $1 billion dollars more on Black Friday over last year? I don't get it. Is everybody putting it on credit cards just to get the deals? I stayed home on Black Friday. If I don't have the cash I no longer need to have it(besides the furnace/heat, of course LOL). Just wondering, how much consumer debt is America in? Even with this recession?

 

[happygirl]

This year has been especially tough for us. I'm a teacher and my husband works for the state. We both took pay cuts last year and there doesn't seem to be a raise in sight. I've been working really hard to get us out of debt. We currently owe less than $1000 in CC,plus two car loans and some medical bills(and our mortgage, of course). We just scrape by each month. When my teenagers complain "Why are we so poor all the time?" I always answer "We're not poor, we're broke". There's a big difference. It's going to be a slim Christmas for sure. Haven't bought a single thing because I just had to take a pension loan to replace our 50 year old furnace, which bit the dust at the end of last winter.....
Anyway, if we're in such a recession, how did Americans spend $1 billion dollars more on Black Friday over last year? I don't get it. Is everybody putting it on credit cards just to get the deals? I stayed home on Black Friday. If I don't have the cash I no longer need to have it(besides the furnace/heat, of course LOL). Just wondering, how much consumer debt is America in? Even with this recession?

To me that proves that people are desperate for deals and trying to save all the money the can. I think to many people are living off of there credit cards

 

[mom2minniemouse]

To me that proves that people are desperate for deals and trying to save all the money the can. I think to many people are living off of there credit cards .


Well, I hope that's not true. If anything, I think people have for the most part learned a hard lesson the past three years in terms of credit cards. DH and I used to have PHENOMINAL credit card debt and have only recently paid every freaking last penny off. We had no choice. Once the credit cards started spinning out of control at astronomical interest rates, the credit card companies cancelled our credit accounts. That was the best thing that could have ever happened to us in recent years. Now, we buy with nothing but cash, so even though we were and still are living paycheck to paycheck, we are not accruing more credit card debt. I went out on Black Friday, and it was all paid for in cash. I think it may be that way for (hopefully) more Americans out there. This recession has been going on for over three years, and many of us (THANK GOD) have crashed, burned, and finally risen from the ashes of financial hardship. And yes, we're still "broke," but we're at least a fraction more hopeful that this recession will eventually end. Hopefully that $1 billion more spent on BF was spent by people who could afford their purchases because our economy depends on people spending what they can actually pay for (as opposed to just charging things and not being able to later pay for them).

OP, just hang in there. I know it's tough getting a pay cut and having to tell the kids no. I've been there, done that, and I have to tell my 12-year-old no quite often still. It stinks, but your kids won't be scarred for life. I promise! Just remember that, as with any hardship, this too shall pass.

 

[Forevryoung]

I noticed a lot more "useful" items on sale this BF (like pyrex, pots/pans...).

If families aren't spending the rest of the year, they will spend at some point. They possibly realized the sales available (online/in store) were "better" than the rest of the year and took care of much their shopping at that point. If you haven't purchased toys for your kids all year, you will buy them something for Christmas- as discounted as possible.

It will be interesting to see if the rest of the holiday season mimics the spending on Black Friday.

 

[lastminutemom]

the question is what will happen with spending the next few weeks.

I was at stores today, a Saturday, and felt while there were crowds, they weren't any heavier than a normal Saturday and also didn't seem like people were buying more than normal either.

 

[Mom2Ben02]

Well, we are in the worst financial time of our lives, but I have saved all year and am still giving my kids a Christmas. I am not going to feel guilty about spending money - all was paid for in cash, I am not getting any government help (including Unemployment Insurance, which ended in October). All bills are current, and my kids deserve to have gifts.

Also, we knew the deals would be out and did not many purchases in anticipation of Black Friday. For instance, my hubby needed new work shoes. Now, when I say he needed shoes, it was not because they were out of style - it was because you could see his socks through the side of the shoe. We could have gone to Payless and gotten him cheap ones. However, we waited, and I got him Sketchers instead - shoes that are more comfortable, and will last twice as long.

I planned all year long for Black Friday. I bought gift cards every pay day from Plastic Jungle, and scored amazing deals.

 

[Colleen27]

For some of us, things are starting to look up. We're in a hard hit industry in a hard hit state but this year has brought the first signs of improvement we've seen in a very long time... The business line ringing more often, more estimates actually turning into jobs, and in the community around us, more help wanted signs, more traffic in the stores and restaurants, and generally more optimism about it all.

I think people are willing to "work" harder for bargains in a shaky economy and that drove higher-than-usual Black Friday traffic, and I think the stores won over some new shoppers with the late-night rather than early-morning openings ( my brother & his gf went out for the first time this year; they'd never do shopping at 5am but midnight isn't late to them so that made it more attractive). The real test will be the holiday season as a whole, because that's what will show us whether people are actually spending more freely or whether good deals simply shifted/concentrated demand on that one day.

 

[Marionnette]

They just closed one of the oil refineries near us. Over 400 people lost their jobs on Friday. A friend of ours has been out of work for over 2 years. He works in IT. We've seen our own business slow down. People are slower to pay theiir bill or they bring in small payments when they can. Some people put off picking up their orders until two or three paychecks later because they are trying to catch up on other bills. PA has had it better than some of the other states. But it's even tough here.

