6 Signs You’re a Shopaholic
Posted by Gail | Filed under Bad Habits!, Smart Shopper
Who doesn’t love a good sale? But when bargain-hunting, coupon clipping, or mastering the deal becomes the objective, you and your budget are likely headed for big trouble. Have you heard yourself say, “But it was such a deal!” Hmm.
If you’re spending money on credit, it’s not a deal. If you’re buying something you don’t need, it’s not a deal. If it takes you three weeks, three months, or never to put what you bought to use, it’s not a deal.
Many of us can’t resist a bargain. Shopping is such a part of our lives that our language now includes a word for people who shop compulsively: shopaholic. It seems that the Buying Bug has become a social disease. So how do you know if you’ve been bitten? Here are five clues:
1. Spending makes you feel rich. You like showing off that you’ve got money to spend. As counterintuitive as it may seem, some people become chronic spenders out of a fear of poverty. It’s a can be a self-esteem thing too. If you have a trophy kitchen but you’re not cooking, take it as a sign.
2. You have ALL the toys. You may not be in the red, but your closet is jammed to the rafters with stuff. Chronic spending is often unconscious spending, so you may not even know you’re doing it. Take a look around. Do you seem to have a version of every popular trend?
3. A $5,000 credit limit means you have $5,000 to spend. Not to put too fine a point on it, but your credit limit is not actually money in your pocket. If your credit card balance runs close to your credit limit every month, consider yourself a chronic spender.
4. Shopping makes you happy. I hate to burst your bubble, but shopping isn’t going to make up for a crappy childhood. Nor will it cure an unhappy career, a disintegrating relationship or anything else that ails you emotionally. If you’re buying to feel better or out of a sense of entitlement, you’re spending for the wrong reasons.
5. Your favorite phrase is “Oh, why not?” All of us fall prey to impulse shopping from time to time. The problem for people who can’t curb their desire for immediate gratification is that they’re not prioritizing. They’ve lost (or never had) the ability to figure out if they can do without, so, but for a whopping salary, they’re a centimeter away from destitution.
6. Your theme song is “Don’t worry, be happy.” You don’t like to think about money. So you don’t. You never bother to check your receipts. You don’t keep a running balance of what you’ve spent. You just go blissfully along, running up a new credit card balance. Even if you pay it off faithfully, you’re luckier than you are smart.
If you think you might be out of control, try the following:
Figure out your buying patterns. Take an inventory of what you own. If you have 30 pairs of jeans, only five of which you wear regularly, avoid the jeans rack.
Quell the urge. Postpone buying what you think you want for 24 hours.
Cut back. If you always buy two or three, buy only one.
Simplify. Buy only the basic necessities such as food and transportation and keep track of every penny you spend.
Quit cold turkey. Freeze your credit cards in a bucket of water and pay for everything with cold, hard cash. No cheating with a debit card!
My friend Natasha keeps a list of the things she needs and wants. If she finds a bargain, she looks at her list to see where it is (she’s keeps her list in priority sequence) and if it’s at or near the top, and she has the cash on hand, she buys. If not, she walks away. Natasha is accomplishing a whole bunch of things with that list: she’s keeping herself on track looking only at things she knows she needs or wants. She’s prioritizing. And she’s only spending money she has available.
In a culture that worships shopping, it’s only natural that the “bargain” be the Holy Grail. But if you find yourself compulsively shopping, it’s time to change religions.
June 7, 2012 at 7:12 am
I set aside “fun money” every month which I use for whatever I want including shopping for clothes. This is money left over after bills, savings, grocery etc.
The list idea is great to ensure a deal really is a deal. I use a list when I go grocery shopping.
June 7, 2012 at 8:31 am
What I always here from my shopaholic mom is “you only live once.” excuses, excuses!
