Unfortunately, our household is financially challenged and taking advantage of certain loss leaders on "black Friday" is one of the strategies we pursue to stretch the budget a little farther. I will be shopping at two stores today, making a few purchases at the sale price that have been planned months in advance. For us, Buy Nothing day is something of a luxury. I wish all who can celebrate it a peaceful day.

Why do it on Black Friday? THAT'S counterproductive. Now it will be a handful of really committed hippies participating in Buy Nothing Day, instead of a handful of really committed hippies and a bunch of more moderately-minded people.

the two comments above really ring true for me. granted i am buying nothing today, but not for this campaign. choose a different day if you really want to promote consumer awareness. otherwise it really does become a luxury, just like all the fancy organic clothing has become... if you can afford a 200 dollar tshirt, you can afford not to take advantage of sales today. jeez.

I bought a tree today from the local farmer's market. Is that materialistic? Counter-productive to buy nothing? I figured it something that has intrinsic and inherent sustainable benefits.

The real problem is overconsumption, and buy nothing day and the don't buy gas on this day don't change the amount of consumption, just shift it to another day.

I agree with a lot of you on stuff, however my family is also very frugal. I am trying to conserve energy mainly so we can buy a few better sustainable quality items for this season.

Flip side it is a mad house today to go shopping, so I am not sure if it is that great to go shopping, wasted time should be seen as money. It may be better to abstain.

I spend the day eating and vegging. I already bought everyone's presents. I hate the pressure of marketing BS like Black Friday.

We're frugal too, but I prefer being frugal by not buying stuff to buying more stuff, but cheaper. How much stuff does one need?

We're celebrating today by selling our minivan and using the proceeds to pay down our credit cards. (How can one have run up credit cards if one is being frugal? By having been decidedly unfrugal in the past.)

Many people shopping today did it with credit cards on which they already owed lots of money. How can it be counter-productive to urge people to think of their own bottom line rather than the corporations'? And it is not just about putting off till tomorrow what you can't shop for today. Rather, BND is about raising awareness of our consumer habits and the way we are manipulated into supporting big businesses by buying things we don't need with money we don't have.
We celebrated Buy Nothing Day by going to a local commercial strip to give out "unshopping bag" (plastic bag handles, bag part cut off) and wishing everyone a happy BND. We made a fun video that will help my 5 year old remember that "unshopping" can be a lot more fun than shopping.

Having buy nothing day on black friday is anything but counter-productive. This day was chosen for maximum visibility. This is the one day when consumer-driven shopping frenzy is at its absolute peak (In the US).

The point is not to stop everyone from buying stuff, its to make people stop and think about what they are buying before whipping out the credit card and purchasing some christmas cheer. After all, wouldn't you save MORE money by just buying used stuff year round, and skipping out on the corporate christmas tradition?

For the past five years I have not participated in any christmas shopping and I feel alot better knowing that I was not under the stress and pressure to purchase goods that would only make my family members good for a couple of days then the gifts would fade away like everything else does in our society and what remains is love, understanding, attention compassion yeah I know the things money cannot buy.

it's a want/need thing. i need groceries. were they on sale today? i wanted lots of family time. i got that at home for FREE! anything i want to give as a gift this year wasn't on sale or it wasn't worth waking up at 4 a.m. and make myself crazy for.

i buy crap all year long. my house is so full of crap. i see crap in every corner that i bought or someone else bought. i'm not worried about retailers getting hurt by my not buying one day of the year.

we are a full family on a student budget. not buying isn't a luxury, it's a reality. and it doesn't mean that we can't be generous too. it's the thinking that counts.

it's a want/need thing. i need groceries. were they on sale today? i wanted lots of family time. i got that at home for FREE! anything i want to give as a gift this year wasn't on sale or it wasn't worth waking up at 4 a.m. and make myself crazy for.

i buy crap all year long. my house is so full of crap. i see crap in every corner that i bought or someone else bought. i'm not worried about retailers getting hurt by my not buying one day of the year.

we are a full family on a student budget. not buying isn't a luxury, it's a reality. and it doesn't mean that we can't be generous too. it's the thinking that counts.

I spent the day shooting a short film with a Christmas theme. I didn't "buy nothing" though since I had to take the cast and crew out for lunch. And then my brother flew in from Austin, and I took him out for supper. But we avoided all the lines, the mall, the shopping madness, etc. And now, instead of having yet more cheap crap to give to my loved ones for Christmas gifts, I have something personal I made with my own creativity and my own hands - a movie.

The "crap" I bought on BF included socks and a set of flannel sheets. We now have two sets and it's good to have the backup. I have spent the last six months looking for a used set and finding nothing suitable. I also bought a year's supply of socks for my partner - he gets new socks once per year when they go on sale. In previous years, he would have also bought a pair of jeans but the sale price wasn't good enough this year at either of the two stores we visited. Thanks to loss leaders on BF, we were able to afford these useful and practical items that are difficult to find used.

Christmas gifts will largely either be bought from local sources or made at home. No gifts were bought on BF.