[GyrlLayney]

I am starting this BBB club because when it comes to buying bags, we sometimes need a reality check and occasionally, serious intervention! So I hope that we can be one another's BBB (Bag Ban Buddy), which is very loosely defined. For starters tell us as much of your story as you're comfortable with, such as who are you? how many bags have you bought/how much money spent? why are you here? how long is your ban? I'll start...


Hello, my name is Laynee. Since January 2007, I have purchased 24 bags, I have returned 14, and I have kept 10 which total $5200. (*whew!* OMG that was pretty tough counting up those bags and tabulating the total $$$ but I'm glad I faced my fear and did it anyway...)

I am starting this BBB club because I must cease and desist from buying any more bags until at least January 2008. I need to save money because I'm primarily a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM), I work at an office job about 14 hours per week, I am planning to attend grad school next year and because enough is ENOUGH for me. Most of all, I'm starting this club because not only do I need help from other like-minded gals... but I also want to help others stay on their bans, too.


The rest of my story goes like this... just four months ago, I never even knew about Chloe until I stepped into tPF by mistake. In fact, I never shopped at Neiman Marcus although I did work part time at Saks (men's dept) many years ago but never bought a single thing there even tho I had a pretty good discount. I also worked at Nordstrom for a short time but only bought sale clothes and shoes - never any high-end bags! - when they gave me a 30% discount during my first month of employment so I could stock my wardrobe with work clothes.


Back in my 20's after college I worked as a social worker for people with disabilities in northern New Jersey. I only earned a non-profit salary so I had to work extra jobs waitressing and computer data input just to afford living alone in my apartment. Since the area's cost of living was so high (a lot of people who work in Manhattan lived there) I really only had enough $ for rent, food and utilities. Needless to say, I rarely bought new ANYthing, nevermind even a new $20 bag!

Then I got into HR work and the money was much better...and that's when I bought some Coach bags (about 2 per year) and even my first Fendi bag! I also came into a nice sum of money which I then spent on lots of goodies for myself plus I paid off my Saturn. It was nice to treat myself to the good life for a change.

My spending habits changed when I met the love of my life, got married at 31, had my son, got laid off a year later, got pregnant with my daughter. With marriage and babies, came a tight budget again. My frugal hubby was in charge of all the bills and checkbook and scrutinized everything I spent over $50. That kept me honest and our savings grew... enough to buy a new house!

We moved out of NJ and built a beautiful and affordable home in PA that allowed us to give our kids a yard and keep me home with them as a SAHM. But then I had post-partum blues and then I fell deeper into depression for other unresolved issues. Fortunately, I went into CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) last summer and dealt with those issues. Felt much better by the time January 2007 rolled around! I suddenly felt a confidence I never knew in my life and wanted to pursue my ultimate dream: to finally get my master's and become a psychologist! I even took GRE prep courses and researched nearby grad programs in Philly, etc... I was so optimistic about my future!

BUT THEN! I got sidetracked. It all started with the Coach mia soho satchel I bought from my nearby Coach factory store. At $239 (orig. retail $350 I think), it was quite expensive (at the time, relatively speaking!) so I googled "Coach mia soho review" and *voila* I found the one purse blog which led me to this one, tPF.

My interest became piqued with the Chloe paddington. And then on top of it all I was in charge of finances of our house, I was offered credit cards in my name, I liquidated my one and only stock... and that's when I went NUTS!
So now after FIVE straight months of being caught up in tPF and the hype of buying Chloe and other high-end bags... I need to stop and really focus on my family as well as my dream of attending grad school and becoming a psychologist.

Looking back (with the benefit of therapy) I realize that my long-time depression kept me in a mindset that I was unworthy of anything good. Because of CBT therapy, I suddenly began to feel good about myself but I also felt worthy of having FUN and enjoying my life. So I guess I became a kid all over again... but this time a kid who feels like she deserves nice things as opposed to broken and/or old hand-me-downs. I just have to tell myself that I don't need these things to feel worthy... they are nice but what's really important is my health, my career aspirations and naturally my husband and kids!

