The Black Friday ADHD Shopping Personas

Hey, adhd Money Talk listeners. Today I've got a special episode for you on Black Friday and ADHD Shopping Personas, and that'll start in a moment, but first I just wanted to let you know that I'd love it if you went over to YouTube and searched for ADHD Money Talk and subscribed to the channel. I'm going to be posting all of the podcasts now also as YouTube videos. I'm also going to be doing more short, shorter podcasts hopefully, and YouTube videos going over more educational stuff, and so just letting you know a lot more content is going to be coming your way. Thank you so much for being a listener and enjoy this one. There's the unchecked dopamine chaser, the hyper-focused hunter, the overwhelmed wanderer and much more. Let's figure out which Black Friday ADHD shopper you are and how to have fun but not fall into a pit of despair and regret the next week when you look at your credit card. Welcome back to the channel and podcast. Please like and subscribe to the channel, to the channel for you video people and for those listening. Hit five stars on Spotify. Leave a review on Apple. Send me some dopamine. I would appreciate it, but if you don't, oh well, I don't really care. Just kidding, I do. I vote that you do leave a review and send me that dopamine. So let's talk about it. Black Friday is in two days and unfortunately the timing of this video might be too late if you like your Black Friday shopping to be done during the ever-extending period of time that retailers seem to consider Black Friday. I thought Black Friday was one day, apparently it's three weeks, but nonetheless the best deals are usually on Friday itself, and so, rather than yell at you and tell you that you should just not go and you've done enough Black Friday shopping every single day of this year so far, I'm gonna talk to you about the different Black Friday shopping personas, that people with ADHD and really everyone, but with all state ADHD years. We take on these personas when it comes to shopping all the time, and it's relentless, and it's not like our neurotypical friends where it's just we can just put on the persona for one day and it goes away forever. No, we have to deal with it all the time, and so let's just talk about this and it's gonna be fun. So the first one we're gonna talk about is the pure let loose dopamine. Chasing impulses are totally unchecked splurger. Usually this ADHD year won't really be readily admitting or aware or embracing this trait, but it's when, whether you're in the store or on Amazon, browsing or browsing, it results in quite a lot of trips to the counter, to the cashier or to the click buy now button, and you don't do a whole lot of you know, if any slowing down and considering the true need or value of this thing, but you just buy it anyways. You get trapped, basically, in a dopamine high that finally ends when your brain literally has no choice but to start guilting and shaming you into stopping, because otherwise you just would never stop. And if this is you, my advice is to filter your Amazon deals by the highest percentage off first, so you're looking at the absolute best deals and actually saving some money on the things that you know you're gonna buy one way or the other. And if you are the online version of this, like I just kind of was alluding to, then tell yourself this year you're going to the store and you're gonna get into the mirror and repeat 50 times to yourself that you are not going to buy everything. You are going to repeat to yourself in the mirror that you are only going to make purchases in stores, not online, and 50% off at least. Okay, that's what I want you to try and do. You can do it, I believe in you, I have faith and I guess we are going to. So next we have the overwhelmed wanderer. You always go to the mall or wherever you go, but you almost always kind of regret it. You may go with a friend or family member, almost like a tradition, but every time the crowds, the noise, the information and sales and stuff overload and flame your sensory sensitivities and you start just buying things more out of a place of like desperation to momentarily escape the chaos and the anxiety provoking environment that you are in. And so you are walking around overly crowded spaces and you're just like, nah, but I'm doing it anyway. So if this is, you try not going or propose a different tradition to your friend or family on Black Friday, or maybe you just propose going at the least busy time, which is which a cursory Google search is telling you that it's at 2am, which that in and of itself sounds quite overwhelming. So if those don't work, well then you're just taking one for the team yet again, because the thought of disappointing someone and telling them that you're not going to go this year is just too much for you to handle anyway. So you suck it up and you get through it, and so be it. That might be have to be. That might have to be the way it goes for you. So next up is the hyper focused hunter. You are frugal at heart, but no that Black Friday is your day to let loose, but the thrill of the good deal is really what is exciting and motivating you. So you do go and you find whether it's online or in the store you go to just to find the best deals on things you either really want or just spark enough interest that the deal itself overrides any semblance of rationality and you pull the trigger, believing that you crushed Black Friday with all these good deals you got. But of course, soon enough the math will hit you and you will realize that 70% off $200 is $60. But if you times that by 15, it's still almost 1000 bucks. Hey, but don't let the math bring you down too much, because you should still be proud of the frugal fueled hunter nature that you have, because long term, this is a character trait that is going to serve