Hi guys and gals,
I have an issue which I really need help with. I tend to shop online ALL of the time - just about every day and definately every week.
Most of my purchases are not needed and I tend to hide them from my husband hoping that when I do eventually wear something, he won't notice that it is new. I have other tricks too, like washing and ironing the new items so he sees them, just not on me so that when I do wear them, I can say he has seen it before. Its just so pathetic and sad. To make it worse, he would not even mind that i have bought something new, so it's not like I have to worry about that. I need to stop shopping, but I can't seem to do it on my own.
I have stopped all the email subscription notices from shops to try and see if that helps curb the temptation, but alas, it is still ongoing.
sugar hun, although i don't have your addictiion, i do have an addiction and it is an ugly little beast. addiction is very strong and we can't do it on our own. your in the right place for starters. there are some wonderful people here that can help you step by step and give you tips on how to out sneek yourself....addiction is also very sneeking and manipulative....not you hun, its the addiction. please keep posting and lets see what we can do to help you get headed in the recovery direction
sugar- I am on my 4th month of recovery from a shopping addiction and so far I've learned and utilized a lot of great tips, so hopefully I can help.
Online shopping is tough to stay away from, because it's so easy to jump online and do it. Staying out of the stores doesn't really help when it comes to online shopping.
A few suggestions I have for you would be to try and limit your computer time. I'm not sure how you structure your computer time, but I try to do the most important things first... check my email, stop here ;-) and facebook, pay bills, etc. Once I do that, if I have time left over to sit online, I just don't. I log off and do something else. You may need to create an activity to keep you busy during the time you would normally be online shopping. Knitting (as a generic example) might be good because it keeps your hands busy. If your behind on housework, use your online shopping time to dust the blinds or whatever. Just busy yourself with something else until you feel confident enough that you can have idle time without jumping online to shop.
I also remove my favorite shopping websites form my bookmarks bar. If I have to click more than once to get there, I'm less likely to visit the site. I also unsubscribed to the store emails, so you've got one covered already.
I would also suggest opening up to your husband about your shopping addiction, if you think he would be of support. The less secrets you keep, the less emotional weight you will carry on your journey to recovery. I've found it much easier to achieve my goals during recovery if I have someone to open up to about how I feel.
I also go to therapy and have a "sponsor". My sponsor is just my really good friend, but she's very frugal and minimalist. She's the perfect type of person to support me through recovering from a shopping addiction. She doesn't feed my addiction or contribute to it. If you can, find a person in your life that will support you through your journey. Husbands are sometimes the best people for that, if they are open to it.
I have a lot of other tips that have helped me, so if you need anything else, let me know.