This is the last of six posts (scroll down to see all of my previous posts) on how overshoppers can respond to the pressure of the economic downturn with a life-altering reality check. The underlying thesis is that compulsive shopping is a smokescreen, a hopeless attempt to distract the self from (or magically fill) unacknowledged individual needs.

In my book, To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop, I help shopping addicts identify and acknowledge those needs. In these half dozen posts, we’ve explored healthier ways of fulfilling them. We’ve seen numerous examples of self-kind alternatives to shopping, and I’ve invited you to envision specific activities that genuinely address the emotional needs that underlie your overshopping.

Thus far, we’ve looked at six categories of needs: for action, spontaneity, relaxation, several kinds of sensual joy, emotion, and intellect. Today, we conclude our consideration with two final categories of need, discovery and spirit. As always, use anything here that feels right—and stretch yourself to design or discover or invent healthy activities that, unlike shopping, will give you lasting satisfaction.

Discovery: Discovery is a particular kind of intellectual pleasure, one that drives a good deal of overshopping. After all, there’s always something “new” out there, something different, something unexpected that can grab your attention (and suck the money right out of your wallet). Do you fall for the latest, hottest thing? Do you frequently recheck your favorite stores or internet shopping sites for what’s “just in” and not yet found by others? If so, how can you be kinder to yourself and, at the same time, feed your curiosity and/or relieve your boredom?

• Go to a workshop on a cutting-edge topic by a leader in the field.
• Take that course you’ve been thinking about.
• Experiment with something artistic or technical.
• Look into a controversial issue in politics or some other social field.
• Engage in a community service activity or hobby that’s new to you.

Spirit: Are you overshopping mostly to distract yourself from feeling empty or hollow? Spiritual self-kindness helps connect the self to the universe, helps us to see ourselves through a lens less clouded by the storm and stress of everyday immediacies. This may be the most difficult type of self-kindness to design and enact, but give yourself every chance to discover unexpected resonances within. Remember the words of Walt Whitman: “I am large, I contain multitudes.” In what ways might you give yourself this important form of self-kindness?

• Personalize a mantra.
• Pray, meditate, or practice a period of silence.
• Experience the life force that flows through you.
• Walk in nature or a garden, or quietly watch the sunrise or sunset.
• Sit outside in the evening and really look at the stars.
• Think about what you’re grateful for and lovingly count your blessings.

Self-kindness is the essential nutrient for growing measured, conscious shoppers from shopping addicts. Give yourself this gift and be patient. Change is a gradual process, not an abracadabra transformation; there may be occasional setbacks. But each time you choose a self-kindness alternative to urge-driven shopping, you’re rubbing out a piece of the addictive pattern—and making it less likely that you’ll succumb the next time.

In the next few posts, we’ll explore two further qualities essential for gaining control of compulsive shopping: self care and self respect.

In this series of posts, we’ve been exploring ways to seize the opportunity that the economic crisis emotions and intellect presents to overshoppers. Even before the downturn, of course, most compulsive buyers found themselves in a financial squeeze. But the new economic realities—the slashed value of retirement accounts, the credit crunch, the mortgage debacle, and the widespread loss of jobs and massive uncertainty about continuing employment— have forced even the most ostrich-like overshoppers into a reality check.

When they examine their habit with a clear mind and a compassionate heart, nearly all overshoppers acknowledge that the pull of shopping rises from somewhere underneath the things they buy. Shopping is for them a release, a drug that for a while—a little while—blunts the pain of unmet needs. Then the pain is back, it is worsened by the guilt and shame and secrecy that each new purchase adds.

Self-kindness offers a happy exit from this cycle. Finding healthy activities to fulfill your underlying needs releases you from having to bury those needs with overshopping and gains you access to “true wealth,” those nonfinancial assets, different for everybody, that make life worth living. We’ve already sampled such activities for four kinds of needs: for Action, Spontaneity, Relaxation, and Sensual Joy. Today, we look at two more: Emotion and Intellect.

Emotion: Emotions, both positive and negative, charge and direct a lot of overshopping. When we feel nostalgic, when we don’t feel connected, when joy is absent, when we feel like celebrating—in these and a great many other emotional situations, we may feel driven to shop. Instead of shopping in response to your emotions, practice targeted self-kindness: find alternative activities that meet the emotional needs beyond your overshopping impulses. What emotionally satisfying alternatives to shopping might work for you? As always, try any of these that appeal and invent half a dozen others that might work for you.

