Pitching Sales

What's a "sale"? I am told constantly by merchants what my "savings" are. They are printed in red  which turns out to be a good colour. The truth is, that the savings printed on the cash-out slip, are not savings at all. What the receipts really tell me is what I spent, not what I saved. Money you save is in your pocket or your bank account. And it stays there. It's not what's called "savings" in red, on the receipt. The truth about "sales" and "savings" is that once again, you've been drawn into the shopping game. It's one that, like gambling, makes you spend more that you planned to, but you leave thinking you have made money and you're happy as a result. The sellers make money, not you. When you go into a store that has a sale on, certainly, you might get a product at a cheaper price than usual, but when you leave the establishment, you probably spent more on the other "savings" that you saw in the store than you would have in paying the original planned budget price. You were lured into that outlet just as planned by the great demi-god, Sale.  The commercial ploys to get you to spend, are basically, a well studied cheat. While that word sounds too harsh, it is what it is. Many of the outlets for brand names will admit that they run cheaper lines that are copies of their top ones. They know that some shoppers don't care that the handbag they flaunt, isn't the real thing or the watch on their wrist has a logo that most people won't look too closely at. They're the targeted consumers who just love the game of pretending that they're as rich as Mr. T. or Paris Hilton or KK. And there's no sin in it. Speaking of which, when there is a giant sale such as Black Friday, the merchants don't lose money with the supposedly low price for the true quality item; they do it on huge volume. And advertising. Think about Black Friday nonsense happening this very day. Shoppers line up at ridiculously early hours, some even tenting out overnight on a sidewalk, to  scramble over each other, grabbing and buying items while the seller who ordered  a rail car load of this stuff, in the background, rubs two hands together in glee. No. There are no sales and no Black Fridays, wherever that idiocy came from. There is only you and your money and the wise, or not, spending of it.