can you really be a shopaholic?

**favesis37** · 12-29-2005, 05:15 PM

i think YES! and i think i am one. today i went out to lunch with my daughter. i hit the clearance aisle and wala! the next thing i knew my cart was getting full, now we have cut 21 people off our list for next year , but as i was filling it up i included all of them. thinking, i will just buy for one more year. i get to the checkout lane and i had 26.00 in my pocket, of that i spent 25.96! when i got to the van i was so disgusted with myself, but would i return them? oh no! after all i had just bought a ton of stuff . so do you consider yourself a shopaholic?

**alabamagirl** · 12-29-2005, 05:21 PM

I think you just did an awesome job on shopping and should be filled with pride instead of disgust!

I really have gotten better about spending. My biggest weakness is beauty products so I've learned to stay away from those department store counters as much as possible. My occassional treat is an Ulta sale.

**celina** · 12-29-2005, 05:23 PM

best is to avoid stores..and you should read confessions of a shopaholic, funny novel with a few good insights.....

and yes you can return them, but you chose not to....we all make choices.,mine for january is to stay out of the blasted stores...we NEED nothing...except diapers by the weekend..god willing he'll be potty trained by the spring

**favesis37** · 12-29-2005, 05:25 PM

lol, i should have made that decsion. i found really good deals, like 25 piece hair sets in these really cute purses for 1.48. but i bought 10 of them!

**Mamaw** · 12-29-2005, 06:46 PM

I know that you did spent money but you got 21 gifts for under 26.00. I think that is pretty good bargain hunting. Now the trick is to actually use those as gifts and to NOT buy the person anything else.

You did GREAT!!
But as to your question, yes, I think I could be a shopaholic. My weakness is thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales. Yes, I do get great buys but do I actually need to buy at all?? Most times the answer is NO. So.....one of my goals is to only go to the thrift store once per month ( twice max) and to only buy the items that are actually needs or can be used for gifts. No more buying just because it is cute and a good deal!

**Shell** · 12-29-2005, 08:39 PM

One day at a time. One day at a time.

**hollyhill** · 12-29-2005, 10:52 PM

If you are planning to use all those gifts then you did GREAT!
However, if you bought them just because they were a bargain but have no one to give them to, then you have a problem.

**Mojjo** · 12-30-2005, 11:05 AM

my mom is... she buys just because

you had an actual because

**homesteadmamma** · 12-30-2005, 11:24 AM

No I am no longer a shopaholic. I stay out of stores for that very reason. Years ago I would have called myself one. For me personally, I'd rather get rid of my debt.

**ironmaiden** · 12-30-2005, 12:07 PM

My sister definitely is. She shops every day. She lives near a big mall, strip malls galore and she shops QVC. I told her yesterday that I needed a new pocketbook - mine is shredding and it's just a matter of weeks before it literally breaks. She said that I should come over and pick one from her pile. Then we went to a shop that had Vera Bradley pocketbooks and she said - I have that one and that one and that one and that one. She also buys jewelry.

She's in her 50's. No retirement, no savings, lives in an apartment and has been bankrupt.

Put a brightly colored piece of paper around the bills in your wallet and masking tape around your credit card. Write on it something like "Why am I buying this?", "Is this a want or NEED?"

Stay out of stores, stick to your lists, before you pull up to the register, look and your cart and ask yourself do I really need this stuff?

Why are you shopping? What do you get out of it? Is it fulfilling an emotional need? Is it social? Do you need an excuse to get out of the house? Is it the default place to go? Are you rewarding yourself?

If you understand why, then maybe you can change how you fulfill yourself. Throw your energy into a new goal.

**Jerseygirl** · 12-30-2005, 08:35 PM

It has been proven that shopping can give you that same chemical high that some people get from working out, falling in love, etc. so can you become addicted to that, yes you can.
I realize that I have a problem with this. I was literally standing in a designer shoe store last month with 6 pair in my hands-all in the $48-$75 price range and only one was a gift for someone else. I actually will, at this point begin to feel elated, it is almost manic. This is literally why I stay out of stores whenever possible, I also don't get this elation from lesser goods-no kidding- I can walk into Payless and buy 2 pair because I need something to match an outfit or whatever, no emotion felt, I cross the street to the place I can get 40% off Ralph Lauren or Donna Karan and my heart races, I get giddy and when I walk out with a stack I feel great for DAYS! I feel great wearing them, seeing tham in my closet etc. OK I know I have issues, so I deal with it by staying out of the stores and when I do break down and fill up the van I know that it is better than other addictions and that noone in my life is hurt by it (noone here is going hungry because of all the vowels in the closet - Fendi - Gucci etc...)

**favesis37** · 12-31-2005, 07:43 AM

thanks, i wen tto go to walmart again yesterday i needed potatoes and decided that the grocery store was a better place for me to be. i need nothing, however i love to find bargins. i did pick up a 2 piece wind suit(care bears) for 3.00 for my grnaddaughters birthday. that kinds stuff i dont mind, it is the silly stuff. i don' twant anyone to think that this stuff won't be used, what i can't use for christmas will go to pine ridge resevation for the kids there.

**staceyy** · 01-05-2006, 01:34 PM

I used to be but unemployment cured me. I've now replaced shopping with creativity. I love coming up with creative solutions that are free or don't cost much. Case in point, is this past Christmas. I did not spend anymore money for decorations. I sifted through the tons of decorations I bought over the years and was able to pull together something quite beautiful. I used to spend about $1500 for gifts and this year decided to only buy for my daughter. I spent about $150. We had family over during the holidays and asked everyone to bring a dish. The highlight of the evening was the pastry table. In the center was a beautiful gingerbread house I bought surrounded by mounds of pastries I made. Some were displayed on tiers, some on trays and some in decorative boxes. Everyone gasped when they saw it. It looked like a mini bakery dressed up for Christmas. There were also boxes of candy and nuts heaped and filled to the brim. It was nick-named Santa's Bakeshop.

When I first became unemployed (I work part-time now), I went through shopping withdrawal and found it therapeutic to surf the web applying for freebies and entering sweepstakes. Crazy I know, but it definitely helped. Then I turned to becoming more creative and began crafting. I was able to produce some very beautiful handcrafted cards. The type you would see in high-end boutiques. I also began practicing my pastry craft ( I had previously attended culinary school). I've since come up with my own line of bakery products. I'm now thinking of turning my creations into a business. Now when I look at the things I've been able to create I no longer feel deprived as I am now creating the sort of beautiful things I was used to buying. Gradually I am upgrading my skills and expanding into other areas.

I'v also come to realize that you can get just as excited about frugality as you can with being a spendthrift.The high is the same.Just remember "less is more".