Confessions of a Shopaholic: Books!

“Maybe my identity’s been stolen. Or maybe I was sleep-shopping!”
― Sophie Kinsella, Mini Shopaholic

I sit and wonder do I need everything I buy? I have some great collection of books, make up, dresses and shoes – I hardly use. There are books I have that have never been read till date, in fact there are some that are still unopened. I have some beautiful eye shadow palette, I rarely apply. The Mumbai weather doesn’t allow me to use a lot of makeup. I have some dresses that I will never wear due to the weather again. Shoes! Every girl loves them. I have some shoes I take out for occasions like birthday. And I wear them just on birthdays. Also I buy new shoes every birthday. So now you know that I am a CERTIFIED SHOPAHOLIC.

In India, we do have Plastic Money but luckily, I can’t get a Credit Card as my locality is been ‘Blacklisted’ by some bank. I am glad in a way, as this stops me from spending. But this also means that I spend a lot from my salary. It is not that a shopaholic loves to spend but just like an Alcoholic they don’t have control over what they are doing. My eyes spot an online sale the moment it is published. I tell myself, ‘Do you actually need it?’ and my brain shouts at me and says, “NO!” but the poor little heart screams and says, “It’s on sale! It is 40% less than the original cost. And you MIGHT need it!”

I give saving ideas to my friends and family but do I really save as much? I do save, with the hope of buying something bigger later. I love my Debit Card more than anything else. It is like a friend in need as long as it has money in it. ‘Do I have a problem?’ I ask myself. And the answer I get is, “Maybe!”

Seriously, I don’t need all the clothes my cupboard has and I hardly wear earrings but own a millions of it (Sarcastically – I have a lot though), I am not a shoe person, but love keeping them. I am an extensive reader but can’t read more than one book at a time. I do have a problem! I am a SHOPAHOLIC. Being addicted is not something someone accepts at least when it comes to their own children. My mom frowns every time, there’s a door bell and a man from the courier service stands calling out my name. She looks at me and says, “Now what have you ordered?”

Do you need them?

“I don’t need the books I have but I love keeping them. I have this dream of having a library of my own. It is an investment”, I tell myself this every time Flipkart sends me a mail that there are new books available on their site. But again, thinking you need something when you actually don’t is a PROBLEM.

How do I get over my addiction of shopping? The say giving up on something for a while helps you getting over your addiction. Unfortunately, as I am a shopaholic, I am addicted to more than one thing.

Plan A

Now in the milestone that I have to run to achieve success which is – Handling my finances smartly, I have decided to come up with Plan A, which is also Step A.

Give up on buying books. I won’t buy books till the time I have read all the books I have. Now that will take some good months or maybe a year. Once I am done with that I might just give up on buying clothes I don’t really need. And certainly will give up on BRANDS!

Once I have succeeded in Plan A, I will try to come up with Plan B, which will be more difficult. I hope I succeed in Plan A though.

So this is my struggle from coming out of my own addiction to shopping! This is the new series called (most obvious) Confessions of a Shopaholic!

I am going to sit over the weekend and write about the books I have. I will count the books I own and will come with NUMBERS by next week. This will make me realize how much I have in all. Giving all the books a time of 1 month it can keep me busy the whole year.

I am going to confess about the shopping habits I had (have). Regretting is the last thing I do, but in this case I have to start regretting and curse myself for over spending on things I DON’T NEED!

P.S. Yes I am shamelessly copying the Title from the Movie/Book as it suits the best in this situation.

Keep Reading! Keep Blogging! Keep stopping yourself from Shopping!