How do you control your Coach habit?!?

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#18
sparkles48 said:
^ LOL really?? I thought addiction was just if you HAD to do it..otherwise you go through withdrawal, depression, etc? I didn't think being able to pay had anything to do with it bc how can you buy stuff if you can't pay for it?
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Yeah, that's how I feel. I actually crave shopping, but tailor what I buy to my financial situation. I do the same Sialia just described, I get an urge to go to Coach or whatever and just buy something, anything. When I was in college and had very little disposable income I would satisfy my shopping compulsion with inexpensive things. It was organizer refills for a while (yeah, you heard me. Paper organizer refills). Then it was hair care products, then Pokemon figurines (yeah, you heard me. Pokemon figurines. :laugh:). Handbags have always been there, but they depend so heavily on how much money I have to burn that up until a few years ago I would only compulsively shop for them for a couple months at a time.
I try to shift my compulsive behaviors into more constructive activities, like crafting. Not sure if ya'll had seen them when I posted them a couple months back, but for a while last year I was bejeweling cell phones with swarovski crystals. I also knit and do needlepoint.
For the last year or so I've shifted my OCD stuff into my diet, personal appearance, and overall personal care. I get my hair cut and colored every 6 weeks, I got all my wisdom teeth pulled and cavities filled and now go to the dentist every 6 months like clockwork. I quit smoking. I stopped picking at pimples and have an elaborate skin care regimen, and my skin hasn't looked this good since high school. Here's hoping I can keep it up!
 
#19
kezza said:
When I was in college and had very little disposable income I would satisfy my shopping compulsion with inexpensive things.
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:yes: That's what I do ... if I'm aching to buy something I let myself to go Target, get a Starbucks, and walk around filling my cart with stuff I want. Then I let myself get ONE thing out of the cart ... yesterday it was Issac pointy kitten heels on clearance for $6.98 (because I wouldn't buy them when they were $27.99 ... I won't spend $27.99 on Target shoes but I spend hundreds on handbags ... YES I have a problem haha). The people probably hate me because they have to put all my stuff back (if I'm nice, sometimes I do it) but it works.
 
#20
^ Oh gosh I know the feeling. I'll spend hundreds on purses and with everything else I'm like :hrmm: do I REALLY need that? Like before I wouldn't spend more than $35 on a pair of jeans...I'd just wait till Express had their huge $29.99 denim event and then pick up a few pairs. Then a week ago I got my first pair of sevens and was like :wtf: I like these... and yeah not good for the wallet! LOL
 
#21
I hear all of you, especially you Kezza! I totally understand the organizer refills compulsion because I've done the same thing. I'll go to Staples and get all kinds of little things for my planner, plus other odds and ends. I tried to go the crafting route but that was another OCD disaster :rolleyes:. I've got a box full of gorgeous beads and beading supplies but unfortunately never get the time to actually do anything with them.

Having a kid now is yet another outlet for my compulsion. I...ummm...I mean HE got addicted to Thomas the Tank Engine recently. I bought him a Thomas starter set for Christmas, innocently reasoning that his grandparents, etc. could then supplement it on birthdays and such. HAHA, yeah right. Over the following couple of months, I ended up buying a new Thomas addition every time I went anywhere near a toy store. We don't even have room for it! Oh well, at least it's an investment that he loves and uses all the time.

I agree with everyone who said that having an addiction doesn't really have anything to do with whether you have money to pay for it or not. I can (usually) afford to feed my shopping addiction...I just know that I really SHOULDN'T. We don't have a lot of room in our place, we should be saving our money for other things, and I/we don't even need half of the stuff I buy. Like Kezza, I'm trying to find other outlets for my compulsion.
 
#22
Oh, ladies, I completely understand! I've been trying to break myself of a serious shopping addiction all summer. I realized that I did the majority of my shopping while I was feeling bored or lonely or stressed out, and I wasn't buying things I needed. I was just sinking myself into debt (I live on a grad student budget, so it's tight even without compulsive shopping). But it's been terrible, sometimes I want to go shopping so badly, it's ridiculous and miserable at the same time. But I set a goal for myself (Damier Speedy) and I'm determined not to buy anything that's not absolutely necessary in the meantime JUST to keep myself from compulsive spending. With determination I think I will make it. But I admit that TPF sorta makes me depressed...all of these people shopping when I can't!
 
#23
All I was saying is that is Oprah, has money. Oprah can go shopping everyday until her heart is content and that is not considered an addiction. The average jane, however, works 9-5 and makes ok money, but has to be able to have that off button. If you don't have that off button, then it's a shopping addiction. Oprah or Lindsay Lohan (I think she's a better example), may have shopping addictions, but they don't have the repercusions that average jane has.

