Do You Have a Compulsive Shopping Disorder? Part I

No matter where we turn, whether we realize it or not, we are constantly bombarded with marketing jargon enticing us to buy. And companies are paying a lot of money to keep those ads front and center. According to the March 28, 2014 report on BusinessWire.com, $140.2 billion was spent in 2013 on advertising expenditures in the US. That is a lot of dough!

So where does all this marketing leave you? Do you have credit card bills and lots of stuff you don’t really need? Are you filling a void by shopping? Are you opening and using the items you buy? Have you tried to stop shopping and overspending, possibly numerous times, with no luck? Are you running out of room to store things you buy? If so, then you may be one of the 2-8% of Americans with oniomania-compulsive shopping disorder.

Maryalene LaPonsie from Money Talks News offers 7 Ways to Stop the Shopping Habit:

  1. Go on a spending fast– “Stop all discretionary spending for a period of time, whether that is a day, a week or more.”
  2. Wait a week– Are you an impulse buyer? Set a period of time to wait before you purchase an item to make sure you need/want it.
  3. Cancel catalogs– Stop catalogs from coming to your home so you are less inclined to make purchases.
  4. Put one thing back during each shopping trip– Make a promise to put at least one thing back before checking out during each shopping trip.
  5. One in, two out rule– Bring one new item in your house, clear out two. “The ‘one in, two out’ rule helps in two ways: It can help cut the clutter while also discouraging new purchases. You either get to keep your money if you decide the new item isn’t worth two of your existing items or, if you decide you want that purchase badly enough, you free up some space in your house by eliminating two other possessions.
  6. Don’t store your credit card information on shopping store online sites– Storing your credit card information with online shopping sites makes it too easy to click and purchase.
  7. Change how you socialize– If your social tendencies find you spending too much time in or around shopping malls change the way you spend your time.

Check-in with us next week as we continue our discussion on compulsive shopping.

Jenny Power, Absolutely Organized, LLC