Blooming in Finance

Multiple closets of clothes, rows and rows of shoes, bundles upon bundles of hair extensions and we still don’t have enough! For many of us, the more we have, the more we want. Our closets are just bulging and overflowing, yet we never feel contented. We’re constantly bombarded with shopping ads as we scroll our social media pages. We’re being baited to buy the latest trend in fashion or the studded shoes that are sure to turn heads. The urge to just buy one more pair of shoes just doesn’t seem to leave us, and we sit and mentally justify reasons to buy them.  

The question is- when is enough- enough?  

I speak from personal experience because I constantly battle with the addiction to shop; and I had to ask myself, will I ever feel contented? Girls, if you struggle with a shopping addiction like me, we must ask ourselves why? 

What is the root cause for our need to constantly shop? I sat quietly one day after feeling guilty from some shopping I had just done to do some self-inventory. I knew I had a problem and had to explore my why.  

As I sat and pondered on this question, it didn’t take long to answer it. I found that it steamed from childhood. You know those teenage years when our “drip” had to be as nice as our friends. Well, that wasn’t the case for me, and I remember how it affected me emotionally. I remember how alone and different I felt because I didn’t dress like everyone else.   

I can remember wearing my friend’s hand-me-down outfits in elementary and middle school. Our parents were close friends and gifting used clothing was normal. I was from a large family and finances were usually tight. I can rarely remember really enjoying the clothing I wore. The high school years got a little better, but I just never felt normal.   

 In my adult years after getting married, things changed again. I recall when my boys were toddlers and only two years apart in age; I just sort of got into a frumpy slump. I wore a lot of black and brown and didn’t put a lot of effort into my appearance.    

As years progressed, my finances increased and I came out of the slump. However, for some reason I felt like I had to compensate myself for all of the nice clothes and shoes I didn’t have in the earlier years. It’s like a switch turned on and I became a “girlie girl”. All of a sudden, I had to keep up and dress according to the current season’s trend.  Before I knew it, my credit cards were telling me a story. They were telling me I had a problem. While we should care about our appearance and put our best foot forward in life, girls, we must find balance when it comes to our spending. Regardless to if we are using cash or credit; we must get a handle on our finances. Becoming whole in our finances is just as important as our health, businesses and relationships. If we are overspending and not saving, we are headed for financial ruin regardless of how well we excel in other areas of our lives.