For some people, shopping is a hobby, sometimes even their only hobby. Today, it’s even easier to be sucked into a shopping spree with online stores at your fingertips and nonstop influence from social media. This can be very problematic for a multitude of reasons. First of all, you’re spending money, LOTS of it, maybe money that you don’t have to spend. Additionally, you’re attracting clutter, because if you’re shopping all the time, there’s no way you can use all of it. So, think about this– if shopping is your hobby, it’s time to find a replacement.
I had a client who over-shopped during the pandemic, to the point where she filled rooms with stuff. Eventually, she called me and told me that it became a huge and unbearable problem. When we talked through her home, she realized that she wasn’t shopping for the sake of shopping but because she was lonely. She was missing the connection she had before the pandemic. I asked her if there is anything else she can do, another way to connect without the shopping. She told me that she loves playing bridge and that she could probably reach out to her friends to start playing, and I jumped on that immediately! I told her to call them right then and there, prompting her husband to pop in to say that he’d drive her there. She gave her bridge friends a call on the spot and her life changed immensely. Once she started playing bridge again, she connected with her community and built herself back up, and all of a sudden the shopping slowed down. She was finally able to fill that void with something that was sustainable and didn’t weigh down her home or her mind.
If shopping is your only hobby, maybe you should rethink what you can do with your time. Can you reach out to your friends for a weekly dinner? What about asking someone to go on a morning walk with you? Find a hobby that focuses on something other than spending money. Remember, your stuff can’t love you back!
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