First of all, what is a shopaholic? In the simplest of terms, it is someone who is a compulsive shopper. Someone who is excessively fond of shopping. But can you be fond of shopping and not be a shopaholic? Obviously, if you are taking it in small doses and spoil yourself every now and again, it doesn’t mean you are addicted. But when you take things to an extreme, integrate shopping into your daily routine and are constantly thinking about buying that certain something which you surely could be without, now that would mean you have an obsession.
I won’t get into the psychology behind it as I’m not trained to do so, but I will be making some points from my experience and point of view, if you’d like to learn more about the psychology behind being a shopaholic click here.
The power of being a consumer
It all begins with watching others, idolizing them, maybe in TV, Movies. The romanticization of shopping, how a transformation scene will change the person’s life and you just have to own one little plastic card that holds all the money which they never tell us we don’t have. We are not borrowing money, we are buying money. And we are never taught how to handle it, how to finance ourselves but rather we learn from watching and making mistakes.
From being a little boy watching my mother own endless things and taking my sister and me to the mall, it was truly an experience of its time. The mall used to be a recreational place, entertainment and shopping was its main course. Though, back then I didn’t enjoy it, rather got used to it and how easy buying things was. As I grew older, I started enjoying it how my mother did, the power and adrenaline of catching a perfect piece of clothing or some little décor item that changed my world and back when sales were exciting, something was exciting about waiting in line and you’re your eye on that one item, begging for the person in front of you wouldn’t get it.
Back when going to the mall with your friends was the thing to do and you could roam around for hours not really doing anything, just enjoying the ambience and the feeling of being around a known spot that had everything, movie, window shopping, arcade, food.
Now, however, all that has changed and the shopping experience is much different. No waiting in line, no socializing, just looking for an item online and paying for it. The rush, however, comes when you wait for it, the anticipation of its arrival. The dopamine rush you get once you start to unwrap it and the short-lived excitement as you get to enjoy it for the first few moments, only for it to be put away and the cycle starts all over again just to feel like it once more.
Why is it harmful?
Now, as we never truly were taught how to be financially responsible, or at least most of us, we have no way to manage our finances other than save up money and not overspend.
But as we begin to take our steps into adulthood, we find out about all those hidden costs under every transaction we make and it slowly starts occupying the balance on our credit card, affecting our credit score as well.
How our big payment slowly becomes larger as time passes by and we struggle to pay it, and slowly we become drowned in debt. Our only choice remaining is to save up and try to get out of the hole we dug ourselves into and try to balance things once again. Is the short-lived dopamine worth it?
There’s also a bigger issue being hidden deep within this addiction, how it is being kept pushed down by us more and more, a façade of short spurts of joy that hold some sadness underneath. From thinking that we deserve all these things we get (we do) and it’s just spoiling ourselves but we don’t take into consideration the near future. A compulsive action that might only bring negative reactions.
Setting a sum of money aside to indulge in our shopping sprees is a good way to fix this short term, able to save up for other things, keep our accounts on balance and not overspending but also if we find ourselves in financial trouble, there is no shame in asking for financial help. A financial advisor would give the best professional tips for your situation and let you know what your situation really is like. Think of it as going to the doctor for a check-up, but instead of it being for your health, it is for your wallet.
Another option is finding another outlet to seek these joy spurts. Activities that do not bring any harm to you or your bank account and will help keep a clearer mind. Something as simple as drawing, writing, running, every sort of activity that makes your mind work will help with the present struggle of wanting to spend.
