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Buyer's Remorse
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Maxed Out: Binge Shopper Fills Void by Using Credit Cards
This episode of Maxed Out is about Alicia, a 30-year old woman who works in advertising and has trapped herself in a pattern of binge spending. A couple years ago she was $20,000 in debt and got a consolidation loan she got to help her pay it off. After paying down about $10,000, she started using credit cards again and increased her debt load to $20,000 once again.
I'm Asking: When Was the Last Time You Had Buyer's Remorse?
Buyer's remorse sets in when we second (and third, and fourth) guess ourselves after making a purchase that usually falls more in the want than the need category. Sometimes it leads us to dragging ourselves back to the store and returning the item, and other times we simply get past the feeling with some clever rationalization. Can you remember the last thing you purchased that made you kick yourself with buyer's remorse?
Your Two Cents: Is Compulsive Buying a Mental Disorder?
Buying things to make yourself feel better, getting the high for a short while, coming down with hateful guilt, and repeating the process until you're deep in debt is the basis for compulsive buying. It's an addiction that millions of people struggle to overcome and there are support groups like Debtors Anonymous to aid in recovery. According to a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, 5.8 percent of Americans suffer from this kind of compulsion.
How to Overcome Buyer's Remorse
That regretful feeling we know as buyer's remorse has a way of getting into the heads of most shoppers I know. And it doesn't seem to distinguish between well-off pocketbooks versus struggling ones — remember in Clueless when Dion asked Cher, "Dude, what's wrong? Are you suffering from buyer's remorse or something?"
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Do You Spend More When You Shop With Friends?
Whether we like the stereotype or not shopping is a pretty common pastime for some women.
I always think it's nice to have someone nearby to help you second guess your purchases, but my best friend often complains she buys more when she's shopping with a friend. Maybe it's the compliments, or maybe it's that window-shopping feels silly when you are with another person, but if you're not careful, you can end up battling buyer's remorse.
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