Are the current economic conditions feeling scary to you? Are you having to rein in your buying and having difficulty doing it? The current economic crisis can serve as an extra motivator, a support to help you stop overshopping. Almost all of us need to think more seriously about our own buying behavior now. It’s… Continue reading 3 Proven Strategies for Stopping Overshopping, Part 1
Category: Compulsive Buying
Recommended Reading: In the Red: The Diary of a Recovering Shopaholic, by Alexis Hall
Recently, a number of overconsumers have decided to make radical changes in the course of a year and then write about their experiences. Mary Carlomagno did it in Give it Up: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less, which we reviewed in Vol. 1, Number 2, March, 2006. She chronicled giving up one… Continue reading Recommended Reading: In the Red: The Diary of a Recovering Shopaholic, by Alexis Hall
Don’t Shop, Swap!
Didn’t really need that sweater you bought this week? Have 3 of the same pairs of pants? Thought you’d fit into that skirt someday, but it’s not gonna happen? Take a look through your closet, collect the clothes you can’t or won’t wear again—and use them to shop. A wonderful alternative for the shopping-inclined, Swap-O-Rama-Rama… Continue reading Don’t Shop, Swap!
Important New Test for Compulsive Buying Comes Out in December
After years of rigorous testing and research, a new test of compulsive buying tendencies is being published in the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. Designed to identify consumers who “have a strong urge to buy, regularly spend a lot of money, and have difficulty resisting the impulse to buy,” the new test… Continue reading Important New Test for Compulsive Buying Comes Out in December
Stopping Overshopping Tips: When Happiness Seems Just a Mouse Click Away…
An article in The Williams Record discusses the dramatic rise in online overshopping among college students, but that rise isn’t limited to the collegiate population. Increasingly, other Americans are clicking their way to addicted shopping. They’re lured there by an endless virtual world of merchandise, by attractive pricing, and above all by the ease of… Continue reading Stopping Overshopping Tips: When Happiness Seems Just a Mouse Click Away…
Compulsive Buying on the Internet: Recent Research
Are you addicted to eBay? Do you overshop at Amazon? Have you found yourself spending a lot of time on the Internet comparing prices? Instant access, whether from home or office, has created an easy and hassle-free shopping experience, enticing unprecedented numbers into the online shopping world. Current research suggests that at least two out… Continue reading Compulsive Buying on the Internet: Recent Research
Recommended Reading: Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding
Many visitors to our website have described themselves (or been described by family or friends) in ways that suggest hoarding, and so we’re particularly pleased to come upon this sensible and functional resource. Compulsive saving—hoarding—is typically diagnosed when all three of the following criteria are met: 1) there is the accumulation of objects that most… Continue reading Recommended Reading: Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding
Research Reported in the New York Times
Three recent articles in the New York Times attracted our attention. “Money Doesn’t Talk,” by Shivani Vora, looks at the practice among women of disguising some of their purchases by paying cash, a practice that has grown in recent years even though more and more women are themselves wage earners. Why do they do it?… Continue reading Research Reported in the New York Times
How do Identity, Spirituality, and Life Purpose Interface with Compulsive Buying?
Dr. Kathleen Galek and Ms.Marcela Torres of StoppingOvershopping, LLC are currently conducting a research study among an urban female college population that examines how themes of identity, spirituality, and life purpose interface with compulsive buying. Their study tests the hypothesis that a stable identity, a sense of purpose in life, and a mature spirituality are… Continue reading How do Identity, Spirituality, and Life Purpose Interface with Compulsive Buying?
Study Suggests That 5.8% of U.S. Population Are Compulsive Buyers
The results of a long-awaited and large-scale prevalence study were published in the October issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. Professor Larry Koran headed the study, a telephone survey conducted with a random sample of approximately 2500 Americans. According to the results, 6.0% of American women and 5.5% of American men scored in the… Continue reading Study Suggests That 5.8% of U.S. Population Are Compulsive Buyers