Confessions of a Shopaholic

It was my birthday on Thursday (yay, me!) and I would have posted pics from going out to dinner, but everyone forgot their cameras!! Anyway, the meals were superb, the desserts - deluxe! It was at the Yanchep Inn. Man, I wish I could have photographed the dessert - berry fruit crumble, mmmm.

Anyway, one of my pressies was the book, Confessions of a Shopaholic,

and let me tell you, this book makes you realise how embarrassing it is to be someone who cannot control their spending. It was an absolute contrast to the Louise Bagshawe book I read the other day! The girl in the Shopaholic story would receive letters from Visa and different clothes stores, asking kindly to pay outstanding amounts, and even overdrafts, and her response would be to go out and buy a dress, or two pairs of boots, and a couple of magazines to make herself feel better! And she bought a cappucino and a muffin for breakfast EVERY morning!!

You know, I've always been a bit proud of the fact that I don't have to skimp and save, and don't really have to budget, but reading about this girl's pursuits, it makes me realise it is actually 'ditsy' to NOT budget and to not know exactly how much credit (or debt) you have at any one time. It's actually really embarrassing. And you would never want to sink to the depths of the girl in the story who lies her way into and out of every situation. You can't even feel sorry for her because of the lying. She's just not even likeable!

And while I, personally, am not a huge clothes and shoes buyer, my own confession of a shopaholic is that I have indulged in buying craft stuff lately (although that is supposed to be for making goods for an etsy shop) and I'm a bit of a sucker for DVD sales, magazines, home decorating items, and organic skincare. BUT I AM MAKING A RESOLUTION TO NEVER BE IGNORANT AND DITSY ABOUT MONEY ANYMORE!!! I'm glad I've had Jonathon to keep things in check for me all these years, but, hey, I really have to start to take on board all the lectures and advice that books, TV, magazines, and my Mum have been trying to give me for my whole adult life!

I'm going to make a concerted effort to tame my consumer self. So, let's see how this pans out...