My "Black Friday" Haul - as a mindful consumer

While we live very minimally, we are still consumers. We make a lot of purchases during the holiday season. That being said, we do this carefully. I do not "shop" black friday. I did go through the ads to see if any of our current needs could be met more affordably. There were a few things I jotted down.

-My son needs a larger uniform sweater for winter. Old Navy carries the one he needs for a good price on Black Friday, however, Old Navy is very over-priced and runs sales on the regular. So I passed.

-I noted that Kroger is doing free grocery pickup all week. With my group of 6, it is sometimes a necessary option. Winner, winner chicken dinner! But I only need milk, so I'm not going to make a larger purchase just to get the free pick up.

-Ulta has a lot of high-end mascaras on sale through cyber-Monday. Since my mascara is drying out, I may pick one of those up.

-Kohls had a 15% off code, (not great), but they also had the nursing camisole that I needed to replace. Since my newest little one will be here any time, I went ahead and purchased that along with a Mellissa & Doug toy for my one-year-old, and some wooden cars that I had wanted to replace at the daycare. Now with this purchase, they gave me kohls cash, and a 25% off coupon. Sneaky. I may go ahead and purchase my sons uniform sweater and my mascara there to use it up. Maybe not! Should I decide to do that, it will probably be the end of my "kohls experience."

So to be clear, I made one purchase at Kohls. I had a need, and while I do not agree with fast fashion, I did not choose to supply this need ethically or sustainably. I mindfully sourced what I needed from the only company that had it. I did not get a steal of a deal on my nursing camisoles at 36$ a pop. I will wear these two camisoles every day for the next 9 -12 months. However long the baby decides to nurse. I will not get stuck in the cycle of kohls cash and deals. I am not ashamed that I did benefit from using their website. Via ebates, a good sale, and kohls cash. I mindfully met a need; I did not mindlessly indulge a greed. I do hope in the future that I can monetarily afford to support ethical, sustainable options all the time. But right now I cant. So that's it! That was our black Friday. I am very pleased not to have purchased all the things I considered. I am also grateful that I was able to meet a few needs without breaking the bank.