[angelthelson]

im joining you my sweet sistah!!! well, you know my story

[ali w]

Count Me In Girlfriend!!! I Need All The Help I Can Get......

[feifei87]

i'm in too!
before i joined pf in december, i only had a coach demi purse and a longchamp medium le pliage tote. since jan. i've bought 1 chanel, 1 lv, 3 prada, and a balenciaga totaling $3690 which is outrageous considering i'm still a college student

i need to be on a ban. it's so hard though because there's no much more that i want!

[Myblackbag]

Count me in! I have purchased four handbags since December and I need to slow down and pay off my last credit card and start saving money!!!

[ali w]

iF i USED MY CREDIT CARD I WOULD REALLY BE UP THE CREEK. I TRY TO MAKE PURCHASES DIRECTLY FROM MY BANK ACCOUNT SO I COULD LIMIT MY SPENDING AND NOT ACQUIRE ANY EXTRA DEBIT. BUT THAT DID NOT WORK BECAUSE THE MONEY WAS AVAILABLE I JUST KEPT BUYING AND BUYING.

[ms p]

i own 1 Coach and 1 LV now. after the coach bag i join tpf.

same as GyrlLayney i google and search for more information on my coach and found tpf. it was unthinkable at the time to spend the money and i was really happy but scare at the same time. i told myself it should satisfy me for at least 2 years. guess what 5 months later i bought another bag - my 1st LV.

many times i've felt like giving in to the urge to buy many many more dream bags. i'm constantly budgeting myself and warning myself not to buy too many too fast and it's Hard. it's almost like once i've started the high end bag buying, it's no longer unthinkable to spend even more on other high end bags. whenever i hear of price increase i feel like rushing out and buy Now.

i've set a maximum price point per bag to keep myself in check. i was suppose to get another bag only in may2009 but i manage to convince myself i need another bag before may2009 *sigh*. so now my final plan is 1 more LV in aug2007 than next bag in may2009.

[Virginia]

I'm in.! I don't have an exact time frame yet when my bag ban will end but I'm hoping to just not buy any more bags for a LONG while.. I was doing good.. My ticker was up to 1 mth, 1 wk, 3 days and then I went and bought a Dior bag at the outlets. So far, this year I think I've spent about $5,400 not including the bags that I've bought & returned/sold off. Gosh, it was surprising to see that number go up as I was calculating!

[GyrlLayney]

Originally Posted by angelthelson

im joining you my sweet sistah!!! well, you know my story

Pinay (which means Filipina) sistah angel...I know your story 'coz we go way back... but maybe share a little bit about yourself and your situation with our other BB Buddies so they can also understand what you're going thru too!

[GyrlLayney]

Originally Posted by ali w

Count Me In Girlfriend!!! I Need All The Help I Can Get......

YAY Ali!!! I'm so glad you're here! Because of this forum, I now have a Pinay Sistah and now a SAHM Sistah! That's great because I was an only girl who grew up with a buncha brothers...

So fellow BB Buddies: I suggest that everyone check into THIS thread first - for moral support and stronger will power - before checking into the other threads, okay?

[GyrlLayney]

Originally Posted by feifei87

i'm in too!
before i joined pf in december, i only had a coach demi purse and a longchamp medium le pliage tote. since jan. i've bought 1 chanel, 1 lv, 3 prada, and a balenciaga totaling $3690 which is outrageous considering i'm still a college student

i need to be on a ban. it's so hard though because there's no much more that i want!

Welcome to our newest BB Buddy feifei87!


Oh my... we share the same story don't we? I soooo very much applaud the fact that you are here and you do recognize that intervention is necessary! And as a college student you must really be racking up the credit cards, huh? Me, too sweetie. But I happen to have a DH who will throw me into the street and take away my kids if he should ever find out that my Chloe bags are NOT less expensive than Coach bags (Lie #1 I'm finally admitting, gosh that feels good).

