My name is Catherine, and I am a Shopping Addict! It is at this point of any other addiction meeting where I would be greeted with a droning “Hello, Catherine,” and I would tell you my story.

But let’s bypass that for now. Today, let’s start this blog with identifying what actually makes a person a shopping addict and see how many of my readers will be able to identify themselves as shopping addicts too.

According to ProjectKnow, a shopping addiction is characterized by an “intense preoccupation with buying and shopping”. Well, that fits me to a T. I am constantly on the hunt for the next great deal. Even if I don’t need the product, if I feel I’m getting the product for a steal, I must buy it.

 

Another symptom is a feeling of thrill or excitement after a purchase.

I too can’t stand still when I have found a great deal. I do a little happy dance and can’t wait to brag about my purchase to my friends, telling them all about my great find.

The negative side of being a shopping addict according to CBSNews is that being one is usually a sign of an emotional distress, and the shopaholic is using shopping to get that deal-finding high, or Utopian high, to feel better.

I know that I suffer from depression, so I can check all three symptoms.

Every spare moment I have, I spend in some form of shopping.

I plan my weekly schedules sometimes around sales and shopping sprees. For example, every Saturday morning, I pretend I’m some form of Indiana Jones on an archeological hunt when I go yard sale hunting.

Yard sales and estate sales are a form of cultural artifact hunting. You never know what amazing treasure you may stumble upon.

Truly, I have decorated the majority of my home with yard sale finds, and half my Christmas gifts every year come from them.

My other treasure troves to hunt for lost treasures are the local Goodwill, Salvation Army, and neighborhood thrift stores.

Every other day, I can rely on them to put out new treasures for me to find, and I get an ecstatic thrill throughout my entire body when I find an amazing deal on a treasure no one else has found.

 

Every other day, I can rely on them to put out new treasures for me to find, and I get an ecstatic thrill throughout my entire body when I find an amazing deal on a treasure no one else has found.

On Sundays, I get the newspaper. Sadly, it is no longer for the daily news, that’s too depressing.

I get the newspaper for all the ads and coupons. I look through each one.

I coupon clip, and look through the stores having worthwhile sales.

I know that I can generally count on Michael’s craft store to have some sale going on. I have more scrapbook material and beads to open my own craft store at this point, but I always find something new.

So, my weekends are filled with shopping at yard sales, 2^nd hand stores, and also at stores having big sales.

During the week, I spend my shopping time doing a different kind of deal shopping.

The internet has become my best friend when I want to find a weekly deal.

I can search the web for years and never find all the great deals that are listed! Believe me, I am trying!

I haven’t decided if I should slow down on my addiction, taper off, quit cold turkey, or set ground rules.

Dear readers, if you’re a shopping addict, what are your suggestions?