• See a deeply human, moving film, an old classic perhaps.
• Spend time with a favorite animal.
• Volunteer to help someone who really needs your help.
• Attend an event or a performance that promises to be joyful.
• Learn by heart—and recite—a favorite poem.

Intellect: While you may not think of shopping as an intellectual pursuit, the puzzle-solving aspect of shopping motivates and energizes some people. It’s an active pleasure for them to sort through an infinite number of choices, factoring in variables such as style, value, and utility, zeroing in on what says, “This is me.” But there are so many other ways to experience cerebral delight, so many other puzzles to solve! What nonshopping joys of the mind can you suggest for yourself?

• Use the internet to improve yours skills in chess or Scrabble.
• Take a leadership role in an organization or a club in which you belong.
• Read a challenging book and talk about it with someone.
• Take lessons and learn a new language.
• Learn to knit, draw, or meditate.
• Write anything from a diary to a Wikipedia entry.

Next time, we’ll conclude personalizing the landscape of self-kindness with two further categories: Discovery and Spirit.

In this series of postings, we’ve been coloring the landscape of self-kindness, examining healthier alternatives to shopping. The catalyst for this is the current economic downturn and the way its dramatic ratcheting up of financial pressure is forcing overshoppers to, well, take stock of their habit. When they look beneath the surface at what the appeal of shopping is really about for them, they find unmet personal needs.

Finding creative ways to meet those needs is what self-kindness is all about. Invent or pursue positive activities that satisfy your needs, and the pull of addictive habit drops sharply. But just what are such activities?

So far, we’ve looked at examples for four categories of needs: Action, Spontaneity, Relaxation, and, in part, Sensual Joy. Today, we finish looking at the Sensual Joy, with examples for Sight and Hearing. As always, try anything from the list that appeals to you, and create half a dozen other examples for yourself. Then, when the urge strikes, choose one of these happier alternatives instead.

Sight—Color, Pattern, and Beauty: Do you love color? Do you buy too many beautiful things or spend more than you can afford on things so exquisite they take your breath away? If you deeply appreciate well-made, high-quality objects, stopping overshopping doesn’t have to mean depriving yourself. Congratulate yourself on your capacity for aesthetic appreciation—and now, how might you discover or experience visual delight without buying?

• Paint—watercolors, oils, or bathroom walls—for yourself or maybe for shopping and art someone you love.
• Take digital photos of objects you admire and share them.
• Look at art forms, in a museum or a book or outdoors.
• Visit beautiful places; take house and garden tours.
• Behold nature, whether tree or forest, flower or bouquet.
• Take a course at a local botanical garden.

Hearing—Sound and Music: Do you groove on the music piped into your favorite stores? Do you love eavesdropping on other shoppers at the mall? Do you love the noise of the city street when you’re out window-shopping? What other sounds could fill your ears and lift your soul?

• Sit outside in springtime and listen to the birds.
• Listen to a free public lecture.
• Volunteer to usher for a benefit performance.
• Sip something at an outdoor café and listen to the street sounds.
• Sing a song from your childhood.
• Play, really play, a musical instrument.
• Go to a pond at night and listen to the frogs and crickets.

We’ll finish personalizing the landscape of self-kindness with the next two postings, the first on Emotion and Intellect, the second on Discovery and Spirit.

We’ve been exploring the centrality of self-kindness to the process of stopping overshopping. It’s the all-important lubricant that keeps the engine of change running smoothly. To say it more directly, it’s the stance that allows you to look clearly and non-judgmentally at your overshopping behavior and then choose healthier and more fulfilling alternatives.

Thus far, we’ve tried to match the underlying needs that drive three imagecategories of shopping addiction—shopping for action, spontaneity, and relaxation—with alternative activities that more healthily fulfill those needs.

Today, we’ll begin a look at the crucial fourth category, sensual joy. Our five senses offer us unlimited opportunities for pleasure. Sensuous self-kindness can soothe or celebrate the body, heart, mind, and soul. Touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing each bring something unique and wonderful to life’s table.

Look through the examples that follow, try them on in the light of your own overshopping behavior, and see if any of these shoes fit. As always, appropriate anything that looks interesting to you, and invent half a dozen other alternatives that light up your senses.

