Confessions of a Shopaholic: The Discovery

So it’s currently 12.40 am on a week night and I should be in bed getting my much needed beauty sleep, but instead I’m up writing because I’m too excited to do it tomorrow. I am going to start a Confessions of a Shopaholic-esque blog! Why am I so excited about this? Read on….

Every shopaholic who knows she/he's a shopaholic would have reached a point in their lives where they made that discovery. Mine was two days ago. Whilst I already had a good inkling that I was Melbourne's own Rebecca Bloomwood, I was never more certain than I was that fateful night in Kmart. Now many fashionistas will be quick to judge - Kmart is not somewhere to boast about shopping. Generic, no name brands, awfully loud prints and tacky materials; clothes and shoes from Kmart are not for the fasionably concious. However, I had heard from work colleagues that Kmart had recently stocked surprisingly good quality work out gear, even compared to Lululemon (really???). This, I decided, was worth checking out. I did need a new sports top. And I also needed a pair of cuticle clippers.

So off I went, with my shopping list of 2 items. I managed to find a good blue tank for $10 that was quick dry and cuticle clippers for $12.Then I saw some nail files and buffers for under $5 each, so I decided to stock up. And I got an eyelash curler too, it was only $9. And muffin trays for $4 each. So I bought 2. And 2 for 1 Grazia and OK magazine. And some 3 for $3 briefs. And 2 for $10 push up bras.

After 2 hours of mooching around Kmart, my shopping list expanded to a total of 14 items. I left $150 lighter and with a heavy burden of guilt. How did I just spend $150 at KMART? Did I need any of these items? Were they REALLY that cheap? It was then that I began to realize; I have absolutely no self-control. When I see bargains, I don't buy just what I need, I buy everything that I can justify as a bargain individually, not considering the total price.  I buy things for the sake of buying when it is on sale. Which is why I spent $150 at Kmart. And $400 at the Zimmermann warehouse sale. And $80 at an OPI sale. And $60 from a Napoleon sale. All within 5 working days.

On top of this, I had noticed the amount of money I received from Christmas and Chinese New Year that was waiting for me to deposit into my bank account was steadily dropping.  The stack of notes had become my personal ‘petty cash’ stash which went towards my Saturday nights out on the town. I was spending $50 - $100, and often more, per weekend on drinks, food and other social activities – my petty cash stash was less than half of what I started with. So when I took it to the bank yesterday and realized how little I was depositing, it occured to me that as I would probably be taking the same amount out this weekend anyway. Every dollar going into my account was coming out just as quickly.

While on my lunch break from work today, I went to the market with a colleague who wanted to pick up some dried fruit to snack on (and I decided to tag along… and ended up buying dried fruit too, as well as two bags of rice crackers and a bag of soy crisps) and told her the story about my poor spending habits. She told me how she used to make the same poor decisions until she made a similar realisation when receiving a bank statement of $0. From then on, she created a budget for herself. From her pay she would put aside an amount for expenses (gym, phone bill, rent) and an amount to go into her savings account. What was left was up to her to spend on.

This gave me an idea. What I needed to do was record my purchases so I could visually see the amount I was spending vs the amount that I earn. It would be like a food diary where you write down what food you ate and the number of calories and compare it to the total number of calories you’re supposed to eat a day. But instead of food I will record purchases and instead of calories, I will count dollars. My goal is not to stop shopping, but to limit myself to the budget I set. And I will record all my purchases on my blog. Hopefully at the same time my readers will be entertained and be educated about smarter shopping (and current sales and bargains!)

Aside from being a shopaholic, I am a TV nut. Therefore I will still continue to review TV episodes and in between the Shopaholic blog posts.