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The day after

The madness of Christmas shopping is upon us.

Date published: 11/29/2003

Black Friday paints personal finances red

YESTERDAY WAS part of a continuing tradition: Black Friday, a shopping frenzy extraordinaire, complete with amazing bargains, hideous lines, and "war stories" repeated long after receipts have been lost and forgotten. The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the day retailers' finances move from red to black, while consumers' pocketbooks often take the opposite route.

This year experts predict that sales for the Christmas season will rise 5 percent over last year, pushing fourth-quarter retail sales over $300 billion. About 10 percent of holiday shopping is done on Black Friday, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, while 41 percent takes place the week before Christmas.

What kinds of gifts are people looking for? A survey by retailindustry.about.com indicates women are looking for escapes--cruises, vacations, or a trip to a day spa--while men are hoping for electronic gifts--flat-screen TVs especially. It's interesting that while men are focused on comfort at home, women are anxious to flee. Meanwhile, an increasingly popular item to purchase is the noncommittal gift card: About 45 percent of Americans say they bought them in 2003, twice the number from the year before.

All this retail madness is good news for the economy, but the cheer is dampened somewhat by the fact that the average American household is carrying more than $8,000 in credit-card debt and that personal bankruptcies have nearly doubled during the last decade. Furthermore, the InCharge Institute of America says that the No. 1 category in which Americans overspend is holiday gifts. Is the stress implied in Americans' escapist gift preferences multiplied by the season itself?

Bill McKibben, author of "Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas," proposes an alternative--plan to spend $100 total on all gifts this Christmas. Give handmade items, extend to others the gift of time, make donations to charities. Jump off the consumer merry-go-round and see what happens. His prediction? A new level of family connection, peace, and joy impossible to attain under a regimen of gift-buying madness.

Not ready for radical surgery on your holiday? Then at least do a lot of your buying locally, in stores and shops staffed by your neighbors. Keeping the holiday cheer in the community helps.

Whatever the strategy, 'tis the season to hear those cash registers jingling, ring-ting-tingling, too.

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Date published: 11/29/2003