Reformed shopaholic? please can you give me the benefit of your advice

CompletelyLost

NGlady wrote: »

debit card that ive got stored with debenhams canx. Only problem is, im wanting to return lots of things, but now i dont have the card I paid on. If i take them into store, will they refund me money wise or would I be stuck with credit notes?
Im thinking, I may have to go through the hassle of sending back via courier which means waiting for ages for my money.
How silly am I - why didnt i deal with the refunds FIRST lol.

... tell them you lost your card/had it stolen and you're waiting for a new one to arrive? I've done that before (not at Debenhams though so their policy might be different) and they've refunded me onto a different card.

Anglea wrote: »

Talking of binges, I bought a very large pack of salt and vinegar crisps today completely forgetting that I'd already put a smaller pack in the basket.

I planned to eat them over the week, but couldn't stop myself once I started and then I ate a large iced bun.:( I'm telling myself it was ok because I didn't buy any of my usual clutter.

I just hope I don't start eating a lot of snacks if I'm cutting down on shopping.

Crisps are the bane of my life (I frequently whinge about this on another thread on here )... I swear they're more addictive than cocaine!

Sorry I can;'t be more helpful - I am a binge-eater as well as a binge-shopper so I'm not sure what to suggest.

NGlady

Yep i binge everything, cant do anything just a slight amount. a very adictive personality thats why i darent drink/smoke etc!

Yeah may try it on with them, at least for a couple of the items, theres quite a bit of moneys worth

salesaddict

CompletelyLost wrote: »

I sometimes think that the longer you go without spending, the more you end up spending when you do actually crack Like a binge, only with shopping not food.

Is it just beauty and clothing you spend excessively on, or is it anything and everything? Sorry if it seems I'm being nosey.

No you are not being nosey at all:)
It is beauty, clothing, shoes, bags, accessories. You know one in every colour. I am feeling very low and really bad about myself and the type of person I must be. Over the past couple of hours I brought all my toiletry stash together and photographed it and put it on the toiletries thread. I am so ashamed. I don't know when I turned into this person. I don't know how I let my shopping addictions get so far. My dh just smiled indulgently at me when I tried to apologise for it all. My ds just laughed and said, all this anti-ageing stuff and you still don't look young. When I am feeling better I will clip his ear for that

salesaddict

NGlady wrote: »

Yep i binge everything, cant do anything just a slight amount. a very adictive personality thats why i darent drink/smoke etc!


This is me to a T

salesaddict

lynzpower wrote: »

I think you are trying to put it off, and I also think you know why. This is like then final frontier. Your nemesis.I dont mean to sound harsh, you know that but its like staring your big weakness in the face.

I felt like that about my savings account in January. I just couldnt look at the figure. It should have been 10k more than there was. _pale_

Now Ive looked at it,I felt SHOCKING, but now feel more comfortable. If I can call it that. I can now talk about my mistake on here knowing im moving forward not back

I know you are too xx

I've put the photos on Lynz. I am really exhausted and ashamed now. I will post more tomorrow. Thankyou again for your so thoughtful post. I will answer the questions tomorrow.

Treacly

salesaddict - just wanted to say you sound like a really nice person to me - funny and caring and actually really self-aware, and I bet your family and friends all think so too.

Anglea, CompletelyLost - perhaps we should start a new support group for people addicted to crisps? Actually knowing MSE there probably already is one.

lynzpower

I am so a crispaholic

velocity.girl_2

well girls seems like you have all done really well over the weekend my bloke gave me £60 to go out with last night and shock horror i came back with.........£30!!!! i was so proud of myself....£6 on food, £4 on taxi, £5 into club...so only £15 on drinks....and i'm up and at them...no hangover...pretty pants night tho...wasn't my turn to pick where to go,so ended up at a 'dancing round your handbag' place lol!!!

Anyway....going to be a Non spend day for me, nice roast lamb dinner and footie on the tele and just me,bloke and the kids...

Got heaps of stuff finishing on Ebay today,all with bids and some stuff going for silly amounts so all good!!

good luck today ladies and i'll chat to you tomorrow...

ohhhhh salesaddict what thread is the toiletries one? the FEB one? i need to join that i think...i seem to collect hair dye?!?!?! i've got about 17 boxes of random colours

karom

Hello

Been reading the thread since I found it last night. I always thought of myself as pretty in control and the purchases were a treat for all the hard work during the week.

I have to admit I can be pretty bad. I have the M&S collection of skits that came out a few ago. Last Dec when we were supposed to be control due to house purchase, splashed on 2 jackets, 1 coat, 1 skirt (love the coat) because they were on sale. The 2 jackets and the skirt don't really fit, can't take back. I am going to try to do the "sell on ebay" (I never before)

I joined the weekly budget (Sunday -> Friday) last year and decided to stop to have a monthly budget for Dec because I was seeing that I trully only spent on Saturdays. My week spending increased (hair, shirt, take aways, coffees, ..). I am back on the weekly budget now and it really helps.

I now record everything. I built an excel file with a sheet per month and the type of spend so I see for each month the type of spend and the total spend per day / per month / per year & split up by type of spend.

I used to spend a huge amount on cosmetics (ysl, chanel, dior, ..) and perfume (direct cosmetics mostly). I have a huge number of lipsticks mostly red, and I only trully use one. I have joined the 100 days challenge to stop buying any until they are completed. I think I can spend the complete year without buying any. By stopping buying any, I received one at Christmas and my OH is so happy when he sees me wearing the one he offered me. Same for the perfume. The one he bought me is kept in the box and used on "special days" (meaning I am not just dozzing myself with it prior going to work). I am learning to more appreciate what I have and what I receive.

One thing that I realised has really help is the turning-around clothes (summer/winter - long term storage plastic bags). This is fantastic. I rediscover some clothes I have forgotten I had. It is like shopping without spending a penny.

salesaddict

velocity.girl wrote: »

well girls seems like you have all done really well over the weekend my bloke gave me £60 to go out with last night and shock horror i came back with.........£30!!!! i was so proud of myself....£6 on food, £4 on taxi, £5 into club...so only £15 on drinks....and i'm up and at them...no hangover...pretty pants night tho...wasn't my turn to pick where to go,so ended up at a 'dancing round your handbag' place lol!!!

Anyway....going to be a Non spend day for me, nice roast lamb dinner and footie on the tele and just me,bloke and the kids...

Got heaps of stuff finishing on Ebay today,all with bids and some stuff going for silly amounts so all good!!

good luck today ladies and i'll chat to you tomorrow...

ohhhhh salesaddict what thread is the toiletries one? the FEB one? i need to join that i think...i seem to collect hair dye?!?!?! i've got about 17 boxes of random colours

Here we are velocity girl
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2245067
You will be so welcome on there.
What colour is your hair at the moment?Do you change it regularly?
I have an Aunt ,who is nearly 60, and she still
changes her hair from red one month, to blonde the next, then black and all the colours in between (except grey).

I think general nuttiness runs through the females in our family:o

Mind you she changes the men in her life just as often, so I don't know if there is a connection?:D