Touch: Do you love silky fabrics? Nubby tweeds? The feel of velvet? The texture of metal or wood? When you’re out shopping, are you reaching for tactile delights? What else could offer you the comfort or joy of touch—and not break the bank?

• Play in the mud or in the garden.

• Take a bath with fragrant oils or get a massage.

• Pet a kitten, hold an infant, or stroke someone’s hair.

• Sew or knit.

• Do some woodworking.

• Throw a pot.

• Bake some bread or make a pie crust.

Taste and Smell: Chocolates? Scented candles? Yellow roses? Perfume? Even if you don’t actually seek out the sensuous pleasures of taste and smell while you’re shopping, fantasies about future mouth and nose pleasure may drive overshopping—for kitchen equipment, backyard barbecues, even clothing to wear at expensive restaurants. What healthier ways can you think of to feed your craving for these experiences?

• Prepare food for yourself, and slow down and taste it.

• Enjoy coffee at home, and grind the beans yourself.

• Smell the roses whenever and wherever you see them.

• Go for a walk in the rain; notice the freshness.

• Inhale the scent of newly cut grass.

• Breathe in the perfume of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

Next time, we’ll continue our look at self-kind alternatives to shopping, at healthier ways to fulfill the underlying need for sensual joys of sight and hearing.

In my last posting, I introduced the idea that the current downturn might just be a tipping point for overshoppers, that its economic pressure might shake them out of denial and drive them to begin stopping overshopping. That they do so is essential, because compulsive buying is a square peg for a round hole, an inadequate substitute for (or a distraction from) the fulfillment of unmet needs, whether emotional, social, or spiritual.

But powerful habits die hard. Although the shopping habit cannot in the long run meet your needs, it can bury them for a time; it can give you short-term relief, despite its debilitating long-term consequences. And relief is what overshoppers are reaching for, though they may not know yet from what.

The best foundation for resisting the shopping urge is a personal stance of self-kindness. That stance—bringing home the care, respect, and good intentions you give to others—extends to actions as well as attitudes. Last time, we began listing Acts of Self-Kindness, behaviors that fill particular kinds of needs and are healthier than shopping. Out first category was Action. Now let’s look at two more categories. (These lists are examples. Use anything that sounds good, and think up another half dozen acts that are particularly tailored to you.)

Spontaneity: For many overshoppers, the delight is that you can do it on the spur of the moment. The internet, catalogs, and television shopping channels are right there at your fingertips, 24-7. Even many stores are open whenever you get the urge. If you especially love being spontaneous, what else might you do ?

•    Head out to the all-night diner at 3:00 a.m.
•    Stop in the public library in the afternoon.
•    Go for a walk on the beach.
•    Turn on the radio and dance in your living room.
•    Pop in on a friend.
•    Take a walk in the park—and climb a tree while you’re there.

Relaxation, Lounging, Taking It Easy: Rather than hustle and bustle, is gentle relaxation what you need? Is this why you find yourself zoning out in front of a shopping channel or wandering onto eBay? What else might do it for you?

•   Watch a video in bed (a nice, easy bit of fluff).
•    Listen at home to an audiobook.
•    Lie on the couch and listen to some soft music.
•    Get a chair massage.
•    Hang out on your porch.
•    Make yourself a cup of tea and sip mindfully.
•    Do nothing: simply be.

Already, you’re beginning to assemble a list of important ways to be kind to yourself. When the urge strikes, try the things on your list instead of shopping. Those that work particularly well probably suggest something about what your real needs are. In the next posting, we’ll continue to explore the many possibilities for self-kindness, this time in the area of sensual joy.

“It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good” says a familiar proverb, and as with most proverbs, there’s a nugget of useful truth at the core.

Amidst the violent buffeting of today’s economic ill wind, some good can shopping choices not to spendcome to overshoppers. As the nation’s financial crisis deepens, all of us, whether problem shoppers or not, are driven to reexamine what we buy. For overshoppers, however, the crisis is a special opportunity. It’s a powerful incentive, maybe a tipping point, to get real, to look into the heart of their compulsion and begin teasing out what they’re really shopping for. And when they do, almost invariably they find that the stuff they’re buying isn’t what they’re shopping for. (If it were, they’d buy it and stop shopping.) What they really want—what the buying is an inadequate substitute for (or a distraction from)—is the fulfillment of some unmet need or needs, whether emotional, social, or spiritual.

