Do you shop too much? Tips to change your shopping behavior
We all like to go shopping once in a while: either we like to go to the stores with friends or family to let ourselves go, but it’s a very nice way to relax!
Since Covid-19, shopping has changed a lot and I have started to shop online a lot more.
Well, since I moved out and started living with my boyfriend, I didn’t go to the mall anymore anyway (it’s really nothing here) and I had a package delivered more often than before.
In itself not bad at all, but what if that much shopping becomes a problem? What is the best way to tackle that? What if too much shopping becomes an addiction?
Table of Contents
Shopping out of boredom?
Often we start shopping out of boredom: we don’t know what to do for a while, scroll on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook and before you know it, you have something in your shopping cart.
You have quickly paid and a package is on its way. You, in the meanwhile, are waiting for the dopamine shot you’ll get once your package arrives as if it were a present.
Very fun and exciting, until you get the package once it arrives. The love often cools quickly and maybe you’re in a constant cycle of buying and returning?
But, when are you talking about playful retail therapy and when is frequent shopping becoming a problem?
You can also become addicted to shopping (often a combination of FOMO – fear of missing out, especially now that the collections in the stores change so quickly and you can very quickly get the feeling that you are indeed missing the coat of your life – and trying to buy your worries away, an adrenaline rush).
Do you feel a sense of guilt?
But, what about after your shopping spree? How do you feel then? If you feel bad and worried about your finances, that’s a very clear sign that the shopping is going too far: you’re going over your limits and feeling guilty.
How are you doing financially? How much money do you spend each month on shopping or ordering things online? Does that make you go into the red every month or can you no longer manage to save? Do you have to start returning things because otherwise, you can’t pay your bills?
These are all signs that your shopping habits are getting out of hand and you need more help.
Get help for your shopping addiction
If you find that you’re spending too much, then you should and really need this to make you feel better, you need to seek help. We list the “symptoms” to watch out for:
- all you think about is shopping
- you get a rush when you have just bought something, but it quickly ebbs away
- You quickly need that feeling again
- You start to get into debt or have trouble making ends meet
- You hide your purchases
- You are constantly shopping and returning
- You can’t control your shopping behavior anymore
- You think about it constantly
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