How much is considered binge spending?

Question

Okay everybody I think I have a problem.

I am 19 years old, and everytime I go out to a store, I have to buy any little thing that interests me. Most of the time, when I get home I sit and wonder, why did I buy this Junk?!?!

Before jumping to conclusions, I pay all my bills in FULL. I am not delinquent pay or anything.

-and I dont buy knick knacks. I buy clothing, sunglasses, anything. Basically apparel. The problem is, that I dont buy crappy wal mart stuff, I go to Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Nordstrom, you name it.

My monthly American Express Charge card bill is anywhere between 8-10K, where 4 months ago or so, it was at about 3k.

I honestly think I am getting out of hand.

I make about 14K monthly, and Im scared that eventually I will be spending MORE than I am making!

I am not joking around, and I am serious. Is there any thing I can do to help?

Thanks Always in Advance...

Answer 1

The root question is why you're doing this - clearly it's not that you need the stuff, so what are you getting out of these impulse purchases? Often, we impulse-buy because something else is missing in our lives that we can't get, and we think that getting "that thing" (whatever it is) will give us a feeling of satisfaction - which it does, for about five minutes.

We don't have enough information to know what you might be looking for (and anyone who'd try to analyze you over the internet shouldn't be trusted anyway ;D), but I suggest a few sessions with a counselor - you can certainly afford it, and it'd be wise to get on top of this before it REALLY gets out of hand.

If caught in the early stages, a problem like this can often be cleared up in a few sessions, simply by raising awareness of the underlying process. The longer you wait, the deeper the behavior will be entrenched (and, if you wait too long, the deeper you will be in depth), so better to grab the bull by the horns now. :)

Answer 2

'I honestly think I am getting out of hand.' & 'Im scared that eventually I will be spending MORE than I am making!' if you have this feeling, you're still under control, time to cut back, save for the rainning day(huge flood), i too have this problem, normally i'll pick up an item, walk around the store once or twice very soon i'll just return it back to the shelf, gives you time to changed your mind about that purchased, afetr awhile, i goes to the store to buy only what i need, i still enjoys window shopping whitout any purchases which i later regreted