A FORMER shopaholic has revealed that she would go shopping every single day and would splash almost half of her monthly pay check on her shopping addiction.
Eden Ashley, 33, from Toronto, Canada, is now a professional blogger and content creator who has her own online business at Mint Notion, but things haven’t always been this way.
Eden is a former shopaholic, who would once spend hundreds of pounds every single month on clothes, shoes and handbags.
At the time, Eden was working at an investment firm in accounting and administration and was making just over $38,000 [£24,159] per year.
But she revealed that she would use her lunch breaks to go shopping, spend hundreds of pounds on items she didn’t need and would even make her boyfriend Sam (now husband), take her on a four-hour round trip to get her shopping fix.
Eden told Fabulous: “I would spend around $1,000+ [£635+] a month while earning an entry-level salary – it was almost half my pay check on shopping and random stuff.
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“I bought mostly clothing, shoes, and handbags.
“I loved shoes and I had over 50 pairs of shoes at one point.
“I had no savings and lived paycheck to paycheck at the time”.
Eden revealed that her husband would drive her two hours away and two hours home to fulfill her shopping fix.
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She explained: “My boyfriend Sam (now husband) would drive me to the USA just to go shopping.
“The USA stores had more selection and offered better prices than in Canada.
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“I had a US mailbox where I could ship items from US stores to a US-based address.
“It took around 2 hours to drive there to pick up my purchases”.
But it wasn’t just in-person shopping that Eden loved – she was hooked on online shopping too.
She explained that she would shop online every single day while at work and would stay up until midnight browsing online.
She said: “I would shop during my lunch hour at work every day.
“I was addicted to the daily deal websites where they would share new deals during lunch time.
“I often skipped lunch in order to save money and used that time to go shopping.
“I would shop online or browse the stores near the office I worked at.
“I would also stay up late shopping after I got home from work – some nights, I would stay up until midnight browsing shopping apps and sites”.
Eden explained that she always felt the need to have new outfits and barely ever wore the same outfit more than twice in a month.
She continued: “I felt like I couldn't wear the same dress or outfit at work more than twice a month due to social pressure.
“One time, I wore the same blouse three times in a month, because I really liked it, and a girl at work pointed it out to me.
“I felt so self-conscious, which led me to shop and buy more stuff”.
I often skipped lunch in order to save money and used that time to go shopping.
Eden would get her online shopping orders delivered to her workplace so that she could hide them from her family members.
She said: “I would get items delivered to my work because I didn't want anyone at home to find out I was buying more stuff.
“I was good at hiding it from my colleagues too.
“I loved fast fashion stores like H&M and Zara because it was affordable.
“But I quickly began to realise the quality of the clothes were not good and started investing in higher-end brands/designer brands”.
Eden explained that she used shopping as a way to cope with the stress of her 9-5 life.
She added: “I used retail therapy for years to cope with stress, which left me feeling unsatisfied and frustrated about my finances.
“After being burnt out from the 9 to 5 life, it seemed like scrolling and buying stuff to make me happy was the easiest solution.
“I thought having a big wardrobe would make me more likeable, happier, confident, and help me land that job promotion.
“I bought so much stuff that I never wore, or didn't even like.
“I just bought it because it was on sale, or I thought I might need it someday – those just in case items – but I never ended up wearing or using them.
“I literally had storage bins full of shoes, handbags, and clothes. It was nuts!
“But this left me with no savings and immense feelings of guilt.
“I was getting further and further away from the life I wanted to live, and I didn't understand why”.
I thought having a big wardrobe would make me more likeable, happier, confident, and help me land that job promotion.
Eden explained that that is when she realised that she knew she had a shopping problem.
She admitted: “I shopped to cope with my negative emotions – stress, low self-esteem, boredom.
“I loved the ‘high’ I got when making a purchase, but then I felt regret and sadness after realising how much money I spent.
“I had tons of items in my closet with the price tag still attached and items that I’d forgotten about.
“I often bought things I didn’t need or didn’t plan to buy – I was easily tempted whenever I saw items on social media, especially if they were on sale”.
But Eden decided once and for all that she needed to put an end to her shopping addiction and since ditching her habit, she has been able to save hundreds of thousands of pounds.
She went on to say: “My family and husband told me to stop buying so much stuff.
“I wanted to quit my shopping addiction so I could finally regain control of my money.
“I was able to save $35,000 [£22,251] on an entry-level salary so I could quit my job – it took me just over two years to save the money.
“I created a budget for myself and tried to stick to it as much as possible. Some months were better than others.
“Deciding to quit my job and go back to school put things into perspective for me and helped me quit the shopping habit.
“I went to Edinburgh Business School to do my MBA and during school, I started a blog to help other women who want to regain control of their finances and this helped me to save $100,000 [£63,576] by my mid-twenties.
“Now I no longer have the desire to shop for things I don't need or constantly buy random things.
“I'm more deliberate and intentional about my spending”.
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If you feel as though you have a shopping addiction and want to call it quits, Eden has shared her top three tips to putting a stop to the addiction.
She advised: “First, you want to give yourself some grace. Beating yourself up for overspending isn’t going to make you feel better or help you move forward.
“Remember, you can decide to think, choose and act differently today in a way that supports you in becoming closer to who you want to be.
“Second, you'll want to remove the temptation to shop. It’s hard to overcome a shopping problem when you continue to put yourself in environments that encourage you to shop and spend money.
“This means unsubscribing from store emails, deleting shopping apps off your phone, deleting saved payment information from sites to make it more inconvenient to buy stuff, and unfollowing social media accounts that tempt you to shop.
“And finally, replace your current habit of shopping with a new habit or behaviour that serves you better.
“You can do this by setting a goal that you want to achieve, such as paying off debt or saving up for something big like a vacation.
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“Create a realistic budget for yourself that aligns with your goal and find new hobbies that interest you.
“Of course, you want to make sure that those hobbies are not too expensive”.
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