In this series of posts, we’ve been exploring ways to seize the opportunity that the economic crisis emotions and intellect presents to overshoppers. Even before the downturn, of course, most compulsive buyers found themselves in a financial squeeze. But the new economic realities—the slashed value of retirement accounts, the credit crunch, the mortgage debacle, and… Continue reading Use Your Emotions and Intellect to Access “True Wealth”: A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing To Waste (Part V)
Category: Control Shopping
See and Hear Your Way to Solvency: A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing To Waste (Part IV)
In this series of postings, we’ve been coloring the landscape of self-kindness, examining healthier alternatives to shopping. The catalyst for this is the current economic downturn and the way its dramatic ratcheting up of financial pressure is forcing overshoppers to, well, take stock of their habit. When they look beneath the surface at what the… Continue reading See and Hear Your Way to Solvency: A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing To Waste (Part IV)
A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste: How the Recession Can Help Overshoppers
“It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good” says a familiar proverb, and as with most proverbs, there’s a nugget of useful truth at the core. Amidst the violent buffeting of today’s economic ill wind, some good can shopping choices not to spendcome to overshoppers. As the nation’s financial crisis deepens, all of us, whether… Continue reading A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste: How the Recession Can Help Overshoppers
3 Proven Strategies for Stopping Overshopping, Part 2
Now that you’ve gained some familiarity with the first two proven strategies, it’s time to introduce the third strategy, which will help you bring all your awareness together in a way that you take positive action that will help you build the muscle to help you stopping overshopping and start getting what it is that… Continue reading 3 Proven Strategies for Stopping Overshopping, Part 2
Even Celebrities . . .
In this economy, it’s not just ordinary people who are cutting back (orthinking they ought to). In January, newspapers reported that tennis star Serena Williams, who has won more than twenty million dollars in prize money, is forgoing her famous shopping sprees. An extravagant spender in the past, Williams has remarked that there’ll be lots… Continue reading Even Celebrities . . .
Serious Trouble—And Much Worse—For These Overshoppers
Overshoppers around the globe know fairly well the emotional and financial consequences of their compulsion—the guilt and secrecy, the credit card debt, the family discord. But they’re seldom aware of the slippery slope to more serious trouble that their habit may lead to. Four recent news items, from England, Scotland, and Hong Kong, underline the… Continue reading Serious Trouble—And Much Worse—For These Overshoppers
Strategy for Stopping Overshopping: To Stop or Not to Stop
Whenever you have the urge to overshop, explore your ambivalence. Ask, “What does my heart say? What would be good about shopping?” Then ask, “What does my head say? What would be not so good about shopping?” Take the time to refine these questions by making four lists: 1. the short and long term benefits… Continue reading Strategy for Stopping Overshopping: To Stop or Not to Stop
Recommended Reading: I Want it Now: Navigating Childhood in a Materialistic World Donna Bee-Gates (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007)
Scheduled for publication in January (Palgrave Macmillan), Donna Bee-Gates’ I Want It Now: Navigating Childhood in a Materialistic World is ambitious in its scope, depth, and mission. Bee-Gates forcefully argues that too much consumerism is hazardous to children’s health. She documents the rise in materialism in our culture (and throughout the world) and the risks… Continue reading Recommended Reading: I Want it Now: Navigating Childhood in a Materialistic World Donna Bee-Gates (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007)
Two Recent Drug Studies Show Contradictory Results
Two recently-published, identically-designed studies treatingcompulsive buying with antidepressants showed contradictory results. In one, the majority of patients using the medication reported a loss of interest in shopping and rated themselves “improved” or “very much improved.” When the positive respondents were then randomly assigned to either continue the medication or go on placebo, none of the seven who… Continue reading Two Recent Drug Studies Show Contradictory Results