Hello, my name is Harmony Goodman, and I am a victim of my own shopping tendencies.
Have you ever found yourself buying stuff you don’t need, but making the purchase made your day or week better? This realization may be a shopping addiction.
Chances are you’ve experienced the same thing I’ve been struggling to deal with myself. Welcome to my shopping addiction rehab article.
Shopping addictions aren’t something we take seriously at all. Most people forget they exist. Thanks to my discovery of Lana Saint Clair on TikTok, I have become more aware of my bad habits.
Shopping can be fun, and we don’t always have to steer away from purchases that present themselves as a want rather than a need. I am a firm believer that the little things in life keep us happy and make us unique.
However, now that the fall semester is here, it may be time for an intervention. In other words, I’m calling myself out.
If you’re anything like me, you likely experience a surge in emotion after a purchase that usually ranges from excitement to buyer’s remorse. Shopping is one of those joys in life for me, and I like buying new clothes, books and jewelry. Unfortunately, I have been purchasing things I don’t need, such as a new shirt, to bring happiness. This is all fine and dandy until the buyer’s remorse sets in. I realize that I don’t need another sweater, and I could’ve saved that money or used it for something else.
If that last paragraph felt a little too close to home, I would like to present to you my tips to reduce my shopping expenditures.
Budgeting: Create a budget for yourself. I know you’ve heard this so many times before, but that’s because it works. You don’t have to deny yourself from the things you enjoy, like a new mascara that just came out. The budget will help you become more self-aware and will reduce your spending.
Anything but shopping: Find other things to bring you that sense of excitement. Go to the library and loan out a book to read this month, get back into that old hobby you stopped doing last year, hang out with friends or family or play a game. Just do the things that make you happy.
Online “shop”: Go online “shopping”, and by that I mean add whatever you want into your cart and then just never buy any of it. This is something I do often, just like on Pinterest sometimes I want the ability to save something without making the financial decision to buy something.
Dig up the grave: Sometimes we don’t need something new off the rack to find happiness. Dig through your sock drawer and find those really fun socks with cats wearing cowboy hats that you forgot you had. It may not be a new pair of socks, but it’s new to your memory. Now you can wear them and be happy to show off your cool funky socks, all without buying a new pair.
Good old reliable donating: Maybe it is time to part with that dress you bought after telling yourself you will wear it eventually. Sometimes cleaning out your collections is a lot more fun and more rewarding than hitting the add to cart button. Spring cleaning doesn’t just have to happen in spring, you know.
I know it is hard. I am not saying that we have to stop purchasing things we don’t necessarily need. Sometimes, we should all take a brief moment to consider that were college students, and as we all say, we are kind of broke.