Post # 1
Member
611 posts
Busy bee
Please some one help me to stop shopping!!! I have a serious addiction to shopping, online and in stores on my lunch break! I’m not big into dressy clothes or anything, I just like to shop. I will shop for myself, Boyfriend or Best Friend, friends, siblings, future wedding (not engaged yet), future children (not pregnant yet)….I have a problem. Albeit lately I have been using gift cards from Christmas, but I just dropped $50 on the J. Crew Final Sale. My problem is that I always justify my shopping. Like just a minute ago when I went J. Crew crazy I told myself, “Hey it’s okay that you just spent $50 bucks because you got a seersucker swim top and bottom and a dress that I can wear to work, church, and out to dinner. It’s okay!” And last week I spent $40 on a dress for one of my friends (she did pay me back the next day) but it was at a store that was closing and everything was like 40% off! How can you go wrong with 40% off??? Anyone else facing this addiction?
Post # 3
Member
2475 posts
Buzzing bee
I go through waves of the same thing. If I spend a lot one month I notice it and then vow to cut back. I know that it’s hard. Internet shopping is my vice. What helps me is to usually focus on something really important that I want in the future that I should save money for…like another house, a different car, etc.
Post # 4
Member
562 posts
Busy bee
I used to shop online a lot too because I was bored or would see a sale and get lured in. Once I got engaged tho, and realized how much it costs to get married, my shopping was curbed drastically. Every now and again I’ll treat myself, but it has to be for something special.
If you do a lot of online shopping, sometimes it helps to just put whatever you want in your online cart, then let it sit in there for a bit before clicking the purchase button. That’s what I do, and then when I re-visit it and see the total with tax and shipping included, I get totally turned off and realize I don’t need what’s in the cart and that the money can be put to better use.
Post # 5
Member
2015 posts
Buzzing bee
I used to have a shopping addiction! I mostly would do it when I had a bad day … kind of like ice cream … I would treat myself.
What cured me? The past two years or so, I’ve been donating clothes with tags on them to the salvation army. Clothes I bought myself that I never even wore. They were perfectly fine, I just had too many clothes. When I filled a garbage bag up of clothes I had never worn and donated it, and then I went back to my closet six months later and did the same thing, I knew I had a problem.
Now, when I shop, for me or for anyone else, I just ask myself, “Do I/recipient really need this?” I can usually always justify a reason to get something, but that doesn’t mean I need to buy it when I have something at home that serves a similar purpose.
Saving up for vacations and a house has kind of helped, too 🙂
Post # 6
Member
611 posts
Busy bee
Thank you ladies for your advice and input…I think that when I get engaged planning a wedding will help because I will be so focused on the prices of that stuff that clothes and little goodies won’t mean as much to me. I just bought a new car in November but I also got a raise sooo it kinda evened out for me. I do take clothes that I don’t wear anymore to my little cousins or a second hand shop so I keep only the clothes I wear in my closet. My winter clothes are taking up a good chunk of space right now because they are so bulky so I’m just waiting on spring!