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Retail Therapy Addiction

Metalhead

Metalhead

Video game and movie addict. All for gay pride.
V.I.P Member
My one line of credit is maxed out again. It is only a $1000 line, but it is debt I cannot afford to be in currently. At least I have some new movies and new video games to show for it.

I am addicted to retail therapy. This is a serious problem for me, I have to accept it and own it. I get a dopamine rush from every new acquisition. But I already easily have a decade's worth of entertainment waiting for me in my apartment. I wish I had more people to share my library with.

I need to find a better coping mechanism for my loneliness.
 
I have the opposite problem. I'll still spend an hour using up scrap to save a dollar, even though I have some extra dollars now.
 
I don’t know about being addicted in this capacity, but I have OCD tendencies. Some of those tendencies include the propensity to hoard items, or the opposite, to go without to an extreme. Right now, I made the switch recently to go without to a healthy extent. I’m budgeting my money, so I have only a certain amount in my wallet each month. Anything left over I will save especially for the future in case I need to spend more that month, separate from the rest of my available income which goes straight into my online savings.

This is easy to visualize with cash in a wallet. However, your credit card issuer may have budgeting tools in your online account, this is also helpful to visualize and set limits. I think you can also do it in third party apps, like the cash app. As for what to do other than spend, I’d enjoy the content you already have or explore other free or less expensive entertainment. I like going to thrift stores a lot looking for just 1 thing I really like, amongst other things. It’s easy for me to say I know but I hope it’s somewhat helpful.
 
Metalhead said:
My one line of credit is maxed out again. It is only a $1000 line, but it is debt I cannot afford to be in currently. At least I have some new movies and new video games to show for it.

I am addicted to retail therapy. This is a serious problem for me, I have to accept it and own it. I get a dopamine rush from every new acquisition. But I already easily have a decade's worth of entertainment waiting for me in my apartment. I wish I had more people to share my library with.

I need to find a better coping mechanism for my loneliness.
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Oh my yes I understand
For me it is books
 
It's common for an addict personality to vanquish one addiction only to replace it with another. You were an alcoholic for years, but you don't seem to be drinking anymore (good for you), but your mind has simply chosen another addiction, shopping. This doesn't make you a bad person or anything, but sadly therapy that works is out of reach monetarily for most people, and the cheap stuff like 12 step doesn't work that well.
 
I guess it would be healthier if you wipe out that debt. Just use your card for emergencies only. It was so hard, but l did it this year. I ate a lot of ramen. When you get a urge to splurge, tell yourself, it's just a temporary high, then it's over, do you want to keep chasing that temporary high? It's expensive to do. But talking about this is a great start. I like the fact you aren't guilt tripping yourself, you are just deciphering why you do it. If you are feeling lonely, what can you do to deal with that? I overspent because l was unhappy about my life. Now l deal with my emotions more.
 
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Start an expense journal. Every time you spend money, write the date, the store or restaurant, and the amount of money spent.

It's eye opening.
 
I think @Mary Terry and @Yeshuasdaughter gave great suggestions. One other thing that could help is to always delay your purchases. As soon as you decide that you want to buy something, don’t actually purchase it until at least 24 hours or more later. Delete all automatically saved credit cards and accounts that allow you to purchase things with just a couple of clicks, too. Anything you can do to delay the purchase could give reason a chance to interfere with the addictive behavior.
 
I went cash only for several years. No credit cards or bank accounts at all. It was a wonderful time.

The best way to keep from spending money is being able to physically see the cash on hand.
 
Y'know, I should be my top advocate and best friend, and the fact that I do things like this sometimes shows that I can be my worst enemy. The only person I can blame for this is myself.

If I truly were my best friend, I would not be so careless with my plastic card. I could whine and say loneliness caused this, but the real culprit is self-loathing. This needs to stop. I need to treat myself better than this. I deserve to treat myself better than this. I am worth the effort to treat myself better than this. People can tell me this all the time, it is up to me to start believing it and acting accordingly.
 
But you are working on change. Blaming is a negative way to see it. It's truly just behavior modification. You have a plan of action. What steps are doable to implement plan? Can u give yourself a small salary of disposal income, and if you spend it, that's it until next month? And a set sum you use every month to lower card debit? This is a twofold solution. One: you see your debt going down every month albeit slowly, and Two: you do get a small reward every month for working, paying bills, hitting the gym. So it's a twofer plan. Lol

Then l made a goal, l wanted my credit card debit gone by the end of the year. It was so hard. But the interest was killing me and very high for just a 1000 dollars debit. So l frankly became upset. And then spent less on groceries. And it took about 8 months. Adios credit card.
 
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Aspychata said:
But you are working on change. Blaming is a negative way to see it. It's truly just behavior modification. You have a plan of action. What steps are doable to implement plan? Can u give yourself a small salary of disposal income, and if you spend it, that's it until next month? And a set sum you use every month to lower card debit? This is a twofold solution. One: you see your debt going down every month albeit slowly, and Two: you do get a small reward every month for working, paying bills, hitting the gym. So it's a twofer plan. Lol



Then l made a goal, l wanted my credit card debit gone by the end of the year. It was so hard. But the interest was killing me and very high for just a 1000 dollars debit. So l frankly became upset. And then spent less on groceries. And it took about 8 months. Adios credit card.
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I should be enjoying my massive library of movies and video games instead of constantly adding to it. I would be out of debt in a couple of months if I stick with that mentality, then I would have more money for social events and getting out more.

Like I said, I am my worst saboteur, and it is up to me to show myself the discipline and the delayed gratification I deserve. Every purchase gives me a dopamine hit but that dopamine hit is gone ten minutes later. This rabbit hole is a dead end and I bloody well know it, time for me to stop running down it. This is as big of a problem as alcohol can be for me.
 
A couple of months? Maybe give yourself a date to wipe it out. And give yourself a reward if you wipe it out in (five or X) months. I had too much tax debit, l just can't run with ridiculous credit card interest fees. Long-term goal?
 
Aspychata said:
A couple of months? Maybe give yourself a date to wipe it out. And give yourself a reward if you wipe it out in (five or X) months. I had too much tax debit, l just can't run with ridiculous credit card interest fees. Long-term goal?
Click to expand...
I can wipe out my debt in three months if I stop adding to my film and games library. That will be my goal.
 
Really, shopping for games and movies is a never ending rabbit hole for me. I should stop trying to satiate that unending hunger and move on with my life. Enjoy what I already have. Get out more. Make more friends. Find more meaning in life than sitting on my ass in front of my very nice TV set.
 
For the more recent purchases, are you able to return any of them perhaps, especially if you don't think you'll be using/viewing them anytime soon?
 
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