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

Anglea

Completelylost - now the pair of us are guilty

I will have to be brave - Cue my martyred expression for the rest of the night LOL.

But in regards to the outfit - charity or not, £7 for a torn dress. What if it couldn't be sewn up? You'd end up with another mistake on your rail.

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salesaddict

verynewmoneysaver wrote: »

I think I'll be having another non-spend day as I'm still not feeling very well. Used to dropping my son off at college in the mornings then going for a coffee and look around the shops, about once or twice a week. I'm going to do this just once a week at the most now. Makes you think this thread doesn't it. Any of us could lose our jobs at any time and then where would we be. Hope you are okay salesaddict. You haven't posted for a while. Suppose you have more important things to think about than shopping at the moment.

Hi there,

I read everyone's posts religiously, but as you say shopping is the last thing on my mind at the moment. Most days I don't spend anything. I take my lunch to work and on the few occasions I have been out it has been a free night through work. My dad is not too bad considering all he has wrong. I think I am, if anything, more worried about my dh at the moment. His depression is very bad. I just keep saying to myself to hold on and things can only get better. At least I am no longer under the illusion that I can shop my way out of a bad time.

Souk08

Take care of you and you're right, shopping, booze, drugs or any other addiction aren't the answer X

verynewmoneysaver

Take care Sales Addict. At least something good has come from you starting this thread, and I think it's helping us all too. Things will get better for you I'm sure.

higginsb

Get the charity shop habit! It is incredibly satisfying browsing around as you never know what treasures you may find, and for a couple of quid here and there, you can afford to indulge! And... even more plus points:
you're helping the charity, recycling stuff that may otherwise have ended up in someones cupboard, appreciating something that someone else doesn't, and, if you change your mind, it's no big deal, re-donate it to the shop, let the charity benefit from the item a second time, and get a warm fuzzy feeling!!! Bonus! Hope things soon start looking up for you.

Bargainetta

Remember that any fool can go and buy high mark-up clothes in a shop. It takes a lot more savvy to dress from charity shops etc. and you can get a greater buzz out of doing it successfully.
I also strongly agree with the two posts, one about not thinking of shopping as a leisure activity and the other one on being kind to yourself, don't fall off the wagon just because you bought a coffee when you were out.

Gemmie1985

I had a similar problem and there are a few simple rules I go by:

1) Leave the debit/credit card in the house-or even better, give it to someone close to you who will try and stop you from using it by asking you for 3 good reasons why you need the card back

2) Assess how much money you can actually afford to spend each week by checking your bank account and ask someone close to you to give you this amount in cash every week. By doing this you will learn to budget accordingly (which doesn't happen overnight, but it really does help!)

3) Keep a diary for a few weeks of everything you spend. You can then work out where you need to cut down

4) Check you bank statements online at least every other day so that you know where your finances are at.

5) Stop using auction sites such as ebay, or sites such as Amazon, where they keep payment details because these will encourage you to start spending, by buying a "sneaky treat" or by buying stuff you don't actually need.

I have been debt free for nearly a year now, and I am confident that I won't go back :jIt's a massive weight lifted off my shoulders. I'm sure you'll curb this cycle of spending soon-I did and it was the best feeling ever x

ZarZar1990

Hellooo everyone, how are you all doing today?

nuttyshopaholic25

Hi There all,

I just want to say that you have all inspired me to not only join this site but mainly to face up to the fact im seriously in Debt and im a major shopaholic. Ive always joked with people that i am but truely i am and its bad very very bad.

I recently came back from holiday and checked my balance on my credit card, i knew id over spent i told myself i was spoiling myself etc... i NEEDED the items and life is too short and you carnt take your money with you so you might as well spend it etc.. well i thought id added about £600 to my card when i looked it was £1,028.12 OMG :eek::eek::eek: IM SHOCKED i HAVE NEVER EVER EVER SPENT THAT MUCH IN A WEEK i do not know how i did it or what it was all on. i searched around for all of my recipts last night to try and add it all up but i think i threw most of them away.

Anyway im on here ive taken my card out of my purse and ive been reading everyones threads over the last two days and you have all given me the power to start doing something about my problem as it is serious and i want to say thank you, thank you so much for making me feel as if im not the only one who has a problem and for saying how you all feel about things as it is the way i feel and i thought it was me against the evil credit cards and spending habbit.

xxx

eatandspendaholic

Ok, just been updating on my thread and answering some private messages. Been out shopping with mam, did a bit on conciouse (cant get ispell to work lol) shopping.

Thankyou