I was living in New York when I encountered Black Friday. It was 2010, and the notion hadn’t crossed the Pond yet. I was hungover, having hosted a “Friendsgiving” that consisted almost entirely of Irish people and cans of Four Loko the night before. The Soho end of Broadway was heaving, like Oxford Street on Boxing Day. It all felt very American and new.

It feels strange that we have adopted a holiday tradition without the holiday; Thanksgiving floats by silently in England, the only signs of it being a few emails from American news outlets I subscribe to. But we increasingly dedicate most of November to Black Friday, bombarded by deals and sales and whispered promises that if we wait a little longer we might get more, like children set the marshmallow test.

I’ve definitely found it useful in the past. Buying white goods, for instance, or a phone contract. People are hard up - this year more than most - and saving money isn’t to be sniffed at. But I’ve also bought things, or wanted to buy things, for which need really just doesn’t even apply. It’s thought this Black Friday will be the busiest shopping day in history. I wonder how much of it we really want.

So, this week I thought I’d some things that I’ve found alleviate the ever-rising consumerist panic. Nearly all of them involve less effort than tapping on an Instagram advert for something you never knew you longed for...