I'm not talking about alcohol or drug addiction, but there is no comparison. However I do know that if you do have a shopping addiction, it is recommend that you attend Dick Prote (sp?) lectures that are for alcohol addiction. They say that since there are not many Shopping Annonomous groups. SA is difficult to get rid of because you cannot stop shopping. You're always going to need something.

So as I said earlier, this place is going to prevent you from stopping your habit. If you truely wanted to stop the habit, the purse forum isn't the place to do it. I would be disconnecting the internet and trashing all forms of plastic. I know it's difficult, I'm not saying it's not, but if you really want to get off the habit, you have to be able to take the first step.

I'm just being honest. So don't attack me. I'm being as real as I can be. Because I honestly care about everyone's well being and that's what should come first.
 
#24
^This thread wasn't meant as a discussion of a serious addictive shopping problem.. I guess it's more of a general "I should spend my money on better things.. I feel guilty for buying so much" kind of thread. If I had a serious problem my parents would definitely have confronted me about it since 1) they're both doctors and they've both seen their share of people with problems so surely they'd recognize the signs in someone they're living with and 2) it's their money so they know what it's going towards.

As for whether or not money should be considered as part of defining shopping addiction, I really think not. If you have the money and you're addicted to shopping that's no different than if you don't have the money and you're addicted. Addiction is addiction period.

And I have no idea why this thread even took this turn.. it was just meant for sharing tips on curbing spending. Because at the end of the day even Oprah and LiLo can say "gosh I could've spend that money in some other way."
 
#25
I honestly don't know how I control it. I do get a new bag once a year, but I spend too much on clothes and other stuff. Like I tell myself that I need new pants because most of mine are too big (which is true), but I have so many effing graphic tees from American Eagle and band tees its ridiculous!! I feel like I have to go shopping, its really bad. And even though I just bought a new Dooney & Bourke bag last week, I just bought 2 Coach bags tonight on Ebay- a large champange Hamptons hobo (I keep on telling myself I'll use it for school) and a regular white Hamptons hobo (I told myself that I need a nice white bag), and I really don't have the money for them. I work at a summer camp 2 days a week, and I make $60, and I work at a theater as an usher so I'm making $80 this weekend, but I just basically threw my money for books away on 2 bags.
 
#26
^ I didn't turn it into one, however I felt like I needed to say something because I wrote two sentences and everyone ran with it. I'm speaking from a therapist, not my ideas, someone elses. From what I read it seemed like people were talking about serious problems with shopping. Not just slow down.
 
#27
LOL! As much as I love you all, if I really had a serious problem the last place I'd go for help is a public forum (bc while there are some lovely ladies on the forum, we have our share of crazies as well) :rolleyes: Sorry if this thread came across as serious bc it's really not! We all post on the forum all the time about how we bought way too much and how we're on purse bans for a while.. I think it's all in good fun and nobody has serious issues as far as I can tell.
 
#28
LOL, this thread's taken a bit of a weird turn. Like Sparkles said, if I had a serious problem, I definitely wouldn't be trying to deal with it on here :shrugs:.

While tPF might be a big enabler of a handbag addiction for some people, for me it's more of an outlet for my handbag fetish (:laugh: that's what my mother-in-law calls it). I can come here and see what everyone else is buying, enjoy looking at pictures of people's collections, play "spot the fake" on eBay, and talk with people here in the Coach subforum about all the gorgeous things on coach.com. Although I definitely appreciate nicer things now (especially, for example, LV, which I didn't like before being exposed to more of it on tPF), being on here hasn't really made me want to go and buy a ton of stuff. It's just made me more aware of what's out there and the importance of quality over quantity.

Edited to add: elongreach does make a very good point...for anyone who feels that they have an out-of-control problem, there are some really good websites, etc. that offer help. Some are based around 12-step AA-type programs, others are based on treatments for obsessive-compulsive-type disorders (like classic OCD and compulsive eating). There's also a Yahoo group for shopping addiction. I don't know if anyone in this particular thread feels they're at that stage but just wanted to mention it in case. Otherwise, this is a great way for the rest of us (who just feel like they need to curb spending a bit, for one reason or another) to commiserate with each other. :flowers:
 
#29
Sialia said:
LOL, this thread's taken a bit of a weird turn. Like Sparkles said, if I had a serious problem, I definitely wouldn't be trying to deal with it on here :shrugs:.
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Word.

I openly admit that I have a shopping addiction that I CAN afford. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I just love shopping. On days that I can afford to go out and buy a handbag, that's what I do. On days that I cannot afford quite as much, I look for an accessory or I go buy something from Ulta or Sephora.

By comparing alcohol and drug addiction, I wasn't saying it was the same thing or a similar addiction. I was just throwing in that a person can be addicted to almost anything, healthy or not and whether they can afford it or not.
 
#30
I could keep going, but I've had enough drama in the forums today. Not saying that this is drama, but I'm feeling a bit drained and beat up in the opinions department today. I can't even discuss my point anymore. I need to sleep and refresh myself.
 
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