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My New and Improved Shopping Rules

When I started this blog in January, one of my first posts outlined a list of shopping rules to help me address my compulsive buying problem.  Over the ensuing months, I found myself adhering well to some rules (the budget, one in one out, and tracking) while ignoring others completely (item purchase limits).  Because I found the purchase limits too restrictive, I started adding a list of exceptions that only served to muddy the waters.

New shopping rules

I feel it’s now time to revisit my initial rules and make some conscious and deliberate updates based upon what I’ve learned about myself, my wardrobe, and my shopping so far this year.  This post details my revised shopping rules for the rest of 2013 and potentially into 2014 as well.

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On Conscious Shopping, Powerful Questions, and Avoiding Returns

As I mentioned in my “Friends, Shopping, and Telling the Truth” post last week, I recently went shopping with a friend.  While I wrote about my hesitancy in telling this particular friend – a fellow shopaholic – about my blog, I didn’t share anything else about that shopping experience.

Today’s post covers how I shopped, what I bought, and my process for deciding whether to keep or return one particular item.  My hope is that my process will help you when wrestling with a similar decision.

Confession Time – I Bought Four Things

How to Avoid Returns

Do you feel anxiety after you’ve bought something?

In truth, I did buy a few things (four) when I shopped with my friend.  While I felt good about three of these purchases (two short cardigans and a moto-style jacket – photos in my accountability post next week), I experienced quite a bit of anxiety and indecision regarding the fourth.   I’ll get to that in a minute, but first I’d like to share my shopping process, as it was different than what I’ve done in the past.

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Useful Links for Determining Your Personal Style

Today I’m introducing a new feature that will appear each Friday on “Recovering Shopaholic.”  I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a very avid reader.  Not only do I subscribe to more blogs than I care to admit (I’m gradually paring down to the best ones, just like I’m doing with my clothes), I frequently click on article links posted on Facebook and Twitter.  I have a highly intricate bookmarking system in my internet browser for articles on a wide variety of topics, many of which relate to what is discussed on this blog.

I’ve decided to dedicate my Friday posts to sharing “useful links” with my readers. Each Friday, I’ll select a topic and share 5-7 related links from my vast article archives.  I’ll also include brief commentary for some of the links, and may even link to articles I’ve written (on other sites) from time to time.

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Feelings Before, During, and After Shopping

In this blog, I write about both the practical and psychological aspects of compulsive shopping, as I believe both areas are important in terms of our recovery.  Thus far, I’ve written far more about the practical aspects, such as wardrobe management, accountability, shopping tips, and the Project 333 minimalist fashion challenge.

While I will continue to write about these topics, I’d like to start delving more into the psychology of why we overshop and how we can stop.  In doing so, I will often refer to Dr. April Benson’s book, “To Buy or Not to Buy.”

Mood Patterns of Ordinary vs. Compulsive Buyers

Shopping-related feelings

How do you feel before, during, and after you shop?

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Avoiding the 3 Most Common August Shopping Mistakes

What are the 3 Most Common Mistakes?

Avoiding summer sale temptations

Are you struggling with summer sales temptations?

There is a lot of pressure to shop during the month of August.  End-of-season sales, back-to-school deals, and the fall fashion push all come together to create a “perfect storm” for overshopping. While many people feel compelled to shop this time of year, we are all prone to these three very common shopping mistakes:

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