How to Control the Urge to Shop

Recently, I had become a subscriber to the magazine known as Reader's Digest. For those who are not familiar with the magazine they have fun topics such as "Meet Canada's Greatest Pets" and "Can Coma Patients Tell Us What They're Thinking?" When reading this magazine of interesting facts I came across an article that really spoke to me. It was called "The Quest to Buy Less." This article stood out to me in particular, because I have an unhealthy lifestyle of buying too many things that I do not need.

My current day job has not too many tasks that I can occupy my time with, so I have always turned to the website known as Amazon. That site I tell you is evil. Not only that but after looking up certain subjects that spark my interest the Facebook ads do not help. I have bought so many things from those evil Facebook ads that now my credit card is...well...bloated. It's actually maxed out.

So, now it is Advent season and as a practicing Catholic, I had to do something that is very hard—give up online shopping. The way I had managed to get through this week was to stop going on those sites. I have been occupying my time at work with my writing and doing research for it. I have also started playing the Facebook word games to occupy my time. This has helped me a lot. The article, "The Quest to Buy Less" was written by Vanessa Farquharson. In the article, she mentions that she would go shopping on the way to and from work.

Then, the terrible thing happens when you just have too much stuff and you can't do anything about it. The author writes that she would paint a picture of the item she wanted, so then that way she was calm and soothed and realized she did not need that new item. I found this intriguing because it was something that I had never thought about doing and honestly, I laughed a little because the idea sounded absurd. However, then it made sense. She would paint it and see that it was just as good on canvas as it was in real life and no longer felt that need to buy it.

In this year of 2018, we have this easy way to buy things with a simple click of a button. This is what makes it so challenging to give up online shopping because with a single click, the item that I want suddenly becomes mine and it comes to me in the mail and suddenly I feel like it is my birthday and the greatest present of all time came knocking on my door. No. I don't need this.

However, this is where the real dilemma comes in. I broke something and now I need a new one. Or I could just as easily fix it so it works again, but buying it is so much easier is what I tell myself and next thing I know I have kept the broken thing because of sentimental reasons and now I have two things. Just like that, you are trapped in your own world and the "stuff" keeps piling up.

Marina Ramalho is a Canadian consultant who was trained in the KonMari method of decluttering and she says, "Most of us have more than what we need" and I have to agree with that. We already have an iPhone, but it is not the newest so you buy a newer one even though you're old one did just as much and quite frankly you did not need the new phone you simply wanted it. Ask yourself "Do I really need a new one?" before buying is it essential to have in your life? Probably not, you can probably live without it.

My oldest sister and I had gone a shopping trip in the recent past and she had wanted a velvet dress for about three months now, she finally did find one, but it was out of the budget. She was able to stop herself from buying this new velvet dress because she thought about the practicality of it. Where would she wear it? The answer was simple, the dress was too extravagant to wear to a Christmas work party, it was too nice to wear at home and she already had a wedding gown she does that with. Even though she looked fantastic in it, she did not see herself wearing it anywhere, so she went against buying it. The moral of the story is, if you can't wear it in the near future then don't buy it.

I have this terrible disease called "the impulsive buyer." I don't really think about whether or not I need it. I see that I want it and I buy it. This is truly a terrible sickness to have. I see something and without a second thought I am at the counter purchasing my next "oops item." Then, when I tell people such as my oldest sister that I bought said thing she always asks, "Why did you buy it?" and "Did you need it?"

My answer to the first question is always among the lines of, "Well, the line was really long and it was right there, so I bought it and no I did not need it as a matter of fact. I don't use it all, it's just nice to have." The worst part of this is that I now have a full-time job and that means full-time pay, which means more money and more money to spend. So I have decided to have money reaching goals instead. I want to move out in a year, so now when I see something I want to buy, I tell myself that I'm going to be moving out, I should really save money and like that I am able to shut down the Amazon website and the all the other websites. I do, however, need to fill the obsession of looking at nice things, so instead, I look at furniture and houses, which are potentials for me to move into the next year or I also look at potential wedding venues and engagement rings for a wedding, which I am not even having yet. It helps fill the void of me not buying anything and I become an admirer of the things instead.

So, next time. Just close that annoying window and occupy yourself with other things such as games. Shopping games are also a way to get that evil voice in your head out. Close the window, you can do it. You are strong and you don't need this or that.