Just stop for a second and imagine this story: “Paul doesn’t have the money to pay his rent this month, but he just bought a hundred-dollar pair of sunglasses. He knew at the time he was doing it that it was crazy but felt that he had to do it. Last week he bought three pairs of new fashion shoes even though he doesn’t need them, and last month he purchased an electronic keyboard although he doesn’t know how to play it.” Did you see a problem here? If you say no, probably it is just because you have the same problem. Let me tell you the problem here: A compulsive spender, money addicted person who spends hundreds of dollars every week to just feel good about himself. What is a compulsive spender? A compulsive spender generally spends whatever he has, whether it is $10 or $10000. There is not a point at which his urge to spend is satisfied and he relaxes in to enjoying what he has.
He spends on things he does not really need, and he spends regardless of whether he has the money to pay for them. He works hard whether night or day in more than one job sometimes to earn the money to pay his credit card debts. Addictive shopping is a form of behavior designed to avoid unpleasant reality, and is accompanied by a high, which causes the sufferer to lose control and buy many items for which they have no need. The adrenaline rush, the fantasy which surrounds the episode and everything which precedes the actual spending spree all add to the sense of unreality which brings a false sense of freedom from life’s problems. The compulsive spender has trouble accepting the limits.
The Essay on Spend Your Money Wisely
The United States has faced a very significant economic growth after the Second World War. At that time, war was finished, and the American soldiers were back to their homes. There were ready to make their future houses and start families. In other words, they started spending money in the market acquiring commodities and services rendered at that time. The country faced a population growth, -as ...
If he sees something he wants in a catalog or a store, he feels as if he has to have it, immediately, even though he’s gotten along without it until now. These are the things that other people might consider as luxuries, the compulsive spender supposes as necessary. He has to have that imported coffee or exotic vinegar, has to take the latest self-improvement course or buy the new lens for his camera. He cannot relax and just accept himself, because he continues to think he should have more, get more, and be more. In a world without limits he ca never get enough. Satisfaction from a purchase never lasts long for a compulsive spender.
He changes his focus when he convinces himself he has enough to move on. It is more likely to explain it with the phrase “get ‘another’ life.” Shortly after buying the cross-country skis, his interest shifts to motorcycles, or photography. Perhaps that’s because much of his spending feeds fantasies he has about himself. He believes some ambiguous hope that the next purchase is going to change his life, make him more interesting, fulfilled, but never does.
As soon as the high wears off, another craving sets in. The compulsive spenders pay very little attention to spending plans. In fact, planning at all is revulsion to him. For example, he went out to buy a carpet for his living room, and he thought he’d spend around one or two hundred dollars; however, instead he came home with a thousand dollar carpet. A compulsive spender could never say ‘I can’t have that because it costs more than I planned to spend.’ If he sees it and wants it, he has to have it.
That would be all right if he had money to pay for it, but most of the time he does not. For many, shopping is a hobby, a form of recreation. It’s the thrill of the hunt, the high from getting “it” on sale. While some people can control the urge to buy, not everyone can. For those people, their pleasure becomes a source of pain, and their compulsive shopping can disrupt, even destroy, their lives.