Identifying the individual needs that underlie a particular overshopper’s habit is a process I try to guide them through in To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop. For now, I want to focus on one essential element of the process, self-kindness.

Self-kindness means being your own good mother, means allowing yourself to bring home the care, respect, and good intentions you give to others. But it’s more than just a stance. Self-kindness extends to a host of activities that satisfy your needs, activities that are healthier alternatives to shopping.

If you want to gain control of your shopping, start yourself a list of Acts of Self-Kindness. To organize it, divide the list into such categories as Action, Spontaneity, Relaxation, Sensual Joy, Emotion, Intellect, and Spirit.

Once you’ve itemized your own particular ways of being kind to yourself, you’ve got a powerful set of things to do instead of shopping. Now, try them out! When the urge to shop strikes, look to your list for alternatives. Those activities that work especially well for you probably dovetail with your unmet needs.

Here’s a starter list for the first of our self-kindness categories: Action. The need for activity, after all, is what drives many overshoppers. Is the hustle and bustle of being out in a busy store a big part of the shopping fun for you? What else could you do to meet that need? Is there something you’ve always wanted to try?

• Go dancing, running, roller skating, hiking, or biking.

• Play tennis or Ping-Pong.

• Take a movement class, such as dance, power yoga, or aerobics.

• Walk your dog—or your neighbor’s dog.

• Join a softball team or bowling league.

• Go swimming, rowing, kayaking, or canoeing.

So what’s it going to be?  In subsequent blog postings, we’ll look further into ways of being kind to yourself.

As we have seen with Mindful Shopping, the road to stopping overshopping often requires introspection and personal reflection. And addiction treatment has confirmed that the most successful way to kick bad habits is to take careful, small steps. A great way to combine these two means of stopping your overshopping is to set a weekly goal for some form of restraint -whether it be avoiding an altercation with your boss, or not looking at a single catalog for a week-and then to conduct a motivational interview with yourself to help make that goal a reality. Set aside some time to interview yourself, and answer the following questions about this change:

Select a change that you’d like to make in the next week. Make it something that you can realistically do in a week and then answer the following questions about it:

1. How important is it to you to make the change-for example, to actually not look at catalogs this week, on a 0-10 scale (0 = totally unimportant, 10 = essential)?

2. Why are you at this number and not a 0?

3. What would it take for you to go from this number to a higher number?

4. How might you go about making this change?

5. What would be a good first step?

6. What obstacles do you see and how might you deal with them?

7. Now how confident (0-10) are you that you can make this change this week?

8. What gives you that level of confidence?

Hopefully this motivational interview will allow you to see the big picture more clearly, addressing the real issues that are causing you to doubt yourself or your ability to reject compulsive buying urges. When you clearly anticipate the obstacles that might stand in your way and brainstorm ways to deal with them, they become much less daunting, and the confidence you can built when you attack them head on is quite a prize in itself.

The following recent example from Jamie, one of the members of my coaching telegroup will give you a feel for the process:

Goal: I Want to stay away from shopping on the Internet in the next week. Although I paid for most of my Internet purchases over the holidays with my debit card, I bought things that I didn’t need. I’ve spent $300 on books of crochet patterns. A couple of novels at Amazon and some boots on sale.

1.How important is it to you to make this change-for example, to actually stay away from Internet shopping this week, on a 0-10 scale (0 = totally unimportant, 10 = essential)?       9

2. Why are you at a 9 and not a 0?

I’m tired of it, it’s not a joy, it’s a compulsion. I’m starting to feel so much better about myself and why would I want to treat myself negatively?

3.What would it take for you to go from this number to a higher number?

The only thing that would make it even more of a priority would be if I was in such a hole financially that I couldn’t even buy food.

4.How might you go about making this change?

There are still a few e-mails that come through with ads and I have to cancel those.

5. What would be a good first step?

Cancel the e-mails from Annie’s Attic, one from my make-up Bare Essentials, and book club e-mails.

6. What obstacles do you see and how might you deal with them?

My procrastination is an obstacle. I’m going to ask two friends to check in with mid-week to see how I’m doing with this goal.

7. How confident (0-10) are you that you can make this change this week?

10

8. What gives you this level of confidence?

Because I want to feel good and I deserve to feel good.

