Shopping addiction, your ideas needed

[SerCay]

Even though it may seem like an ''innocent'' addiction, my shopping addiction is real.

 

It's the reason I still have a 6000 bucks dept which I'm struggling to pay off. No I'm lying right now, I can't even pay it off because the extra money I make each month goes to new clothing, make up, bags, and what not.

 

I've been like this since I was little. I was a spoiled kid, but here's the thing, my parents had the money to spoil me, I don't have the money PLUS my addiction has gotten worse with age.

 

If it weren't for my parents, I would still have a 20.000 debt. My parents payed it off. The last bit is up to me.

 

I made a decision today. I want to stop, COLD TURKEY. No more buying ANYTHING I don't need for as long as it takes for me to be able to pay off my debt.

 

I too want to be able to save to go on holidays, and save to buy larger things than clothing.

 

In the past I used to get in trouble A LOT. Not being able to pay mortgage and stuff.. my dad always helped me out. Since 6 months I've been working my *ss off to be able to pay my bills normally AND feed my spending habit.

 

It's gonna stop, do you guys have personal experiences about how you overcame shopping addiction?

[CrystalCastles]

Even though it may seem like an ''innocent'' addiction, my shopping addiction is real.

 

It's the reason I still have a 6000 bucks dept which I'm struggling to pay off. No I'm lying right now, I can't even pay it off because the extra money I make each month goes to new clothing, make up, bags, and what not.

 

I've been like this since I was little. I was a spoiled kid, but here's the thing, my parents had the money to spoil me, I don't have the money PLUS my addiction has gotten worse with age.

 

If it weren't for my parents, I would still have a 20.000 debt. My parents payed it off. The last bit is up to me.

 

I made a decision today. I want to stop, COLD TURKEY. No more buying ANYTHING I don't need for as long as it takes for me to be able to pay off my debt.

 

I too want to be able to save to go on holidays, and save to buy larger things than clothing.

 

In the past I used to get in trouble A LOT. Not being able to pay mortgage and stuff.. my dad always helped me out. Since 6 months I've been working my *ss off to be able to pay my bills normally AND feed my spending habit.

 

It's gonna stop, do you guys have personal experiences about how you overcame shopping addiction?

 

It sounds like your money managing is really disorganized. Cut up your monthly earnings into portions and set aside these portions for certain things, and document it all (make a chart). So on your chart, write down that x amount of money goes to bills, x amount of money goes to food, x amount of money goes to vacations, x goes to clothes, etc. That way, you know how much you can spend on clothes.

 

Also, don't bring your credit card when you're going to the mall. If you know you have your credit card with you, you'll likely spend money on stupid sh*t you don't need.

 

If you're in the store, and you find an item you want but you know you don't need (and lets be honest here, you probably don't need it), take this item with you while walking around inside the store. Eventually the impulsiveness of wanting this item and the novelty of having seen some cool thing on the shelf will wear off.

 

If I need a jolt to get back to reality, I also watch a few episodes of Hoarding: Buried Alive.

 

I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum- I'm an extreme minimalist. I almost never buy anything. Its a huge effort to part with my money because I think "what if I don't need it" or "what if I can spend my money on something more important than this thing I'm holding". I find the above tactics are what I use to not buy stuff, even if I see something that I initially want to buy at first.