My Debt Blog

I was channel surfing last night and came across a show called the Secret Lives of Women. Why in the world would I be watching a show on the Women’s Entertainment (WE) network? This particular episode caught me because it featured women who ran up massive amounts of debt due to shopping. Here’s the short on this:

“Secret Lives of Women: Shopaholic” (WE)
For Lisa Thompson (a personal concierge and mother of two), Sari Kaplin (a marketing executive), and Mandy Rabelais (a wife and mother), shopping isn’t just a day at the mall; it’s an addiction. Can these ladies come to terms with their dependencies, or will the mall get the best of them?

I am amazed at the amounts of stuff these people buy day to day and know they should not be doing it. The massive amount of credit cards and opening new ones just to spend more is beyond me. A stay at home mom frequently buying bed sets on her husband’s teaching salary and they’re paying on her Lexus, does she realize that is excessive? My wife loves to shop and get ideas for what she would like to do to the house, but they’re just ideas. I ask that she makes sure that when we buy something for a room it is necessary and needed. Our down filled comforter went flat and became completely useless. After about three months of watching the stores, looking around, waiting for sales, we got a great deal on a new bed set with about 60% markdown and paid for it. I think two years ago it would be a need to have it now must have and put it on a credit card.

I don’t consider my wife a shopaholic because she is able to go into stores, look around, and not buy anything. There is a big difference in shopping and spending. Every now and then she will get something at a store, but typically there is a purpose or reason she needs it. I have the hardest time buying clothes for myself and wear the same things over and over, which drives her nuts. Sometimes she will pick me up a new polo at Old Navy if they’re on sale, which I don’t mind. What drives me crazy is when she picks out a bunch of stuff to try on and only keeps one thing to buy. The other is buying two things with the intention of returning one of them later. Seems like a big waste of time that other things could be done.

At any rate, if any of my readers even have cable and I’m not sure when this particular episode will air again. I checked out the future dates for the show and did not see it in the next two weeks. The network website did not have much regarding this particular episode so I think it is probably an old one from a previous season. Shopping as an addiction though? I think not. When it comes down to it, spending money you don’t have on things you don’t need is debt, the true addiction.

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