El Buen Fin, Mexico’s Black Friday Best Deals!

El Buen Fin ("The Good Weekend") is Mexico's answer to the U.S. Black Friday deals. Although in the states it was customary that the sales after Thanksgiving Day were only on Friday, retailers have expanded their deep discounts throughout the weekend. This is where El Buen Fin comes in as it is not only one day of sales, it is a whole weekend. The purpose of this program was to impulse the Mexican economy and get people out there to spend their hard earn money. This initiative is an alliance with retailers in department stores, grocery stores, apparel, automobiles and more. Big retailers like Suburbia and Wal-Mart are on board and supporting the initiative as well as smaller stores across the country.

El Buen Fin takes place in Mexico starting November 15 through November 18. A full list of stores is available here along with the offers for the weekend. Although the discounts offered by retailers helps out the economy, many detractors feel that the consumer loses out in the end. To take advantage of the sales, consumers often find the necessity to open up a credit line and creditors are taking advantage of this and offering them with ridiculous interest rates. "Banks and savings and loan entities are eager to offer you [the consumer] different types of credit during this season. Take into account that the payroll credit is easy to acquire and sometimes very difficult to pay off," the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services said in a statement a year ago. The commission warns and recommends that "if you decide to apply for credit to acquire a product or service that you find really inexpensive, make sure that its a serious institution, that is within the forma financial system and that has a transparent information of costs and commissions."

El Buen Fin initiative started in 2011 and was announced by then President Felipe Calderón. The program is not only designed to promote consumerism, but to help employees keep their jobs. Data showed that during the month of December between 200,000 and 300,000 lose their employment and the target with this campaign is to keep more than 600,000 at their current jobs, thanks to the revenue from this weekend. El Buen Fin project started from the Iniciativa Mexico where every day people pitched ideas to the government to stimulate the economy and provide a better living. The weekend coincides with the celebration of "Revolution Day" is celebrated, which is a national holiday that everybody has off. Check out all the offers for El Buen Fin here! Happy shopping!