June 7, 2012 at 9:05 am
My sister suffers from severe OCD and is a true shopaholic. She isn’t in debt by any means, but WASTES what could be great money on stuff. And she literally gets off on finding a deal. She just has to have it. Shoes on sale half price, she goes and gets 3 pairs in each colour because its a sale. Doesn’t matter that she doesn’t shop at that particular store. She shoves coupons at the whole family and has a whole wallet for coupons. Goes ballistic when I say I don’t do coupons just because it’s a coupon. She finds deals everywhere and expects deals on everything. Including a house! Insists she knows everything and in general is a pain to be around to listen to, she never listens, is too busy talking about the latest deal or price she thinks is fabulous. Personally, I hate shopping, hate the malls, only buy what I need…….
June 7, 2012 at 10:06 am
I fall somewhere in the middle. I do enjoy shopping sometimes and occassionally impulse buy, though if I later regret the purchase I will take it back. But for the most part if I am going shopping it is planned and not just in search of a “good deal”. I am bad for purchasing craft and stationery items that I don’t really need though, I have banned myself from those stores until I use what I have
But I think as long as you are not out of control with your spending then it’s not a big deal. As long as you have paid the bills, long and short term savings, etc, and are NOT shopping on credit, then I see no reason to castigate myself over shopping sometimes for fun. It’s all about living within your means and living a balanced life.
June 7, 2012 at 10:16 am
I set aside $100 as allowance money monthly for my dh and myself. I do not keep track of that $100 and once it is gone, there is no other money to use.Therefore if I really want something on my needs list, it takes several months to save and makes me think about what I am about to purchase. Many months I am left with $80 and save it for the following months.
This has greatly helped my dh and I stopped impulse shopping and not using our credit cards as we only have 1 and pay in full at the end of each month.
June 7, 2012 at 1:49 pm
Great reminder… and I like the list idea. My husband was actually the one who taught me the value and power of money early in our marriage. Now at 32, we have two young daughters and are consumer debt free. It’s not an easy road, but it is a worthy one to travel.
June 7, 2012 at 5:48 pm
all of those are great tips that I definitely need to implement to curb my spending! I like shopping and I never go into debt for it, but it would be worthwhile to cut down and put extra towards my student loan debt.
June 7, 2012 at 9:04 pm
That tip for freezing your credit cards in a block of ice works absolute wonders! My credit card was frozen for months at a time when I was trying to get my spending under control and paying off debt. The only downside is that you can thaw it fairly quickly using hot water. I’ve also read the suggestion that you could put your card in a tub of peanut butter, though I’m not entirely certain I’d want to eat the peanut butter afterwards :s If you froze the card in a tub of peanut butter you’d be pretty much golden
June 8, 2012 at 10:32 am
I’m with you Cass…it’s like I could have written exactly what you wrote.
June 8, 2012 at 11:20 am
[...] 6 Signs you’re a Shopaholic [...]
June 8, 2012 at 5:49 pm
I am a true shopoholic, but I find that doing my spending at yard sales satisfies my urges. I limit my spending to $25.00 and always come home with a ton of stuff I don’t need. I then donate most of the stuff to a thrift store or to someone I know who needs an item.
I have found that the easiest way to curb my spending is to LEAVE MY CREDIT CARDS AT HOME WHEN I SHOP. It’s makes decisions much easier to make when you don’t have any money on you.
J.
June 12, 2012 at 2:28 pm
I like the wait 24 hours idea. I almost always talk myself out of it in that time because I keep asking myself if I really NEED it. Another way I avoid over spending is by staying away from stores altogether! And at the grocery store, I check the flyers, buy what’s on sale and only buy what’s on my list. Everything in my freezer has been bought on sale!
June 13, 2012 at 4:47 pm
This is a great post. It gets to the heart of why people feel the need to spend. One of the things that curbs shopaholics is having a budget for your shopping sprees and keeping yourself in that budget by only carrying cash. Thanks for the post
June 15, 2012 at 2:58 pm
This is a great post, I love your advices.. I’m trying to be organiced with my money. thanks.
June 15, 2012 at 10:40 pm
Shopping is something everyone deserves to do once in a while, but only when it is financially ok to do so..being a “shopaholic”, in other words, having a spending problem is a serious issue and it can really destroy someones credit and financial stability. Remaining in control is a major responsibility and you need to take steps to ensure that you can do this if you feel aren’t. Trust me, its better to tackle this issue before it goes further and in the end you would rather have your house than that cute little dress you bought.