Introduction

Shopaholic as defined by Webster's Dictionary , "one who is extremely or excessively fond of shopping." The definition seems harmless enough, right? To further elaborate, Webster's Dictionary also states "The word alcoholic refers to someone who has a serious disorder. Addictive shopping can be a serious disorder too, but the word shopaholic is most often used playfully to suggest mere excess rather than true addiction. Shopaholic first appeared in print in 1977. It was formed on the model of alcoholic, which was itself created many years earlier by combining alcohol with -ic, meaning "of or relating to." People evidently saw a parallel between someone addicted to alcohol and someone "addicted" to shopping."

I am venturing on a series about how I reformed my shopaholic ways...

Part 1 - Deciding To make a Change

Part 2 - Cleaning up and Getting Organized

Part 3 - Maintaining

I will share my personal struggles with emotional shopping . I was a firm advocate of retail therapy, was the best therapy. My marriage ended in 2015, partly due of my spending habits, that is when it became evident I needed to face my issues head on. I also had to re-evaluate my spending, to properly run my household as a newly divorced mom. I worked on discovering the root causes of my emotional shopping habits. I had to organize and purge to get a clear sense of where I stood. And lastly, I came up with habits to maintain my new mindset.