Black Friday Was Not Spent Splurging
This black Friday was not spent splurging. If you went shopping this past black Friday, you were not alone. The National Retail Foundation's 2007 Black Friday Weekend Survey determined that more than 147 million people spent the day heating up their plastic. Although those numbers have gone up this year, spending didn't necessarily.
The number of shoppers this year has gone up 4.8% when compared to last year; however they were not splurging this year. The study showed that the average spending spree was a cool $347.44, which is actually down from last year by 3.5%. It is hard to believe that there is anyone surprised about these numbers. The only people that this shocked were the Wall Street big-wigs.
Government officials seem like they try to put all this pressure on consumers telling them that they need to start spending more to help our slumping economy. I'm not really sure what they expect. Gas prices are growing steadily over three dollars, and American families just don't have to means to go overboard on Christmas like they used to.
I think it is safe to say that the online shopping experience is going to be very common this year. As for myself, if there is anything I can buy online, I will buy it online. I'm not going to make a trip to the mall unless I am absolutely required to. It is just frustrating to hear how some of these officials are shocked that people are spending less this year. I mean, what do they expect? Everything from gas to corn and milk prices has increased ridiculously, and the salary of the average person is not parallel with that line. People just are not able to afford to spend a lot more this Christmas.
Who knows, maybe when we all wise up and start buying cars that run on hydrogen like the Honda Clarity that has zero emissions and whose fuel prices doesn't depend on whim of dictators, maybe we will see a day when these prices come back into a reasonable range. Until then, just be thankful to get more than a lump of coal. |
