Do You Have A Shopping Addiction Or Do You Just Like To Shop?
While the question: Do you have a shopping addiction or do you just like to shop? Might sound like the same thing, they are completely different. While liking to shop may be part of an addiction it is not the main problem. People can enjoy shopping and not have an addiction as well. So how do you know the difference between an addiction and just enjoying to shop?
Along with anything in this world, people hear a word and put a generalized label on it immediately. In reality, there are many ways people can have and develop a shopping addiction. The most common type of addiction is the person that has maxed out their credit cards and continues to shop with one regard to how they will pay their rent or any other bills. Another type of shopping addiction is a person who buys items that are on clearance or at a great price even though they do not need them, but the price was just too good to resist. Overtime, these clearance and sale items will add up. If you are wondering if you could possibly have a shopping addiction, ask yourself these 6 questions to determine if you need help.
Can you go a week without buying yourself something?
Now I am not talking buying necessities in life like food, cleaning supplies, or hygiene oriented products. Can you go a week without running to the mall to buy clothing, shoes, makeup, or other material items that you don’t really need? If you find yourself unable to hold back from shopping for just a week, you are exhibiting impulsive shopping habits that correlate to a shopping addiction.
Are you shopping to cheer yourself up after a bad day?
While once in a while someone may go shopping to relieve a bad day, doing this frequently is a sign of a shopping addiction. Let’s say you were upset about a fight you had with your spouse and went out to shop after the fight. Did you really need the item you bought? While it may give you a “high” in the present moment, that feeling may fade and even turn into regret or questioning why you even bought the item in the first place.
Can you pay off your credit card at the end of the month?
Fiscal responsibility plays a major in a shopping addiction. If you are unable to pay off your credit card bill at the end of the month, you are spending too much. Once in a while this situation will happen, but if you cannot regularly pay off your credit card bill monthly, you are showing lack of responsibility, which ties into any type of addiction.
Do you fall into sales traps regularly?
Do you find yourself rushing to a clearance rack or sale sign, trying to get the best bargain? While shopping smart is great, do you actually need the items you are buying or are you just buying them because it is a great deal? If you have to talk yourself into how much money you will save or what a great deal it is, but do not actually need the item, you are showing signs of compulsion. You do not need or sometimes even want the item, but it is such a great deal that you cannot pass it up. In reality, you are not saving any money, because if it was not on sale, you would not have bought the item and would not have spent any money.
Are you trying to justify the items you buy?
If you go out and buy a dress for an event, but have 10 dresses already at home, you did not need that dress, but you justified it to yourself or your spouse by convincing yourself that you have nothing to wear. In reality you just wanted another dress.
If you or someone you know is showing signs of a shopping addiction please do not hesitate to call us for help. While a shopping addiction may not seem like a huge problem, it is and can cause an extreme amount of problems and stress.
https://www.yahoo.com/health/6-subtle-signs-youre-addicted-to-shopping-125173175537.html