This Black Friday, spend as much as you want, but make sure that...

This year, I'm doing something different on Black Friday. Instead of posting the usual "don't spend money!" post, or telling you that so many Black Friday "deals" aren't actual deals, I'm saying this instead:

Spend as much money as you want.

Seriously, just do it. Because honestly, approximately 100% of the people won't be listening to us bloggers anyway when it comes to their decision-making. And, that makes total sense.

If they want that television set, they are going to buy it regardless of what we bloggers happen to believe.

And, that's okay. Good, in fact. After all, I would hate to live in a world controlled by a small group of highly-motivated bloggers anyway.  :)

#StatisticsPorn: This year, shoppers are expected to spend $60 MORE than they spent last year on Black Friday. In 2017, people dropped almost $8 billion on that Friday, an 18% increase over the year before. Six in 10 shoppers find Black Friday to be ... overwhelming.

Are you a gift card person? If so, chances are you're snatching up some Amazon cards this year.  :)

On Black Friday, spend as much money as you want, but understand this!

The bottom line with Black Friday spending is simple, and I've believed in this principle ever since I started saving for retirement: Spend as much money as you'd like. Buy whatever you want to buy.

I won't try to stop you. I only ask that you understand one thing.

Understand how much additional time working a job that you might not enjoy you'll be putting in because of it.

Why time?

Because when it comes to spending money and working a job, it's essentially a balance. Buy more stuff? Work longer to pay for it.

Buy less stuff and save more? Work less because your lifestyle is more frugal and less burdened by cash flow.

And, working a job means that you are trading time for money. Your time. The most productive hours of the day (for most of us, daylight hours) are taken from us by working a job.

Jobs are time.

Throughout our drive toward financial independence and early retirement, I asked myself a simple question before each purchase:

Is buying this item worth working longer? 

If the answer was yes, I'd buy it and be happy. If the answer was no, I'd enjoy fewer days working in an industry that I didn't enjoy.

Boom!

So, I'm curious: How much are you spending on this Black Friday? If you're not spending, what are you doing instead?