Bargain Junkies
by I admit it. I am hooked on shopping, but I have learned to control it rather than it controlling me.
Shop Until You Drop?
They have “shop until you drop” shirts and tote bags, as if it is a good thing, but now I know different. My children would wander away from me in stores knowing exactly where to find me when they decided to. I would be near the largest mark down area in the store.
I was a “shop until you drop” person. I will not use the word “junkie” that they associate with this addiction, as it is a label I refuse to wear. Admitting that I had a problem steering away from the brightly marked 75% OFF racks and shelves is difficult enough. My small office is overflowing with books I picked up at second hand stores for a fraction of the original price. I rationalized that I have churned out lots of articles using my bargain books, and have found amazing content within the pages of these books. I never owned up to having a problem until I began noticing that there was no way to organize my purchases, and no where to put all my terrific finds.
My Addiction Caught Me Short
When it was time to pay the mortgage, and I needed help from my husband, he demanded to know what I had done with my money. I felt hurt and frustrated. After all I was not even $50. short. He wanted an accounting for every dollar I had spent. How could I justify three shopping bags full of books, an assortment of preserves (they were half off and he loves them) and six boxes of cereal (those were buy two get one free)? He did not want to hear it.
Don’t Go Shopping Unless You Need Something.
His rule, one I would do well to adopt is “Don’t go to the store unless you have something you need to buy.” The operative word here is “need”, not want. I went to stores like a beer drinker goes to his fridge. Finding the right price or the right gift item was my fix. Then I came home with my prize and had to wonder all the way home if my husband was home yet. Would I have to hide it in my trunk until he went out? If it’s a gift for someone, it would stay in the trunk until I could deliver it. In the back of my mind I knew how he would react and it tarnished my good feeling. I silently promised to avoid shopping for at least another week.
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Post Commentnobert soloria bermosa
On April 13, 2008 at 3:51 am
great article, good for you Judy,
and great advice for others,
i’ve learned a lot from it
i, myself is also a compulsive
shopper,
thanks for the read
IcyCucky
On April 13, 2008 at 6:30 am
I can totally relate to this.
Great article with many useful tips..
Judy Sheldon
On April 13, 2008 at 7:46 am
Icy and Nobert, thank you for your support.
Jared Stenzel
On April 13, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Reminds me of a story my sister’s room mate was telling me. Her mom bought her a plunger and sent it to her at college. The bathrooms they use are cleaned daily by staff. When she told her mom this here mom said that she bought it because it was only a dollar. It went something like that, but yeah, best not to have your credit cards with you if you don’t need anything. Nice tips.
Dee Huff
On April 13, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Bargains! They’re so hard to resist. There’s always that nagging feeling that if you don’t get it now it might disappear (the item or the bargain or both). Better not to look sometimes.
Judy Sheldon
On April 13, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I have a problem resisting bargains, so it is better that I don’t look sometimes, or leave my money at home. It’s less frustrating to stay at home to begin with. lol.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Ruby Hawk
On April 13, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I can get rid of everything but my books. I can not bear to give any away. It can save you money to shop when things are on sale. I bought most of my Xmas gifts for next year when winter merchandise went on sale. It will cost me hardly anything at Xmas.
Judy Sheldon
On April 13, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Ruby,I have to bargain hunt – I have 21+ grandchildren. The point is to not become obsessed with bargain shopping. It gets ridiculous when you have items sitting around unopened for over a year, and have to run out and buy something because you have no idea where the last one is that you bought.
Liane Schmidt
On April 14, 2008 at 2:53 am
Another great article Judy. I am certain this article (your other articles) will help millions of people.
Best wishes to you, always.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
Gerlaine
On April 14, 2008 at 5:12 am
I suffer from the book buying addiction. So, I feel ya on this. I don’t come into a store without hitting the book isle. I don’t leave Barnes and Nobles without spending about $100. So, I try to stay clear of BN.
Judy Sheldon
On April 14, 2008 at 7:34 am
Liane & Gerlaine, your words of encouragement mean so much.
Gerlaine, I am fortunate in that I have come across some really marvelous books at second hand stores, but it seems I cannot leave without an armful. lol. Then the problem is where to stack them all? So I’ve decided to give some to my church library. They will be there if I want to refer back and others can get some good out of them too.
Anne Lyken-Garner
On April 14, 2008 at 9:43 am
Great article Judy, and you are so right. I grew up in abject poverty, and this has taught me self-control I think. I’m thankfully, not a compulsive shopper. The only sale items I get are stuff like toilet roll, washing up liquid, coffee,school uniforms and things that I will always have to buy. If I can get them at half price today, even if I’ve got some at home I’ll get them because this saves me having to buy them at full price next week.
Apart from this I always keep in mind that the ’save £25.00′ signs on sale items actually mean ’spend £25.00′ as any purchase is money spent.
Very helpful article.
CHAN LEE PENG
On April 14, 2008 at 9:46 am
Thanks for this brilliantly written article!Take care!
Judy Sheldon
On April 14, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Liane & Gerlaine, your words of encouragement mean so much.
Gerlaine, I am fortunate in that I have come across some really marvelous books at second hand stores, but it seems I cannot leave without an armful. lol. Then the problem is where to stack them all? So I’ve decided to give some to my church library. They will be there if I want to refer back and others can get some good out of them too.
Judy Sheldon
On April 14, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Anne & Chan, your kind words of encouragement mean so much. Thank you for reading and commenting.
quiet voice
On April 14, 2008 at 10:32 pm
…Hi, Great article, the comments
are like a suedo psyche class,
fabulous sharing of information.
Books are my great love, I have to
have my books, they put you in so
many other worlds. You can go to
extremes. Thanks for sharing.
Judy Sheldon
On April 15, 2008 at 6:31 am
Quiet Voice, Thank you for reading and commenting. Books are great aren’t they. They transcend time and place.
Shelly McRae
On April 15, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I do ALL the shopping for my household, so I understand how hard it can be to resist a bargain, even if you don’t actually need that item. You are so sure you will need sometime!
I just keep telling myself, “I can do without that for now.” It seems to be working.
Hang in there…
Judy Sheldon
On April 16, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Shelly, I really appreciate your support. Thank you.
Alexa Gates
On April 18, 2008 at 5:18 pm
this sounds like my sister…:) Great article
Judy Sheldon
On April 18, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Thank you Alexa for reading and commenting. Maybe you should hand her my article. lol
Take care.