Shopaholic No More!

Want to know more about compulsive buying disorder?

Need questions answered about shopping addiction?

You're in the right place. Been there, bought that. 

Kia ora (hello in Kiwi)  

Have you ever found yourself on a shopping binge?

I blame Cher from Clueless. Adorable and armed with Daddy’s credit cards, she’d leave the mall triumphantly carrying shopping bags—the contents of which would end up in that damn automated wardrobe we all wished we had.

Unlike Cher in her perky preppy outfits, however, I went from socially sanctioned shopping to being compelled to keep spending, even though it was destroying my life. 

In Cher’s defense, I’d been playing whack-a-mole with other addictions, becoming clean and sober in 1998. But other critters can dig holes in your sanity lawn. It took an extra fourteen years to halt my spending addiction, mainly because I had no idea that I had one.

I’m not the only one “Clueless.”  Reportedly, five to eight percent of people worldwide are like me, and that’s only those who wake up and smell the credit cards. Google “shopping addiction,” and you’ll get 377,000,000 results. The first thing that pops up? The number to a suicide hotline.

This disease (and it is a disease) is killing people. It doesn’t have to be that way.           

Over a decade ago, instead of getting drunk, I went on what turned out to be my last shopping binge. The resulting shame, guilt, and anguish were all too familiar. 

But I found help.

Now, one day at a time, I live with this disease, and I'm flourishing. I have no debt, I love my life, and all my needs are met. 

If I can do it, so can you. 

I'm here to answer any questions you might have, and I will happily share where I found a free solution. 

Aroha (love) Erin

Wonderful photo by Michelle Tresemer and Steve Smith.