You can imagine that when you think through a goal and how you can meet it, using a technique like this, it’s much more likely that you actually will. Give yourself the gift of a motivational interview. You’re helping you help yourself!

By now we all know that a transaction need not occur within the walls of a store for it to be titled “shopping.” And no matter how clearly you know what you’re shopping for, there are always pressures to overshop. Shopping-at a mall, on the Internet, or even from a catalog-is almost guaranteed to stir up feelings and impulses. Mindful shopping can help in all of these cases.

The key to any successful, reasonable shopping experience is a plan for each shopping trip you make. Whether the trip’s virtual or physical, whether you’re sitting or standing, you need to provide yourself with guidelines to help yourself maintain control of your shopping desires, and your money. If you’re shopping on the internet or by phone, keep the specific plan open beside you. If you’re shopping away from home, have your plan with you and review it before you begin.

This plan should always start with a list of the specific items you intend to purchase. Once this list is complete, evaluate the necessity of each item on your list and assign each item a score and if the item seems totally unnecessary, give it a zero, if it’s somewhat necessary, give it one-third, very necessary, give it two-third, and if it’s essential, give it a 1. Items with low scores should be seriously reconsidered. Then note where you’ll shop, how long you’ll shop for and finally, write down what you can comfortably afford for each item and what the maximum amount you are willing to spend on this is. Make sure you take your plan with you and make sure you look at it!

As far as the logistics of your purchase, each venue requires different treatment. For brick-and-mortar shopping, think through the route you’ll take-to the mall, through the mall, and through the store-so you can avoid dangerously tempting departments. Regardless of where you plan to shop, you need to limit browsing time: the longer you browse, the more you’ll buy. Allot yourself a certain amount of time to spend in a store, or to find your particular item within the store. After you have found the item but before you complete the purchase-take a “mindful pause.” Walk away from or put down your item(s), or have the salesperson or the person you’re shopping with hold it, and then find a place to sit. Then ask yourself why you’re there, how you feel, whether you need the item or not, how you’ll pay for it, and where you’ll put it. Unless you can answer those questions satisfactorily, don’t buy the item.

If you’re shopping on the internet or by phone, keep you plan open beside you. Write down which sites you’ll visit and/or which keywords you’ll search. This is your digital “map”. Once you’ve located your item online, sit down in a peaceful place away from the computer. This is your mindful pause at home, which gives you the choice to buy or not to buy and helps you to become aware that you have a choice. Ask yourself the same questions noted above.

After this entire process, if you’re satisfied that this is a purchase you need and can afford, go head and purchase the item. Remember, cash, check or debit card only! Immediately after the purchase, review your experience. If you were shopping in a mall or in a store, take note as soon as you get home. How well did you follow through with your plan? Was this a successful, mindful shopping experience or do you need to reconsider this purchase and giving yourself better limits next time? If your plan went awry, what could you do differently next time?

If you did well, reward yourself! Encourage the behavior you’re trying to make habit by reaffirming that you have done a good job with some non-material reward. Take a walk in a garden, take a long bath- do something for you, something that makes your heart sing. Rewarding experiences that cost you nothing abound and reinforce the wise old adage that the best things in life are free.

Ours is largely a culture of spur-of-the-moment, impulsive, recreational, mindless shopping; we typically put about as much conscious thought into it as we do into digesting. With the current economic crisis, now more than ever its crucial to stay emotionally centered and mindful-of what you plan to buy, of what you can comfortably afford to spend, of what you’re responding to, and above all, of who you are and what really matters to you. By now we all know that a transaction need not occur within the walls of a store for it to be “shopping.” And no matter how clearly you know what you’re shopping for, there are always pressures to overshop. Shopping-at a mall, on the Internet, or even from a catalog-is almost guaranteed to stir up feelings and impulses. Mindful shopping can help in all of these cases.

The key to any successful, reasonable shopping experience is a plan for each shopping trip you make. Whether the trip’s virtual or physical, guidelines must be set in order to maintain control of shopping desires, and your money. If you’re shopping on the internet or by phone, keep the specific plan open beside you. If you’re shopping away from home, have your plan with you and review it before you begin. This plan should always start with a list of the specific items that you intend to purchase. Once this list is complete, evaluate the necessity of each item on your list and assign each item a score. If the item seems totally unnecessary, it gets a zero, if it’s somewhat necessary, it’s at one-third, very necessary, two-third, and if it’s essential, it should be a 1. Any items with low scores should be seriously reconsidered. Then note where you’ll shop, how long you’ll shop for, who you’ll shop with, who you’ll shop for, and finally, what you can comfortably afford.