I also racked up credit card debit in college and I'm doing it now. Or rather past-tense *DID* it in the past 3 months. Not anymore... with help from you all my BB buddies!!!

We all have to stick together and celebrate our victories: we should share how we walked away from that incredible deal or holy grail bag when we know that we ladies have bigger and more important DREAMS and ASPIRATIONS!!!

[GyrlLayney]

Originally Posted by Myblackbag

Count me in! I have purchased four handbags since December and I need to slow down and pay off my last credit card and start saving money!!!

Glad to have you here, Myblackbag!

Paying off the credit card is something I need to do too - do you have any suggestions on how you're going to accomplish that? I'd love to hear them.

As for me, well I was only working a few hours a week but it looks like I will need to work harder to get myself out of the mess I'm in. I love being with my kids as a SAHM but at this point there's a graver issue at stake: financial stability and my marriage!

[GyrlLayney]

Originally Posted by ali w

iF i USED MY CREDIT CARD I WOULD REALLY BE UP THE CREEK. I TRY TO MAKE PURCHASES DIRECTLY FROM MY BANK ACCOUNT SO I COULD LIMIT MY SPENDING AND NOT ACQUIRE ANY EXTRA DEBIT. BUT THAT DID NOT WORK BECAUSE THE MONEY WAS AVAILABLE I JUST KEPT BUYING AND BUYING.

Ali... you are so smart not to have used the credit cards. Because then a bag that was a phenomenal deal suddenly goes right back up to retail price in NO time at all when you add up the interest racked up because of the unpaid credit card balance!

Well enjoy your beautiful Chloe collection and altho I know it's more than perfectly complete... YOU need to convince yourself that it's perfectly complete!

In fact, we ALL need to convince ourselves that we don't need another bag when we have a just-purchased bag in our possession waiting to be used and LOVED!!! Not stuck in a closet unused because it's been pushed aside for another bag we hunted down.

Hey, isn't there a song that goes..."And if you can't be with the one you love, honey, love the one you're with..."

[feifei87]

Well, although i'm still a student, so far I have been paying off my cc at the end of each month through the money from my summer internship. however, i should be saving this money for textbooks or food, or other neccessities rather than spending all of it. and i'm very tempted to go over the amount i make <sigh>

[GyrlLayney]

Originally Posted by petrina_yeo

i own 1 Coach and 1 LV now. after the coach bag i join tpf.

same as GyrlLayney i google and search for more information on my coach and found tpf. it was unthinkable at the time to spend the money and i was really happy but scare at the same time. i told myself it should satisfy me for at least 2 years. guess what 5 months later i bought another bag - my 1st LV.

many times i've felt like giving in to the urge to buy many many more dream bags. i'm constantly budgeting myself and warning myself not to buy too many too fast and it's Hard. it's almost like once i've started the high end bag buying, it's no longer unthinkable to spend even more on other high end bags. whenever i hear of price increase i feel like rushing out and buy Now.

i've set a maximum price point per bag to keep myself in check. i was suppose to get another bag only in may2009 but i manage to convince myself i need another bag before may2009 *sigh*. so now my final plan is 1 more LV in aug2007 than next bag in may2009.

Hi petrina_yeo! So glad you joined us! To me it does sound like you have FAR MORE self-control than I do - way to go! I do hope you stay with your budget and two-year plan. That's what I need to do... create a new budget and stick to it so I can pay down my CC's and then save towards a new bag in January 2008.

And in another thread I saw something about freezing credit cards in water and storing them in the freezer! I am definitely going to do that... and I will have to also erase my cc numbers from websites I've ordered from like BlueFly, Aloha Rag, Overstock, NAP, NM, BG, Saks... the list goes on!