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

[Hoodie]

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?

I shopped Black Friday (online) and cyber Monday to get deals. I'm also done with shopping this year. For me, we decreased our Christmas budget, but did probably 80% on those 2 days where in the past it's been stretched out. I've never purchased anything on BF before. Looking at our spending, we'd be included in a huge increase in our BF/CM spending but overall it will be less.

I also noticed our Mall was empty last week when I went to pick up a direct to store order. It was around 5:30, usually prime time for people stopping after work to grab some things but I parked 3 spaces from the entrance and was the only "shopper" in the store (and I was only picking up, not buying anything). I've seen more people at the Mall when it was closed!

 

[friskykitten]

I was also surprised to see how empty our mall parking lot was on a Saturday afternoon this weekend. Usually it is packed at this time of year.....especially on a Saturday afternoon.

I didn't brave the crowds on BF but I did buy three items online. No credit card use for us. I'm still a bit quesy about using cc's after a job loss a couple of years ago. I think that certain industries are improving but others are still not going anywhere. I would love to see the economy pick up again but I am afraid it will recover very slowly and many families are going to struggle and sacrifice for a while yet. It will be interesting to see what the total result of the season's spending ends up being.

 

[Planogirl]

Wow, the stores around here are packed but then Friscoites love to shop. I don't know how much they buy though.

I agree that there were more useful items on sale on Black Friday. I noticed that Wal-Mart even offered tires.

 

[ilovemk76]

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".

We did not go out BF shopping. I personally do not see having a store open when others may want to shop as a problem.

Some choose to spend it watching TV, spending time with family, shopping, cleaning the house, working or many other things. Why does everybody have to spend their holiday the way you see they should?

The ones who entered the recession with CC debt, HELOCs and no EF are finding the times difficult when they have to take a pay cut.

The weekends before BF out malls were packed. We did not go to the malls last weekend, so I don't know what they looked like.

 

[ilovemk76]

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".

We did not go out BF shopping. I personally do not see having a store open when others may want to shop as a problem.

Some choose to spend it watching TV, spending time with family, shopping, cleaning the house, working or many other things. Why does everybody have to spend their holiday the way you see they should?

The ones who entered the recession with CC debt, HELOCs and no EF are finding the times difficult when they have to take a pay cut.

The weekends before BF out malls were packed. We did not go to the malls last weekend, so I don't know what they looked like.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

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.

Hi! What is plastic jungle? Sounds like something good!! Thanks, Karen

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

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?

I've seen it said that as a nation, we are NOT in a recession and haven't been for some time.

I have also heard some comments that the increase in spending is due to the increase in use of debt to do the shopping.

And also--one other thing that I have not seen. We have no way of knowing if it is due to consumers spending more or more consumers doing the spending.

If we had moving UP and out of a recession, that means more people than last year would have had money to spend. So it could be less people spending more per person or more people spending less per person.


What you, OP, see as greedy--my family sees it as time management. What I do while others sleep is my business. I'm not quite seeing how my family time is interrupted when I am out at Target at midnight anymore than it is on any other time of year where I opt to do a Mom's night out or go on a date with my husband or go shopping on a weekend without the kids. It isn't all day every day and I don't get the snub that others commit when they label it as greed because of when it falls.

Anytime you spend from your family spending money during the rest of the year is no less "greedy" just because it feel on a different date.

 

[phamy76]

My husband was unemployed for 2 Christmases. Only getting a part time job this past March. This will be the first year where both of us are working. Luckily we were surving on just my paycheck, and I carried the family's health insurance.

For the last 2 years, it has been extremely slim for the kids.

It's not going to be much better this year, we're still trying to catch up.

But, our clothes are so worn out. We haven't purchased anything "new" in two years unless completely necessary (underwear, etc). My pajamas are in ratty shape. We've been sewing on buttons, patching the kids jeans when the rip, etc. In the past, we'd just donate them and buy something new.
We're only shopping for clothes that are truly needed.

Same thing around the house. If I catch a really good sale on sheets, towels, etc, I am jumping on it.

 

[bettymae1121]

If you think about it, a healthy retail holiday season could be a good thing, even if much of it is put on credit. More demand means more jobs, more jobs means more spending, which means more demand which means more jobs. On a personal basis, putting Christmas on credit may not be a smart move, but as a whole, it could be a push that's enough to get the economic ball rolling, even if it's rolling slowly.

We're cutting back on Christmas this year but only because our first baby is due in Feb. so all our extra money is for buying baby things. Overall we're spending MORE money, just at Babies R Us rather than JC Penney!

 

[believenfaith]

I can say that for me, I think the early store openings may have had a part in it.

I rarely ever shopped on BF...never anything I wanted bad enough to get up that early and fight large crowds.

Because DS needed a heavy hoodie, and they retail for way too much, we decided at the last minute to go to a local outlet center that was opening at 9pm Thankgiving night. PacSun had 40% off the entire store, so I made the purchase. In fact, I spent a good chunk of change that night and got the bulk of my shopping done for both kids.

Last year BF spending : $0
This Year: $300

I guess that was my contribution to the one billion

 

[Halbleib1]

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.

The news said that most purchases were made using credit cards as the banks have loosened up credit card lending again. The real question will be do they pay the cards off when the bill comes or do they go into debt for it? Also how many were actually really debit cards? Only the banks will have the real answers to these questions. I think more people were out looking for the deals over other years thus the reason so much was spent on that one day. Another question will be what are sales going to look like at the end of this month? Did people do all there shopping on black friday or did they continue to spend throughout the rest of the holiday shopping season?