Community Chat

[winamac1]

---

@RetRN wrote:

@chrystaltree, often times people with these kinds of shopping habits are lacking in some area of their life and the shopping is a coping mechanism.

From reading some of your posts I've noted that you are probably one of those people. Some type of therapy or counseling may be beneficial to deal with the issues causing this problem. Denial is not a good thing, you must admit the problem before you can be helped.

---

seriously???

Please...one can go to a therapist to get their answers if they choose.  LOL

[AuntG]

@winamac1, RetRN was being facetious by quoting all the standard gibberish you hear on shows like Dr. Phil.  Likewise @chrystaltree was joking about needing an intervention.  However, I just finished a book about the deep seated psychological need some people have with shopping.  It can be used to fill emotional voids, just like overeating or drinking do.  I know two people who shop in this manner, and I never know how to respond when they list all their purchases.  They basically admit to being nearly broke, yet the shopping continues.

[SydneyH]

Ok, I'm confused.......8 packages a day is a lot imo.  It doesn't matter how much someone is earning either if they aren't saving that's finances 101, lol.

[september]

I don't think eight packages in one day is a lot, if you aren't shopping in brick and mortar stores, and you're buying things for family members as well as yourself.  

I got got three things today, which is a lot for a Saturday...since they all came USPS since UPS was off today.  I'll get more things on Monday when UPS delivers again.  We don't all live near major shopping areas and some of us save a lot of time by buying the basic things we need, online.  

[Blingqueen023]

---

@SydneyH wrote:

Ok, I'm confused.......8 packages a day is a lot imo.  It doesn't matter how much someone is earning either if they aren't saving that's finances 101, lol.

---

@SydneyH I agree with what you said here 100 percent!!

[Plaid Pants2]

@chrystaltree

I knew that you were just joking and kidding around, when you said that you needed an intervention.

It would be like me saying, "I need an intervention, because I'm addicted to chocolate!"

Only you know what your personal finances are, and everybody else here is just assuming that they knows what your finances are.

[Lipstickdiva]

---

@QueenDanceALot wrote:

I think it's kinda like drugs or alcohol.  If you think it might be a problem, it probably is

I don't think a shopping addiction isn't one just because you can afford it.  It can still be an addiction.

JMO.

---

ITA.  I'm not saying the OP has a problem.  This thread was started in jest.  However, my uncle paid for all his on-line purchases in cash and didn't have an issue paying all his other bills.

However, it was certainly a problem when he passed and we found box after box of unopened items he had purchased.

[suzyQ3]

I thought that the opening post was light-hearted and not to be taken seriously.

But since the discussion has widened nonetheless, I agree with the the poster who cautioned that there is such a thing as a shopping compulsion, and it has nothing to do with one's financial status. If a person shops continually but never feels anxious or depressed about it, then fine.

But a "compulsive" shopper is one who can't control her impulses. Her financial status is irrelevant. She needs the process -- beginning with the hunt, then the purchase. She is on a high that continues until she receives the item. And then she feels down and depressed. Rinse, spit, repeat.

The behavior could be a way of trying to fill some hole in her life, but compulsion can also be part of a larger set of emotional problems that may stem in part from genetics. So one may be predisposed so that then life challenges put her over the threshold.

How does one know the difference between a voracious spending habit and an emotional disorder? One knows, unless they refuse to acknowlege the cycle.

Rich or poor and anywhere in between can suffer from lack of impulse control and obsessive actions and the toll it can take on their well-being.

But again, nothing about the opening post raised a red flag, IMO. She just seemed to having fun and joking about it.

[JaneMarple]

---

@september wrote:

I don't think eight packages in one day is a lot, if you aren't shopping in brick and mortar stores, and you're buying things for family members as well as yourself.  

I got got three things today, which is a lot for a Saturday...since they all came USPS since UPS was off today.  I'll get more things on Monday when UPS delivers again.  We don't all live near major shopping areas and some of us save a lot of time by buying the basic things we need, online.  

---

ITA @september, one week last month I was getting about three packages a day BUT..... they were all items that I bought for my expectant granddaughter. Specific items that my daughter had requested through her registry. I bought everything at once so that I wouldn't forget. I haven't had a week like that in a very long time.