I’m Torn: Holiday Sales

Besides leftovers and everyone’s inability to wear anything without an elastic waist band, the only thing anyone’s been talking about for the past few days is holiday deals. Every store around is slashing prices, including free goodies and even offering free shipping on any and all purchases. It’s a holiday shopper’s dream, but, being the compulsive shopper that I am, it is quickly becoming my worst nightmare.

Yeah, I enjoy a good deal as much as the next guy (I’m Jewish – isn’t that part of my heritage?), and purchasing all those Hanukkah gifts for less money is muy appealing, but I’m beginning to think all these sales will have me spending a lot more money instead of a lot less.

When it comes to holiday sales, I’m torn.

Love It:
Duh, putting things on sale means getting really great stuff for a lot less money. Especially things for myself. OK, so I know that this time of year is all about the giving, but how can you not shop for yourself when everything is so damn cheap!? A brand new TV for only $500? A new laptop for $400? 25% off everything at my favorite clothing store? Sign me up!

And what could be better than waking up every day to find emails advertising your favorite stores’ great deals? You don’t even have to leave the house to indulge in a sale; you just need to point and click your way to a seriously discounted BCBG dress. Heaven.

Loathe It:
A brand new TV for $500 that I got for $800 only two months ago? It’s like Best Buy has a personal vendetta against me and those little guys in the blue shirts want to see me cry. Even more, now that the prices of such large items have dropped, I am now convincing myself that I need them. Yeah, my laptop works perfectly but what if it dies next month? I should totally get another one now. And I’ve always wanted a blender, right? I mean, how many times have I craved a margarita but couldn’t make one because I didn’t have a blender. It’s only $30 so I should totally get it! Same goes for the shower radio (because, yeah, I love jamming in the shower) and those really uncomfortable Steve Madden pumps that I’ll probably only wear once, but they are 30% off so it just makes sense to throw ‘em in the bag.

I have zero control around sale items and sale items are everywhere I look! By the time holiday season is over I’ll have a room full of crap I never really needed and a near-empty bank account. I may have gotten my mom those iPod speakers she wanted for half-off, but was it really worth it when I dropped all that other money on things just because they were “cheap”?

What do you think? Do you fall into the sale trap, or have you mastered the art of sale self control?