FREAKING SHOPPING ADDICTION! D=

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Please help! I have an online shopping addiction! I have been buying comic books from a certain out of print series, and it's getting expensive!

I've never bounced a check (unless you count the 2 times as a teen where my mom came to my rescue with $20.00), and I do save about 10% of what comes in each month. But I don't want people to be angry with me, like my parents!

I just like to collect things! The whole series of things like this! I can't stop at just having some of it, I have to have ALL of it!! ! I don't know why!! !

Is this a problem anyone else faces? I don't have friends that I talk to, so it exacerbates the issue. I'm just a greedy wretch!

I don't know why I'm being so hard on myself. I don't go into debt or run out of what little money I have (I do mean LITTLE!), and it's stuff I really like. I just feel so guilty! WHY DO I FEEL GUILTY ABOUT THIS?!

I"m sorry, but I just spent about $60 on 9 comics (the shipping is what is so expensive! $4 for each one!), and I needed to vent.

Can anyone relate to this?

Do you have a job to pay for your collections? I frequently worry about money when I'm unemployed.

I've been ordering Kinks merchandise at the kiosk at Chapters. I've racked up a $160 ammount of spending, over the past 12 months at Chapters alone. I've also been ordering CDs at HMV. There, I've spent $100. I've spent $260 so far, in total. The thing is that I don't really feel guilty about it. That's all money that I didn't spend on food.

I have it bad, Spent $1200 on toys in the last month

I haven't spent a penny in the last week now, Hopefully i can stay like that, I keep telling my self im going to stop buying. But never works out

I think its because of my depression, to calm my self, i spend....

I used to do the same, when I lived with my parents. I would buy movies and CDs like they were going out of style. Those, along with other crap, got me $7000 in the hole. It is seriously dangerous, though I can understand the desire to buy things when you don't socialize much. Your things become like people.

But I would do whatever you can to get away from that type of lifestyle.

I am like you---when I get into collecting, I get into collecting. As long as you have the money to pay for it and don't neglect necessities, then I guess it's ok. But I often feel a bit like I have spent too much when I get into collecting. What I have done is complete the collection and stop looking for anything else. But then the collecting can begin again.

If I share some of what I have bought in the recent past, maybe you will feel better about your collection spending.

HO scale models over $10,000
HO scale custom built house by Howard Zane $795
another model house by Howard Zane $395
A dozen or so vintage monster models $500
House blueprints over $1000
Vintage roller coaster blueprints over $500
Rolleiflex camera $400

And in the past some of my collection spending.

Synthesizers and electric keyboards over $20,000
Organs and pianos over $5000
Magic tricks and illusions over $5000
Dulcimers over $3000
Telescopes over $3000

And there are a lot of other things I could add, but as you can see, it can become quite expensive so be careful. I am a professional musician, so I can say I use the musical instruments. I used to give magic shows regularly so I needed the tricks and illusions. But it is shocking to find out just how much we can spend on things. I often have to put a halt on spending---like now---money is a bit tight at the moment.

This will probably open me up to a whole lot of unwanted & unnecessary criticism, but, I agree with your self-admitted statement that you have a money-related addiction. Please consider finding your closest Debtors' Anonymous meeting and check it out. It helps.

I dont think your problem is bad. You are saving a little bit. Sure you could save a bit more, but in the end if you are meeting your obligations. I say dont worry about it.
I too am a collector of things, and I love on line shopping.
I ( I should say my wife) gives me a budget and I stay within it.
If it starts getting in the way of paying your bills, or you start running up credit card debt you should stop.

If I knew a way to kick the shopping addiction habit, I'd tell you. I have a problem with spending too, and I feel terribly guilty about it. I have noticed that I have a tendency to spend money when I feel stressed out, so I think that definitely plays a part in it in my case.

My vice is DVDs. I'm always on a quest for more DVDs; it feels like my collection is never complete. If you factor in my horrible habit of buying DVDs, selling them, missing them, and re-buying them again (not to mention all those times I spent money on videos for my iPod Nano) the total costs run up into the hundreds. I estimate that I've spent at least $200 or $300 on movies this year alone, possibly even more.

Perhaps one reason why I sell my DVDs and re-buy them again is because I'm worried that I'll run out of things to buy that are relevant to my interests. I mean, sure, there is merchandise such as toys and clothes, but those things are very expensive. Buying used DVDs from the Amazon.com Marketplace is very cheap; if a movie is widely available, you can pick up a copy for less than a dollar (or about $3.00 if you factor in shipping and handling). That's what gets me every time; I get "high" off of making lots of cheap purchases rather than blowing a lot of cash at once.

I feel guilty after allot of obsession related purchases as well. I found that budgeting helps allot, not just to control the level, but to dispel guilt.

knowing that you are within what you have agreed is calming. Even when you break your own rules, you can evaluate the degree of your trespass and figure out how to make amens later.

having a collection that people can relate to is lucky, people harass me for collecting industrial power equipment even when it is free.

I have a horrible shopping addiction. I dont have much money but what money I do have I spend carelessly on things that I probably dont really need. I get my paycheck and since I dont have any expenses right now since I live with my folks I tend to lose it somewhat quickly. I always see something that looks cool or that I might need and I get it. My money spending is so bad that alot of times when the moneys gone I really cant recall where it all whent. I remember some things I buy but not all of them. I spend it fast and I dont manage it at all. I suck with money! I shouldnt be allowed to have money! I dont know that I would go that far but Im horrible with saving money and tracking everything so I guess I will have to learn.

I dl my books/music/films/software I did spend quite alot on clothes/furniture like 2-3 months ago, but I have everything I need atm, thus I've actually managed to save close to 2500$ (cheap habits ftw).However I have other interests that I'd like to pursue and things I'd like to collect, but I've just put it on hold because I simply can't afford it until I graduate and find a good job. These interests are collecting coins, sculpturing, a piano , building computer circuits/logical gates, having a pet- lobster (yeah, just laugh), having a cat/reptile and a huge aquarium (I'd actually like to dedicate an entire room of my future house, just to pursue this interest). Obviously I won't marry, I have yet to find a female who wouldn't mock the idea of having a pet- lobster.

I like your idea of having a pet lobster. I hope you wouldn't mind if sometime in my life I joined you in having a pet lobster. I never would have thought of anything like that ever before but that sounds like it could be cool. Just don't let yourself get pinched in its claws!

While I personally wouldn't keep a pet lobster due to a fear of crustaceans, I do admire Assembly's ambitions to keep an unusual pet.