you well down the line. If this is you do, 50 mirror affirmations of the total amount that you are willing to spend, and then call it quits when you go like a hundred bucks over that or something, because we all know you'll go a little bit over that. So next we have the over analyzer deal analyst. You know what you want and you have been prepping for weeks, finding the best deals for the bigger ticket things that you've been wanting and waiting for. You've made lists, you've bookmarked pages, you've been patiently awaiting this big day, this big moment in time. But when it finally comes to make the move, paralysis by analysis heats up, it kicks in and you spend hours comparing and contrasting and deliberating over the finest details that really don't matter at all on the grand scheme of things, but you just get stuck on the two different versions of the same thing. One is a less of a good deal, but it's the one you really want. One's a bigger deal, but there would be trade offs. Oh my goodness, it's just overwhelming. And when you finally do pull the trigger, you actually feel defeated, like you probably didn't make the right choice. You feel guilt, you feel like, oh my gosh, like did I really do the right thing? And you just relieve that stress by doing some casual browsing and next thing, you know, you morph into that dopamine uh spender, the dopamine uh fueled impulsive person that we talked about in the beginning. And then you take on that new persona and you just spend the next hour clicking and buying stuff as therapy for the trauma that you've been through. I am joking, but listen, it's, it's a. It's a reality that a lot of us do deal with the fact. That is kind of like where I would line up. Honestly, it would be me. So if this is you, let go of the desire to have the best, perfect, most well researched choice and just buy the dang thing. Pat yourself on the back for being such a studious shopper. If you have to return it and you want the other one, then do that. Just move on with your life and avoid the therapy, shopping, stress relieving part of this whole story. So, um, next up, next up, we have the regretful rusher. You don't got time for this Black Friday thing. Your crazy ADHD brain is already tied up with a thousand other things. But FOMO kicks in and you feel like you. But FOMO kicks in and you feel like you should. Why should everyone else get all these great deals and not me? You feel suddenly like it is now or never. I have to do this now or I'll never get a good deal. You have made no plans, you have no idea what you need, but here you are, up late at night frantically searching the web for the deals before they expire and you just start buying stuff without any thought or contemplation Contemplation of whether you need it or truly desire this, or if it's gonna truly bring value to you. But the adrenaline and the surging dopamine locks you into a marathon of buying. You are in a movable blob on the bed and you were just buying. And you wake up the next day and feel that tidal wave of O'Crap, guilt, regret. This fills your brain waves, and if this is, you, make the returns you got to make and make the situation right. You really don't got time for this consumer's BS, anyway. So return the stuff and stay busy with the things that clearly are more important to you. That's my advice for you, mr Rusher. Now, finally, we end with the adventurous browser. You are the traditionalist ADHD or and you love the in-store experience, the tactile experience of feeling your purchases and Bringing them home the same day. You love the treasure hunt, the surprises, the novelty and the pure blissful stimulation that you get from hopping from store to store. You are someone who probably doesn't even really have a terrible spending problem outside of these seasonal events, but your dopamine levels are linked to the rotation of them, earth, the tilt of the earth, and when the days get shorter, your brain is subconsciously prepping like it is shopping, it is browsing season. So you are Ready for that fruitful day of treasure hunting and and collect in collecting of novel, stimulating and exciting products that you never really knew you would want Until you saw them shining on the display with a big fat 50% off sticker above it and you buy a few things. However, I Gotta tell you this person, I see them kind of as getting the thrill from the, the experience of the day and not needing to buy stuff. Just, you're, you'd be the person that picks up the thing, takes it to the counter, is like you know what. I just kind of mentally bought it, I'm good, and you put it back and you move on for the next treasure hunt, fake simulation, purchase of something, and you come home. You may have gone a few things, you didn't break the bank, you feel good, that is it. And if that's you, I've got no advice because you're killing it. That is how you should do it. It's meant to be a day you go to the stores. You don't got a shop online. Go to the store, pick things up, take it to the counter, say, and don't need it. Already kind of bothered in my mind and I'm done so and there you have it, the ADHD black Friday shopping personas. Which persona are you? Leave me a comment below, send me an email if you're listening to the podcast, tell me which ADHD shopping persona you most fit into. You may be fitting into one of them neatly. You may be a blend of one of them. I kind of elaborated on them in ways that may not make sense to you. It could be a mix of them. You could have multiple Black Friday shopping personality disorder, for all we know. You could feel like you're this way one day and next year You're completely different. This is just the ADHD lot that we've been given in life. I hope you enjoyed this happy shopping. This was all for fun. Don't take it too serious. We'll talk again soon and and stay fun.