Shopping online can be a quick way to lift your spirits.
The internet has made shopping perilously easy.
The barriers to impulse purchases have shrunk away.
You’ve seen it: a limited-time discount or a flood of marketing emails.
Excessive shopping, particularly of pointless or unwanted items, can be emotionally and financially unhealthy.
Some people wind up straining relationships and digging out of piles of credit card debt and unpaid bills.
Of course, occasionally making an impulse purchase to boost your mood isn’t a disorder.
It also isn’t surprising.
Psychologists can measure the improvement in people’s mood when they buy something new.
“So it feels good.”
Here are four ways you might stay in control of your spending.
An easy way to track your purchases is to find the breakdown of your credit card spending.
It will also help you set financial goals and show you how much you’ve saved.
you’re free to alsoask your phone carrier to stoptracking and selling this data.
Don’t forget to make similarchanges to your phone controls.
Psychology can be as helpful as technology when it comes to spending.
After a day goes by, you might have a new perspective.
Another trick: Ask yourself if you really love something or simply like it.
If it’s the latter, you might want to reconsider.
The practiceviolates consumer protection laws, the FTC reminded businesses in October.
Also pay close attention to forms that enroll you in marketing emails.
Ask yourself if it feels healthy
Shopping impulsively isn’t necessarily a mental health problem by itself.
It’s particularly bad if you’ve tried to stop excessive shopping but found you couldn’t.
Shopping addicts may feel they have to hide purchases from loved ones, says Albers-Bowling, the psychologist.
Patients who compulsively buy are also often bored, she says.
“After the shopping episode is completed, they usually obtain immediate short-term gratification.”
Unfortunately, guilt follows quickly, Jimenez-Murcia says.
Some people also benefit from group therapy similar to those used by communities built around beating other addictions.
She recommended that everyone struggling with shopping identify moods, such as anxiety or boredom, that trigger spending.
