Is there a cure?

Well its a disease that has spread all over the world...
But there seems to be no cure for it. No its not Aids or cancer or some other weird illness. Its a silent disease, one thats spreading around without the knowledge of most people. A global epidemic you could say, well its the need to shop. What is it called? : "shopaholicism" ? ? ?


Well so are you a shopaholic :

* Shopping or spending money as a result of being disappointed, angry or scared.

* Shopping/spending habits causing emotional distress or chaos in
one's life.
* Having arguments with others regarding shopping or spending
habits.
* Feeling lost without credit/purchasing cards.
* Buying items on credit that would not be bought with cash.
* Spending money causes a rush of euphoria and anxiety at the same time.
* Spending or shopping feels like a reckless or forbidden act.
* Feeling guilty, ashamed, embarrassed or confused after shopping or spending money.Many
purchases are never used.
* Lying to others about what was bought or how much money was spent.
* Thinking excessively about money.
* Spending a lot of time juggling accounts and bills to accommodate spending.

Take the quiz to see if you are one :
A Shopaholic Quiz : ] " Haha, i'm the sensible window shopper. "


Well i'm probably not the best person that you could tell your problems to, i'm no Aunt Agony
or Uncle Agony for that matter. Why you may ask, cause i give crappy advice or at least thats what i think.

Anyway it crossed my tiny mind last night that one of my frens could be a shopaholic, well lets just call him A. Well A likes to shop and buy what ever stuff that pleases him. Well even thou most shopaholics out there are women, you definately can't rule out the men cause they like to shop too. Especially for clothes, shoes and especially electronic gadgets.
But i think that you have to have a bit of self restraint when it comes to shopping, unless of course you're one of those rockstars or movie stars that you see so very often on Tv with those awesome cribs, or if your dad is Forbes magazine top few billionaires, then man you gotta invite me to your shopping sprees.

Cause he probably doesn't know the value of money yet as he has not started to work yet and what i say to him seems like utter nonsense probably. I wish i could get the message across to him but its so very difficult, he says that he always gets what he likes but it seems to me that you're quite spoilt dude. Yeah i hope you don't get mad at me cause i think that writing about this is the best way to talk to you. I hope it helps... : ]

Probably once you start working you'll definately feel the pinch, trust me. You can't just go about and get everything you like you know, sometimes you just got to keep it mind and when you think you've saved up enough then maybe go and get it, not to just dig in to your savings every week or so and get new stuff that'll just take up space in your closet.

I mean i like clothes too and i just bought a new top from zara, but this was after a while i mean i have seen other nice tops and stuff but after buying this one i probably won't be getting another top for a while unless its like super cheap. I keep a budget to spend on new stuff so i don't go around and just get the stuff i like. Maybe i should just leave my atm card at home... Haha.

Maybe you should keep a list of things to get like for me, i have this electric guitar that i wanted to buy since my poly days which cost $800 + $100 plus for the amplifier + another $100 for the effects so it comes up to a grand total of $1000 !!! So i guess it'll remain on my list for a very long time to come. Unless i miraculuously become a millionaire or something... I might even buy something today but if it doesn't exceed my limit, something not too expensive thou...

So are we still going down to bugis, my dear friend A ? ?. Please don't be mad at me ok : ]


How to prevent shopping binges?

* Pay for purchases by cash or cheque

* Make a shopping list and only buy what is on the list.

* Destroy all credit cards except one to be used for emergency only.

* Avoid discount warehouses. Allocate only a certain amount of cash to be spent if you do visit
one.

* "Window shop" only after stores have closed. If you do "look" during the day, leave your
wallet at home.

* Avoid phoning in catalogue or Internet orders and don't watch TV shopping channels.

* If you're travelling to visit friends or relatives, have your gifts wrapped leave the project
finished. People tend to make unnecessary purchases when they shop for other people.

* Take a walk or exercise when the urge to shop comes on.

* If you feel out of control, you probably are. Seek counselling or a support group.