Shopping Mania

So the dreaded season is here – the shopping mania season, the season to spend, spend and spend some more on gifts that might never be used and some that you have to give because it is expected (and because it somehow feels funny to receive gifts without reciprocating). It is the season when shopping and the frustrations that accompany it become a necessary evil!

Black Friday, Cyber Monday – these were the terms that seemed to offer hope this season or were they just some sugar coated terms to find another way to separate the willing masses from their money? So this year, I decided that I would be an active participant of this crazy phenomenon and actually try and nab some of these much touted deals (if they are for real) in the computer and electronics departments. So I psyched myself up that come Friday morning I would be up at the crack of dawn, all bundled up and ready to battle the masses for a hot deal!

Come Friday morning and my bed would not let me go! (at least that is the excuse that I gave myself) or was it because common sense took over and reminded me that I have a budget to keep and that all these is hype……anyway, I had come in late from a Thanksgiving Dinner out of State at an old dear family friend’s house so it was hard to get out of bed especially on a cold morning when I did not have to go to work! I am definitely not that crazy about shopping! When I finally got up and watched the news, I knew that for sure I would have been trampled on by the surging, crashing and crushing masses rushing into the malls at 5am in the morning to spend their money at the promise of saving some money in the process. So, I decided to restrategize - I went online to check and see which stores still had deals on items that I needed. It seemed to me that opinion was varied on whether or not there are any major savings though this did not deter people from going to shop. By afternoon, I had convinced myself that I could still get all that I needed online during the “Cyber Monday” sales.

Well, I did go to the mall finally in the evening (courtesy of my roommates) and I must say that I am proud of myself, I only spent minimally and only on some essential stuff that I have been looking for (and they were not on sale, sigh!). As for Cyber Monday, it has come and gone and I did not see any deal online that I cannot still go and get at the stores – minus the shipping and handling and the long wait for the item. Also I am still an old-fashioned shopper at heart – I need to see, feel and even test the item first!

So here I am as usual, no shopping done, waiting for Dec. 24th to rush in and fight with other last minute shoppers. And a fight it is - in the parking lot for a spot, in the stores for the left over items and then to make the long queue toward a tired, irate cashier for a very, very last minute deal! (if any).