With the current state of the economy, I’m not sure too many retail stores will actually get in the black today, a.k.a. Black Friday**. I do, however, have a suggestion to keep you out of the red this holiday season. Instead of going shopping on Black Friday, celebrate Buy Nothing Day!**

I’ve been observing this one-day unconsumerist celebration** for a few years now, and wanted to offer some tips for keeping Buy Nothing Day fun as well as free:

1. Still digesting your Thanksgiving dinner? Then sit back and watch What Would Jesus Buy?**, a hilarious documentary by Morgan Spurlock about the commercialization of Christmas. If you’re a Netflix member, you can watch this film for free instantly via your computer!

2. Finally digested everything? Go for a nice bike ride, weather permitting. You’ll get to burn off those extra calories from your big dinner, take in the scenery, and best of all, get around without having to pay for gas.

3. If you’re stressed out about what to do with all your leftover food, unilaterally take care of all the extra veggies by making broth that’ll serve you well for the rest of the holiday season. All you have to do, according to Nicole Solomon’s instructions on Plenty**, is “Put any combination of vegetables in a pot, cover with water and let simmer for an hour or more. Then strain out the vegetables and freeze the broth… This will keep for months, and whenever a recipe calls for vegetable broth you’re all set.”

4. Just can’t get out of the shopping mindset? Then plan ahead for your holiday gifts**, as Grist’s Umbra preaches. Thinking ahead’s one of the easiest ways you can lower your carbon footprint during the holiday season. While many people stress overly-much about whether buying online or buying in stores is the greenest move, neither driving and circling a crowded mall parking lot nor ordering overnight shipping online are particularly eco-moves. Get started early so you can either shop locally using as eco a transportation method as possible, or shop online and order gifts via ground shipping.

Got other free and fun tips for spending today? Share them in the comments. And have a fun Buy Nothing Day, everyone!

Image via adbusters.org

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