Shopping, is undoubtedly the favourite activity of many Malaysian’s There’s no denying how great it feels to be able to spend your hard-earned money on the things you want. It can be such an awesome stress-reliever, too!

However, is there such a thing as too much shopping? Turns out, it was a big enough problem for a term to be coined: Omniomania, which refers to a shopping addiction, could be what you have if you start noticing these tell-tale signs.

You Overspend Every Month

You get your salary and you start to allocate your expenses accordingly. However, before you know it, you are at the mall spending more than you should and dangerously dipping into your other budgeted expenses.

Hey, sometimes these things happen! But if you find yourself in the same situation repeatedly month after month, then you might have fallen victim to the dreaded shopping addiction.

Overspending can also cause financial struggle especially when you buy using credit cards and are not able to pay it back in full every month.

You’ve Become a Compulsive Buyer

You’re prone to buying everything in sight, even the things you may never use ! That 15th pair of shoes, sixth handbag, or a fourth smartphone… you get the idea.

Ask yourself this, do you find yourself buying items you have no use for just for the sake of buying? Do you have a drawer full of knick-knacks that you’ve forgotten you even owned?

Whilst we all do purchase nice items we don’t necessarily need on occasion – it’s a different ballgame altogether if you are buying items you know you never really will have use for: such as a state of the art set of pots and pans when you can’t even cook maggi right (and have no real intention of learning!) but the darn thing looks so good on your kitchen counter.

Lying Or Hiding Your Shopping Habits

Do you feel the need to lie to your family and friends about what you buy and how much you spend when you were out shopping?This may be another sign that your spending has gotten out of hand.

If you have to lie to cover up your shopping habits, it’s a possible sign you’re spending more money than even you know you should and the impulse to lie about it crops up.

You Feel Guilty After Shopping But Do It Anyway

Let’s face it, shopping can make you feel good. However, if you find these feelings of euphoria are usually short lived and followed by feelings of guilt, anger or sadness, that could be an initial sign that you have a shopping problem.

You could have a big problem to deal with, if despite these feelings, you rationalise your purchases and go out to shop again!

Shopping Wrecks Your Relationships

It’s bad enough to have to lie to your family and friends about your shopping habits but by keeping them in the dark and maybe even to the point of borrowing money from them to secretly feed your shopping needs, can put strain in your relationships.

If your shopping is in any way harming your cherished relationships; whether through the lies; the use of money that was meant for the collective household; or just to the point your loved ones need to bail you out of financial messes – it’s seriously time to make a change.

A Shopping Spree vs a Shopping Problem

Everyone has shopping sprees once in a while and it doesn’t mean you necessarily have a problem. To differentiate between a spree and a problem, consider the following differences:

1. A shopping spree leads to excessive purchases as well but with the necessary funds to do so while a shopping problem is usually done without any sufficient funds for it.
2. A shopping spree is an occasional thing while a shopping problem is a routine action.
3. A shopping spree usually takes place around a special holiday or designated times a year when you know you will be getting the things you need while a shopping problem means you buy pretty much any time and all the time.

What other qualities do you think constitutes a shopping problem? Do you know anyone with one? Let us know in the comments section!

 

• TAGS:
• Addiction
• Shopping