True Life: I’m a Shopaholic // Post #3: Mindless Shopping

This post is part of a larger series on shopping and I want YOUR input!

Email me by clicking the button below to share your questions, thoughts and ideas.

Somedays I swear that my brain has been taken over by an evil monster. Here I am, minding my own business in my living room, when all of a sudden, I’m not reading that interesting article from the NY Times anymore, but instead I’m opening 38 tabs in Chrome to check out every possible new shirt that I need from Anthropologie. HOW DID I EVEN GET HERE?!

Have you been there too?

It is a scary place for me. I don’t like the feeling of being out of control and I don’t like the black hole nature of scrolling.

I know this same lack of awareness I feel can happen in an IRL store — ever walk into a Sephora to refill your Stila liquid eyeliner and walk out with a primer, highlighter, under eye mask and a receipt for $175.00? — but I don’t experience that nearly as often. There’s also something about being in a brick and mortar shop, pulling out your Visa, and having a human being ring you up that feels a lot more...real. Online shopping has the ability to sneak into our lives without our awareness. It pops up in ads while we read the news, instagram ads masquerading as actual posts, and, most importantly, in our habits.

I’m not anti-online-shopping as a whole (Nordstrom Anniversary Sale bras are what gets me through the rest of the year) but I am putting my foot down on MINDLESS online shopping. It doesn’t actually bring me joy, instead it brings me a lot of things I never even knew I needed. Newsflash: I don’t need them. Neither do you.

Ways to Stop Mindless Shopping Habits:

  • Remove all shopping apps from your phone 

    • Feel like you can’t remove Prime because you shop at Whole Foods? Take a screenshot of the QR code and save it in your notes app.

  • Put your phone in black and white mode.

  • Unsubscribe from all shopping site mailing lists. You don’t need daily, weekly, or even monthly updates from Revolve.

  • Stop following brands and stores on Instagram. Those espadrilles that look like they’re going to give you the life you always wanted? You didn’t even know they existed before they showed up in your feed. Trust me, you can live without them.

  • Make your phone background something motivating — maybe it is a quote that keeps you going or maybe it is a picture of an empty wallet (only sort of kidding).

  • Remove your payment information from all your favorite shopping websites. Sometimes all you need is to be forced to find your wallet to break the habit.

These habits are deeply ingrained for many of us, so don’t feel bad if you’re still struggling to break the habit — you may just need a little extra support from a money friend like me!

Here’s Whitney Cummings giving some sage advice about (not) shopping at GirlBoss Rally — where I was a proud participant, offering Money Therapy to the GirlBosses in attendance. If you need your own Money Therapy session, I’m here to help.

On The Couch, Top TipsCaroline Snydershopping, money, budget, budgeting, credit card