Buy Nothing Day

As retailers around the nation have been getting ready for the busiest shopping season of the year, millions of consumers are anxious to find the best bang for their holiday bucks. Whether you plan on getting up at the crack of dawn on Black Friday or prefer to shop for the hottest steals-and-deals online and on your mobile devices during the big Cyber Monday event, the holiday shopping madness has arrived. But if you are sick-and-tired of the commercialization of the holidays, put away your wallet and hide the credit cards!

Buy Nothing Day (BND) is an annual international day of protest against over-consumption and consumerism. Canadian artist and actor Ted Dave founded BND in 1992. Legend has it that Dave wanted just one day in the year where people could boycott all merchandise purchases for 24 hours. Buy Nothing Day is observed on the last Friday in November, which just so happens to fall on Black Friday in America. In other countries, BND is celebrated on the last Saturday in November.

With extended Black Friday and Cyber Monday events, 24-hour-a-day shopping channels and non-stop advertising, Americans are bombarded with messages to buy every sort of product and service under the sun. Why not avoid the long lines and packed parking lots this year and participate in Buy Nothing Day instead? Give yourself a break from the never-ending deluge of buying pressure. Be thankful on Thanksgiving and say "no thanks" on Friday! Say bye-bye to buying - no purchase required!