Shopping Stress Away

I read this article that said when a person’s self-esteem is threatened they tend to buy more luxury items and they are also more willing to pay for these luxury items with credit instead of cash. The article was saying that spending cash upsets people because they don’t like to part with it so when people are all ready hurting they tend to use their credit card to spend money instead of using their cash. The article also says that luxury items repair a person’s self-esteem after it has been hurt by restoring that person’s sense of self-value.

This article was interesting but it made me sad when I read it. The points that this article brought out were all good points but they all hit to close to home. I don’t know if it is because I am a woman or because I am little extra sensitive, but I am such an emotional shopper. When I am upset about something when I am back home I head to my favorite mall and just hang out there all day. I have turned the mall into my little girl’s favorite place to be. Since I have been living here at school I have started online window shopping for hours. So I do agree with the findings in this article.

I agree that the findings are true but I don’t think it is the way it should be. In class we read a book called Telling Yourself the Truth that could help us emotional shoppers. In Telling Yourself the Truth it teaches how to recognize the lies and misbeliefs we tell ourselves and how to combat that with the truth. The misbeliefs in this situation are many. First I would tell myself and others that the misbelief of self-hate is a great place to start. It sounds a little harsh but the chapter will cover why we shouldn’t get our value from things. Also we maybe would need to take a look at the self control chapter to deal with our need to spend. Once we start living a life in the light of the truth the less need we will have to be an emotional shopper.