As far as the logistics of purchases, each venue requires different treatment. For brick-and-mortar shopping, think through the route you’ll take-to the mall, through the mall, and through the store-so dangerously tempting departments or sidetrips can be avoided. Regardless of where you plan to shop, limit your browsing time: the longer you browse, the more you’ll buy. Allocate a certain amount of time to spend in a store, or to find your particular item within the store. But before you make any purchase, there’s always time for a “mindful pause.” This mindful pause is key to creating space between your impulse and the action of buying. Walk away from the item or put it down; you make even have a salesperson hold it. Then find a place to sit. This is the time to ask yourself and answer (preferably in writing), these six key questions:

• Why am I here?
• How do I feel?
• Do I need this?
• What if I wait?
• How will I pay for it?
• Where will I put it?

If you’re shopping on the internet or by phone, keep you plan open beside you. Write down which sites you’ll visit and/or which keywords you’ll search. This is your digital “map”. Once you’ve located your item online, sit down in a peaceful place away from the computer. This is your mindful pause at home, which gives you the choice to buy or not to buy and helps you to become aware that you have a choice. Ask yourself the same questions noted above.

Then, only make the purchase if you’re very certain that it’s something you need and can afford. Use cash, check or debit card only! Immediately after the purchase, review the experience. If you were shopping in a mall or in a store, take note as soon as you get home. How well was the plan carried out? Was this a successful, mindful shopping experience or does you need to reconsider this purchase and maybe return it? If the plan went awry, what can you do differently next time to make your plan more likely to succeed?

If your shopping trip went according to plan, reward yourself! Reinforce your behavior so that it becomes a habit by acknowledging what you’ve done with some non-material reward. Take a walk in a garden, take a long bath, do something for you, something that makes your heart sing. There are an infinite number of rewarding experiences that cost you nothing and highlight the wise old adage that the best things in life are not only free, but often priceless!

According to Trinny and Susannah, the two stars of ITV1′s reality fashion show, now in its second season, Brits spend 30 billion pounds every year on clothing, much of which is never worn. In an effort to help British women who are compulsive buyers learn to spend their money more wisely and stop buying things they will never wear, they’ve opened a store and work with shopaholics right in the store. (By the way, if you’re wondering how they’ll ever make money this way, they also work with shopophobes and help them buy!). They also give master classes in creating a basic wardrobe, in an effort to prove that a handful of carefully selected, what they term “cornerstone” items yields many beautiful outfits.

Try on clothes before you leave the store.

An early episode followed Grethe, an avowed shopaholic, who never tries on her purchases before she leaves the store. Trinny works with Grethe, who picks up armfuls of clothing and is ready to purchase them. Under Trinny’s watchful eye, Grethe has to admit that half of what she’s chosen doesn’t suit her, leading to the realization that she’d save a bundle if she tried on her purchases before she made them.

Do you need the clothes now?

Susannah also questions her on some of the specific items, in this case, a bathing suit. It’s fall and Grethe has no vacation planned. Susannah to Grethe: “You don’t even know if you’re going on holiday yet. You’ve decided that you’re going on holiday so you can buy this haven’t you? You’ve thought, ‘I really want this bikini so I’m going to go and spend three grand on a holiday.’ You do it the other way around, you decide you’re going on holiday then you buy the swimsuit.”

Why am I here? How do I feel? Do I need this? What if I wait? How will I pay for it? Where will I put it? These questions are superimposed on a bunch of giant, colorful question marks.

But do these measures really work?

Under the experienced and loving tutelage of Trinny and Susannah, women are clearly getting something important. While the principles of “smart shopping,” crucial when shopping is in fact necessary, are certainly helpful and useful, every shopper must be wary.

What is smart shopping?

Don’t let the supportive connotations behind “smart shopping” validate compulsive or unnecessary purchases! A fail-safe technique to minimize overshopping is to ask yourself the following six questions and answer them, preferably in writing, before you buy.

1. Why am I here?
2. How do I feel?
3. Do I need this?
4. What if I wait?
5. How will I pay for it?
6. Where will I put it?