I drove past the mall tonight and the lot is half empty. On a Saturday with 3 weeks until Christmas Eve. I never thought that I would see that! I don't think that a good bottom line on Black Friday is a sign that things are on an uptick. It's just means that more people are willing to brave the craziness in order to get a bargain because they need every bargain they can find.

 

[marie1203]

I think it really depends what part of the country your are. Many areas are recovering and others are still struggling. We actually did use credit cards this black friday because we got 6 months 0 interest but the money is put away in savings until the 6 months come by (plus we got rewards points that way). I have to say around here the crowd are crazy the traffic today was out of control. I even asked DH if he think they were giving things out for free because of the amount of people around. Sadly I don't think many people have learn not to charge from this crisis. We always had credit cards yet but we never paid a cent in interest. Most of our family that was affected by this economy now is recovering and in much better financial situation they were last year this time.

 

[bridget]

I think if you look over the prior months in 2011, consumer spending had been pretty low, and started to go up in October....
http://ycharts.com/indicators/consumer_spending#zoom=ytd

I know there were some great deals out there and I think many people have been waiting and saving for the great deals. Some of things were more "needs" than "wants" and the deals were very good. I know lots of people that bought shoes, boots or clothes on Black Friday

 

[StephMK]

DD & I shopped on Black Friday but the only cc I used was Kohl's due to the discount. We did not buy any big TVs or major purchases though. Our blender had broken a few weeks ago and there was a great deal on a new one at Kohls. I spent $11 at Walmart on movies for my kids, $20 for DD17's black boots on her wish list and $100 in gifts at Kohl's - got back $30 to spend later. I spent it today on a jacket for DD (on her wish list) and new jeans for DH.

In our case, we are spending no more or maybe less than in past years but have definitely spent when I saw deals that met our needs and were at great prices.

We don't buy for the kids during the year and ended up getting them bigger gifts this year since the discounts put some things in our budget that I hadn't expected to get for them. Plus MIL/FIL gave us a generous holiday check & that will go towards their gifts too.

 

[eliza61]

Also many professionals believe people are suffering from "Recession burnout". After 4 years of a crummy economy and a daily barage of bad news, people are simply spending because they are tired of "sacrificing"

 

[LuLuO]

I saw a report on one of the news shows that credit card use over Black Friday weekend was up over 10% from last year.

 

[jacksmom]

I did lots of Black friday shopping! I usually do! But, I do agree that there were more sales on "useful" items! I bought some housewares stuff for myself because the prices were so good, along with other gifts! I did use a credit card, but we pay it off each month (I do not like carrying lots of cash plus we get rewards for using it)! We do plan all year long for extra holiday expense, but I do like to shop sales for more bang for my buck!

 

[LSUDis]

I think that the above posters have nailed it--most people are struggling and putting off buying things that they NEED (not just what they want anymore.) Then, knowing that Black Friday would have some great deals, they wait until then to buy NEEDED items--driving up the total spending for that day. More like an accumulation from the lack of spending during the prior year, which resulted in a net increase for THAT day....

I was surprised, too, at the numbers until I thought about that. However, I'm STILL seeing packed restaurants on weekend nights. Don't really get that.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

DH works for Wal-Mart he's been telling me that they have had tons of returns from BF purchases. People have realized that they couldn't really afford the great deals on things like TVs and are bringing them back.

I'd like to see them track purchases and returns for BF might paint an interesting picture

 

[arthur06]

Can't trace any of that Billion back to me. We all stayed home and didn't do any shopping on BF.

I know money is tight for a lot of people. So far, we have been pretty lucky to not be really effected by the poor economy. Hang in there!

 

[QVCshopper]

I'm not surprised by the increase. I think the difference is more about a convenient store opening than the economy. More people will stay up until 12 than get up at 6, especially the younger crowd.

As far as the economy, we have not changed. I have been and will always be proudly thrifty, frugal, and cheap. It has really paid off over the years, and I learned through a poor childhood. Why buy this years Lands End coat for $80 when I can get last years coat at the Goodwill for $8?

I will say that I went to pay off my RedCard at Target and the lady seemed surprised when I wanted to pay it off, not just the $25 minimum. That made me sad.

 

[Aurora D]

Op here. I guess it makes sense that sales were increased due to the early store openings(which I totally disagree with, I think it's sad that America is so greedy we can't stay home for one day to be with family). In any case, I guess I was hoping to hear lots of people used credit because otherwise I'm thinking "Wait, I thought everyone is still broke?"
I think what's happened during this recession is the people who had money still have it, the people who receive government handouts still get them and the people on the lower end of middle got "the squeeze".

 

[ccgirl]

I think it's important to note that not everyone is in the same boat. While there is a recession going on; there are also plenty of people with jobs that afford them the "luxury" of materialism. I think Christmas has become such a commercial, materialistic thing nowadays.

BTW, when my children ask if we are poor I tell them I'm not but they are since they don't make any money. To me, if you are able to afford a roof over your head and food on your table, you are far from poor (a general you, not directed at any one individual).