Are you ready for the silly season to kick into high gear? This Friday is Black Friday—a day best known for retail mayhem across the United States. It’s also Buy Nothing Day—an opportunity to rethink out-of-control consumerism. In today’s post I’ll look at the origins of Buy Nothing Day, and seven ways you can celebrate it instead of heading to the malls.
This post was originally published in November 2021 and updated in October 2023.
What is Buy Nothing Day?
Buy Nothing Day originated in Vancouver in September 1992. Artist Ted Dave started it as a protest against consumerism. In 1997, the date moved to Black Friday—the biggest single shopping day of the year in the United States.
The movement caught on. Today, more than 65 countries around the world mark Buy Nothing Day with everything from zombie mall walks, organized protests and marches, to just simply buying nothing.
I’m not a fan of Black Friday
I’ve always disliked Black Friday. It boggles my mind that Americans spend Thursday being thankful and enjoying time with family and friends, and then head out to do battle at the malls and big box stores in the wee hours of the next morning to save a few bucks.
In an attempt to encourage Canadians to spend their money at home, Canadian retailers have jumped on the Black Friday bandwagon over the years. As a result, Black Friday is now one of the biggest shopping days of the year here in Canada.
About ten years ago, some greedy American retailers started opening their doors at midnight on Black Friday, or even earlier on Thanksgiving evening—essentially eliminating the opportunity for their employees to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. When did our priorities get so screwed up that our insatiable appetite for consumption and profit takes precedence over time with our loved ones? It gave me a glimmer of hope that consumer backlash forced many of these retailers to back down in recent years.
Enough is enough! We need to get our priorities straight. Ted Dave showed a lot of foresight when he started Buy Nothing Day thirty years ago.
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Seven alternatives to Black Friday shopping
If you’re ready for a spending detox, here are seven ways to celebrate Buy Nothing Day.
- First and foremost, pledge to buying nothing this Friday. Earlier this year, I did a six-week Buy Nothing Challenge and it taught me a lot about my shopping habits.
- Plan your holiday budget. Make a list, check it twice, and commit to sticking to it. As an alternative to shopping, consider giving experiences instead of things, or spreading some joy through charitable giving.
- Strive for a simpler, low-waste Christmas celebration. Look for ways to cut back—you can be both festive and frugal.
- Reevaluate your shopping habits. Learn how mindful shopping can save you money.
- Use the day to rethink your relationship with stuff. Look around your home. Do those possessions really make you happy? Could you be happy with less?
- Pick a room and start decluttering. Check out my main decluttering page for some inspiration.
- Start a gratitude journal. A good place to begin is making a list of all the non-material things that make you happy.
I’m not suggesting that we avoid all shopping in the upcoming holiday season. But Buy Nothing Day gives us an opportunity to shun the advertisers’ call to “Buy! Buy! And buy more!”. With a little thought, Friday could be the start of a new commitment to simple living and a more purposeful and less materialistic way of life.
How will you spend Black Friday this year? Tell us your thoughts below.
Having spent the last 2 years working for a voucher code website, I’ve learned very quickly that the majority of the BF deals are a bunch of crap so over the last couple of years I’ve stopped bothering. To be fair, even just reading through some of the emails I had come through today, the deals aren’t even any good anyway! It seems so unfair on the smaller, more independent businesses too having to lower their prices just to compete with the bigger ones!
I know. It is hard on small businesses that are already financially strapped. I heard from a friend of mine that a small business in her neighbourhood decided to close for the day today to mark Buy Nothing Day. I thought that was awesome—and it took a lot of guts! If you have a loyal clientele, they will support you.
yeah I’m with you — I don’t like black friday either. And the prices aren’t really that great either, speaking as someone who used to work retail. Much better to just stay at home, enjoy the holidays, declutter, clean, eat, have fun, etc
It’s true. There are often better deals in the weeks leading up to Black Friday and afterwards, too. Staying home is a much better idea. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family Helen!
