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This article on temptation over at My Daily Dollars inspired me to think about how I’ve changed when it comes to my shopping habits. I’m not talking grocery shopping or buying the things we need, but instead the shopping that comes from being a self proclaimed shopaholic.
Her article went on to explain that whenever she felt down, she would take a trip to Target because she could always find something that would cheer her up. Shopping was always my pick-me-up. A trip to the mall for some cute clothes at Aeropostale or something cute from Victoria’s Secret always made me happy. Even buying new things for the apartment made me happy and I justified it by saying that it wasn’t really for me.
When I lost my job, one of the hardest things to do was to curb my shopping. It took a while, too. Even though we were down to one income, I was still shopping like I did when we had two incomes. Slowly and surely the money in our bank account dwindled and one day it finally hit me that I had to get serious with our finances and take control. This meant my spontaneous shopping had to go.
Since that revelation, I still splurge here and there on things, but it’s not nearly as bad as it was before. Over the past few months the only clothes I’ve purchased were 4 plain white long sleeved tee shirts for work and a Phantom of the Opera tee shirt from when we were on vacation in Las Vegas. That’s just one example.
If there are things we know we are going to want, we plan ahead. I don’t just run out and buy. One example I can think of right now is Guitar Hero World Tour, a video game that my husband and I have both been anxiously awaiting (and it comes out this weekend!). We’ve known for a while that we wanted to get it, so we started saving money here and there, estimating that it would cost $200 for the entire thing (it’s going to be similar to Rock Band in that it has drums, guitar, microphone and the game disc all in one…so it’s a bit pricey). Well, the price was announced recently and it’s only $189.99, plus I’ve got a $15 off $50 coupon, a $20 off any purchase coupon, and a $10 off any purchase coupon that I can use at the store we’re buying it from. This will save us an additional $45!
How do I fight the temptation to shop (because it’s surely still there)? When I feel that urge of “I need to buy something…buying something will make me feel better.” I occupy myself with something else. Maybe I clean…or bake…or start dinner. Maybe I get online and read the blogs of fellow PF bloggers! Anything that gets me away from my irrational thoughts that shopping will make everything better. Because deep down, I know it won’t. It will only make things worse. I’ll get a brief high from the rush of accumulating stuff and then I’ll feel guilty an hour later.
So I occupy myself. Most of the time the urges go away and I’m content with what I have. I don’t neglect myself of some of the things I want, but I plan ahead for them instead of just going out and buying whatever looks like fun at the time.
How do you curb your shopping urges?
