Shoe Slip-up

Just days into my latest cessation of shopping and I’ve slipped up!

Not only am I furious with myself for being so weak willed, but I’ve also been taught a lesson by the ‘Serves-you-right’ Sales Fairy.

Months ago I had openly drooled over a pair of Mulberry shoes, so when a trip to M & S for a quick sarnie unearthed a pair so incredibly similar that the drool reaction kicked in again, I just had to take them to the till.

£45 down and laden with guilt, I went home to confess to Kevin, who did his 'disappointed' face.

It was only a couple of days ago that my punishment became apparent…

Back in M & S - and on the search for another sandwich - I spot the same shoes reduced to £19!! Worse than that, I can’t return the shoes without the refund staff taking them from me and there were no other size 5s on the shelf.

So, much as I love them, I’m stuck with shoes that I’ve paid £26 too much for. Grrrrr!!

The Real Deal

Stop The Shopping Insanity Programme

April's a month of new life and fresh starts, so what better way to make a change than with the help of another April - April Lane Benson.

She's recently launched her "Stop the Shopping Insanity' programme and I've copied the details and links below for those of us who need a little assistance and encouragement away from the shops.

Trust me, it's a lot less embarrassing than having your mother follow you around shouting "Put that back on the shelf immediately!"

**

Stop the Shopping Insanity Program Now Available

New program provides overspenders with tips, companionship, and hope

NEW YORK, NY., March 24, 2010 – April Lane Benson, Ph.D., an expert in helping people with addictive spending issues, has released an audio program that helps people who are struggling to get their overspending habits under control.

The program, Stop the Shopping Insanity, consists of three 1-hour interviews with women who had serious issues with overspending, conquered those issues, and went on to write a book about their recovery journey. The three, Alexis Hall, Avis Cardella, and Neradine Tisaj, all share openly the fear, humiliation, and struggle they endured when their spending was out of control.

Dr. Benson, author of To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop and editor of I Shop, Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying and the Search for Self, has now given us, in convenient, audio format, an up-front and personal series where real people reveal their intimate journeys—from facing the horror of enormous debt, threatened relationships, and harassment by creditors to a path of self-discovery, true fulfillment, and the relief of low-balance living.

“These conversations,” says Benson, “can be healing companions for those who are ready to face their own compulsive spending issues. In listening to these generous women share their stories of recovery, overspenders will acquire practical strategies from people who actually used them successfully. They’ll realize that they’re not alone, and that there’s solid reason for hope.”

To learn more about the Stopping the Shopping Insanity program, go to (http://stoppingovershopping.com/secrets/), email info@stoppingovershopping.com, or call 212-799-3793.

**

How Alexis got out of debt–Her 3 simple rules...

Are you up to your eyeballs in debt?

Afraid you'll never get it under control?
Alexis had extreme debt and a lot of fear.
Her monthly minimums were so high that she
felt she had to do something drastic.

Push had come to shove. She feared losing her beloved Kevin.

So she set 3 simple rules for herself,

Took 1 step at a time,

And it WORKED!

In the first four months,
she paid off $3000,

The incentive of claiming her life back from her creditors kept her going.
Yes: $3000 of debt...gone in four months!

Come see this short video.
Hear Alexis talk about how she did it.

http://www.stoppingovershopping.com/secrets

Window Shopping & Wonderful Weather

There’s no better way to embark on a non-shopping venture than with a little bit of torture; or window shopping, as it’s normally known.

Quite why I decided to go trailing round the shops yesterday after work when I knew that buying was out-of-bounds is anyone’s guess, but that’s what I did.

Thankfully, the only things that made it back home with me were vitamins and with our health records, they were definitely essential purchases.

Today was much easier...

Scotland - usually famed only for rain and midges - was basking in glorious, record breaking April sunshine, so it was on with the shorts and up to the ice cream shop.

It’s a 40 minute walk to the ice cream shop, so by our calculations whatever calories we consume there will have been burned off by the time we get back home.

I just need to dig out last year’s fake tan (can’t buy new stuff) and rid myself of my West-of-Scotland blue pallor before I frighten any more small children with my short wearing!

Sentence or spree?

Three years - a prison sentence or a shopping spree?

The Daily Mail ran a feature today (with a little contribution from myself) on how many years the average woman spends shopping and it came in at roughly two years and ten months.

I dread to think what my total would have been if I hadn’t reined in my retail therapy when I did.

The article and talking to its writer has given me the kick start I needed to embark on a few months of minimalism again. I’ve noticed recently that little items and unnecessary indulgences are slipping back into my basket.

I know the warning signs now - the panic buy; the ‘essential item’ that will transform my wardrobe and the subsequent, desperate hunt to find it; spending £40 in Boots and then realising that all I’ve bought are sets of false eyelashes that I will NEVER wear.

So, I’m going back to basics for a while.

I’ve also been very neglectful of my blog lately.

The excitement of Spring, and all the good things I was hoping it would bring, have given me rather a lot to think about and do.

As well as another round of stopping shopping, I’ve made a few more decisions - with the help of Kevin & Hobbs - that I hope will work out towards changing all of our lives for the better and I can't wait to share them.