Black Friday can be useful if I know what I am looking for. Sometimes it is worth to to wait to buy something, like a new dryer, on Black Friday because the savings will be a LOT and I otherwise could not afford it. However, the hordes of maniacal buyers? I cannot connect with that at all and love the way you paint consumerism in its true light.
Thanks for sharing some fine ways to avoid the pitfalls of Black Friday and commit to an economical holiday all around. 🙂
It’s true that there are deals to be found, but more and more retailers are extending the sale period beyond just one day. Seeing the chaos and people fighting each other for TVs always gets me.
Friday is my day to do the grocery shop, does it count if I don’t buy anything other than the essentials? I tried swapping it out and doing the food shop on Saturday last week and it just made for a chaotic weekend.
Groceries are essential and are exempt from any Buy Nothing endeavour in my opinion. I avoid grocery shopping on Saturdays at all costs!
OK, I won’t feel bad then. But I also won’t pick up any extra bits for Christmas at the supermarket.
I never bother with Black Friday. I hate shopping at the best of times! I could not be bothered to queue in the early hours of the morning to buy something. It’s pathetic to see on the T.V. people actually fighting over a product!!
I agree Rachel. Retailers need to take a big portion of the blame for the fighting. They advertise a product at a rock-bottom price with only a handful in each store. People know there are limited quantities so they end up fighting—and sometimes injuring or killing each other over it. It’s ridiculous.
Another great column, Michelle! I will be spending Black Friday renting a huge truck with my younger sister and then loading THREE very large storage containers full of our Mother’s stuff into it. It represents all of the belongings that she was unable to part with when a) she sold her home of 40 years two summers ago and then b) her longtime partner died in April, and she had to pack up and move out of the small farmhouse they had lived in together. Needless to say, my mom did not practice de-cluttering… We will drive it from where she used to live to where she now lives, and then we will unload it into a new storage space! Ahh, stuff…
Ahh yes Will. We definitely need to rethink our relationship with stuff. It never ceases to amaze me the number of self-storage spaces I see popping up all over the place. They make sense for students like my daughter who needs a place to store her stuff during the summer break, and for people who are in transition from one property to another. For everyone else, you really have to ask WHY we pay to store stuff we don’t use, and probably never will.
Good luck with moving your mother’s stuff. I’m fortunate that my mother has decluttered a lot over the years. She has lived in a small one-bedroom apartment ever since my dad passed away 20 years ago. My mother-in-law, on the other hand, is a different story. Sigh…
Great post!
Growing up, I did a lot of Black Friday shopping. It was a yearly tradition where all my aunts and cousins would meet and do our Christmas shopping together. As I got older and made my own money, I joined the chaos and boasted about how many shopping bags I had accumulated along with everyone else. I loved spending time with my family but I didn’t enjoy the long lines or the stressful now-or-never shopping atmosphere. Around six or eight years ago, I started handling my Christmas shopping differently, by spreading out my purchases throughout the year and paying closer attention to the things that my loved ones wanted, it made shopping more enjoyable.
Looking back, I have a lot of great memories from Black Friday shopping. However, the memories aren’t of the deals I found, the long lines, or the chaos. The memories are just being with my family.
That’s such a great point, Suzanne. When I was younger, my friends and I used to go on shopping weekends in Buffalo, NY. I don’t remember anything I bought, but I remember the fun we had when we weren’t shopping.
I think we all need a reminder of what really matters as the holiday season approaches. Like you, I spread out my shopping so I don’t get caught up in the last-minute frenzy.
I had no idea about BUY NOTHING DAY! But I hear you… I recently had to unsubscribe from a few shopping sites… It was getting too much and I was getting emails from the same retailer 2+ x per day… I don’t plan to do black Friday shopping.. In past years I participated in boxing day shopping and even that was a lot. I always just ended up sweaty, tired and spending way more than I needed to!
I have unsubscribed from almost all of my shopping emails. I found I was just deleting them, so why did I need the hassle?
Shopping makes me cranky at the best of times—I’m a get in, get what I need, and get out kind of girl—but from now until Christmas it’s even worse. I’m glad to be almost done my Christmas shopping.
I’m done mine :)… It’s rare for me but I’m so happy!! 🙂