Growing up I was always known to be very much of a shopaholic, and unfortunately, once I grew up and started making money of my own, it got much worse. It’s real easy to walk into a store and want to buy everything you see, but it’s important to keep in mind what’s important.
Sometimes you’ve just gotta say no, and it might be hard at the beginning but soon “no” will be a part of every shopping trip.
I was completely out of control when I was in high school when it came to shopping and I had to learn the hard way when I had to use my very first paycheck to pay off the negative balance in my bank account. Whenever I would online shop it didn’t end well. I would shop and shop for hours and rack up over a thousand dollars worth of clothes and every time I was done my dad would tell me that I’d have to be more “realistic.” I hated that. But I would go back to my cart and sadly delete more than half of the items in my cart until there was a “reasonable” amount of clothes left in my cart.
I started wishing that I had my own money so I could spend it on as much clothes as I wanted, and pretty soon that’s exactly what happened.
The summer going into senior year I thought I was invincible. I wanted a new wardrobe for school so I could start off the year with a bang. I went crazy and bought tons of new clothes and I was ecstatic. The feeling of adding more and more things to your cart is a thrill that never gets old. When it all came in the mail I was overjoyed and nothing could make me happier. A few days later I was checking my bank account and I was truly shook when I saw that I had a negative balance of -$326.52 in my account. I panicked and knew that I needed to find a job right away. Once I started working my only goal was to pay that negative balance off, but every day that I worked I was tormented by the thought of my bank account and I was just praying that it wouldn’t get any worse.
Finally payday came and I was disappointed to see that my first check would only pay off half of the balance. I freaked out and I had to keep it from my parents because I knew that they would be so disappointed with me. It took another week of work and I was so relieved when I finally paid off that balance. After I paid it off I was disappointed in myself, because I realized that I had just gone through all of this stress for some clothes sitting in my closet.
I knew it wasn’t worth it and I was discouraged thinking about the fact that my first two paychecks were already gone.
From that day forward I vowed that I would never have a negative balance in my bank account again and I’ve stuck to it! Of course it hasn’t been easy and I’ve come pretty close to being at $0, but nothing feels worse than seeing that big minus sign in your bank account. Constantly buying new things was something that I did as a way to deal with stress and I learned that it wasn’t good for me. I always wanted more and was never satisfied with what I had. It might feel nice for a little while but the feeling is only temporary. Even though the excitement of getting new things is fun, a bunch of new clothes isn’t worth all of the stress that comes with overspending.
The moral of the story is that things can’t truly make you happy to your fullest potential, but positive experiences can. It’s important to always take time to appreciate the people in your life who mean the most and express your gratitude to them because having memories to share people you care about can never go away. The feeling of having an amazing experience will always stay with you in life and can never be taken from you.
You can’t fill your heart up with material things like shoes and purses, only positive interactions with people you care about can do that.
If you don’t change your shopaholic ways you’ll end up right back where you started at the beginning of the shopaholic cycle, feeling unsatisfied with a never ending desire for more. You have to stop letting material things dictate your happiness, and take time to be grateful for all of the wonderful things you’re experiencing in life.
Here are 8 signs that you are a shopaholic:
1. You spend your money as soon as you get it / you usually run out of money shortly after you’ve received it
Payday is here yet again and the second you see the money in your account, you wanna go out and do something fun right away. This is not a good idea because the money will end up disappearing faster than it showed up!
2. You shop for things on the daily
Almost every time you go out you end up coming home with something new. You’re heading home and you figure you’ll run by the store real quick and “just browse” but we know that’s not what happens.
3. You always have a low balance in your bank account
You check your bank account and you look at the balance and you wonder where all of your money went! You tend to shop and shop without thinking about how much money you are actually spending.
4. Whenever you shop you end up buying way more than you were supposed to
You go into the store and you know that you need to buy just a few things, but you leave the store with so much more!
5. You don’t like people to know how often you shop and you get secretive about it
You don’t even want people to know that you are out shopping when they ask. You often feel guilty and try to hide how much stuff you have when people come over.
6. You feel embarrassed when you think about how much money you spend
Even though you love all of the things you constantly buy, something doesn’t feel right. You have a feeling of shame when you think about how much time you spend shopping and how many things you have.
7. Your closet is overstuffed
Every time you put something back in or take something out, you have a difficult time. You get stressed out just thinking about your closet and how much clothes you have!
8. People always tell you that you shop too much
This one is kind of a no-brainer, but if you have people all around you telling you something about yourself, you should consider taking a look to see if those things that they’re saying might possibly be true!
Now here’s how to deal with that endless urge to shop, and get help dealing with temptations as a shopaholic!
-Cut down on going to the mall
It will be hard at first, especially if you find yourself shopping almost every day, but starting small is the best way to go. Start with going just once or twice a week, that way you’ll still get a chance to go if you just can’t help yourself!
-When you do go to the mall, bring a friend
Bringing a friend is good because you’ll have someone there to be honest with you about the things you need and don’t need. Just make sure that they have good shopping habits themselves!
-Have an accountability partner to make sure you’re not overspending
It’s a good idea to tell your accountability partner that you are trying to spend less money. Tell them what you spend on clothes on average per week and have them encourage you during the week to not waste money on things that are useless. If you overspend, then you have to go return some of the things you bought. It’ll be tough, but you’ll be glad in the end that you spent less money.
-Bring a list, and stick to it!
If you know you just need a few things, write them down on a piece of paper and bring it with you when you go to the store. Keep looking at the list when you get there as a reminder that you only need those things.
-Just say no
Sometimes it’s up to yo to just say no to shopping. If you want to change your ways you’re the only one who can do it.
Thanks for reading! Leave a comment below if you liked this post or tag me on Instagram @mjstyleflow
xo,
MJ
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