Celebrating Thanksgiving
Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I sincerely hope that for you, your relatives, close friends, and those that were extended an invitation to dine with you, that the day was truly a delight – that you had an opportunity to reflect upon the year and find something to be thankful for i.e., family, relationships, health, job, etc.
Thanksgiving is not celebrated that same way by everyone. There is no set tradition that must be followed. Some people chose to spend the day volunteering, perhaps serving meals to homeless people at a food shelter or a public park. Others prefer to celebrate at Grandmas house each year or to rotate who is responsible for hosting the meal. For some, the Thanksgiving meal is served slightly after noon and for others the meal is served around evening or late at night. It really depends on your personal preferences how you celebrate Thanksgiving.
But no matter where you find yourself celebrating Thanksgiving, the purpose for why the holiday is celebrated should never be lost. No matter how difficult life can be sometimes there is always something to be thankful for, and it is also an opportunity to show kindness by extending an offer to family, friends, and maybe strangers to join you in fellowship as you enjoy the taste of good food, at least I hope the food is good.
After you have overeaten, watched either the Dallas Cowboys or Detroit Lions play football, and retired to a cozy couch to fall asleep, the next thing everyone seems to look forward to is Black Friday.
Black Friday
Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday and the day after Thanksgiving has now been termed ‘Black Friday’. The Friday immediately following Thanksgiving got the name Black Friday because so many people would go out to to take advantage of Christmas sales that the overcrowding caused traffic accidents and sometimes violence as people competed to buy items that are in short supply.
It’s strange that just a few hours after you are supposed to be nice and share food, something you need to live, some people can become violent and fight over things that are only wants. What a shame. It seems the whole point of Thanksgiving is quickly lost.
Although the traffic accidents and fights that occur often get reported on the news, there is something else that occurs that is far more news worthy but is not often reported, and that is the amount of money consumers spend on Black Friday. Most of the goods purchased are not paid for using cash, debits cards, or gift cards. The items are purchased using credit cards, which is otherwise known as debt. While Black Friday is a great day for retailers it is an even better day for finance companies and banks. Long after the nostalgia of unwrapping Christmas gifts has worn off and you no longer enjoy the utility from the new item that you received, the accumulated debt and interest payments for Black Friday purchases carries on.
The Debt From Black Friday Outlast The Purchases
Many times the payments that are required to payoff Black Friday purchases often outlast the purchased items. Toys are often quickly lost or broken and cheap clothing items can fade or be destroyed in the first wash. But the debt is much more resilient and can take months or years to finally pay off depending on the cost of the item(s) purchased.
The Real Cost of Financed Purchases
Before you go shopping you should know the real cost (how much interest you will pay) if you purchase items using credit cards. To find out how much you will pay in interest if you made a set payment each month you can use a Credit Card Repayment Calculator. Let’s say your purchases total $1,000 and you can afford to pay $50 each month to repay the debt. The interest rate charged is 17.99%. It will take you 24 months to pay for your purchases and the real cost will be $1,200 (principal plus interest). The amount of interest paid grows if you elect to make only the minimum payment required.
Let’s say instead of paying $50 each month you made only the $20 minimum payment. It would take you 94 months, or 7.83 years, to payoff the credit card and you would pay $861 in interest.That’s 86% of the amount you borrowed going towards interest payments! It’s no wonder why finance companies and banks love Black Friday.
Compound interest can work for you, but it can also work against you if you are not careful. Remember this when you use your credit card to go shopping.