Confessions of A Shopaholic

Have you seen the movie,”Confessions of a Shopaholic”?  I was watching it on Saturday night and was struck by the lead character’s description of her shopping experience.  She states, “When I shop, the world gets better, and the world is better, but then it’s not, and I need to do it again.”

It brought me back to my old shopaholic days when I would feel that same emptiness and sadness that would spur me to break out the credit card and purchase a new pair of shoes, new makeup or maybe that new designer bag I had been eying for a few weeks.

In the movie the main character, whose name escapes me, attends a type of AA meeting for shopaholics and through a series of events comes to realize her addiction.

That’s usually how it works.  You don’t just wake up and come to the conclusion you have a problem.  Instead over a period of time, you realize what a mess your financial situation has become and that fixing it is a life and death situation.  In essence you hit “rock bottom.”

In reality, rock bottom is the best thing that could happen to you.  It’s that slap in the face, that wake up call, that realization that you are in big trouble.  But, it’s also the light at the end of the tunnel, the beginning down the yellow brick road back home to financial sanity.

If you are someone who is faced with credit card debt, you’re not alone.

Millions of people are wracked with uncontrollable debt.  Many have used credit cards to keep them afloat in this uncertain economy.  Others just spent more than they should have.  No  matter what your reason, credit card debt sucks.

You can change your financial situation.  Many have, including myself.  I was once plagued with over 50K in credit card debt and paid it off!

But here’s the most important thing to remember:  If you don’t deal with the emotional issues that create the desire to overspend in the first place you will end up right where you started – drowning in debt.

Remember, even if the world is a cold and lonely place, buying an expensive pair of shoes that you don’t need isn’t going to make it a sweeter, kinder place.  In the long run, how you see the world will remain unchanged and you’ll be reminded of the cruelty even more when you open that credit card statement.