It’s Cyber Monday and I’m already late to the holiday shopping party. Wasn’t it just a couple of days ago that retailers from Target to Microsoft lured eager shoppers to their front doors for Black Friday? Turns out Black Friday, the traditional day after Thanksgiving shopapalloza, is no longer one day, it’s one month or more, with sales that go right up until Christmas Day. It is the official start of the holiday shopping season, and what a season it is predicted to be. The personal finance website Wallet Hub calculates the average Boston holiday shopping budget will be $656 dollars. That’s a lot of holly jolly Christmas.
It’s a very different story than during the bleak recession years. Not only were fewer people shopping and with even fewer dollars, but even those who could afford to buy, didn’t, for fear they’d need those funds later. But it’s clear to me that this year, Americans are on a spending spree — whether it’s because they are flush with tax cut monies, or just in general feeling confident about the economy. After years of holding their collective breaths, retailers are expecting 2018 seasonal sales to top $1 trillion. That’s trillion with a T. Massachusetts retailers have launched hashtag #BUYINMA, a campaign they are anticipating will result in nearly 4 percent more sales than last year.
Even if you are part Grinch and put off by all the blatant commercialization of the season, it is hard to resist the lure of the tinsel and mistletoe merchandising. Even harder if you are — as I once was — the ultimate gift giver. I would go to great lengths to get the latest and best. I once outran — yes, literally outran — another woman to lay claim to one perfect giant dollhouse for my niece.
Holiday super-shoppers get no judgment from me, but ironically, I am no longer a member of that group. My family and friends decided a while ago to pull back on the over-the-top gift-giving. And anyway, few of my nearest and dearest want to accumulate anything else. Plus, a lot of them are the quintessential people who already have everything they could want.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t give gifts. It means that I am much more discerning about the type of gifts. They have to be useful, even better if recyclable. I satisfy my seasonal shopping urge through the hunt for the unique and charming small tokens of affection, which remind my giftees how much they mean to me. Or just make them laugh.
By the way, experts say 47 percent of all purchases this year will be self-gifting. Makes sense: Who better to know all the stuff I like than me? The good news is that there is a way to self-gift and also do some good. So, while I am poised to join the millions of online buyers finalizing purchases on this Cyber Monday, I’m also planning to fire up the computer tomorrow for Giving Tuesday, the international day of giving to nonprofits. I’m heartened to know lots of other people will be doing the same. Last year’s donations netted $274 million, up 50 percent. And it’s good to note that this, after all, is the real spirit of the season.
