It is a fact if you spend more than you earn, you will never be rich or happy because you have to be happy poor, to be happy rich! Debt is the biggest cause of misery and crime in this “want it now regardless” culture we have created through over consumption and greed.
Does what we have materially, make us who we are in reality? No is the answer and if you think any different you will never be happy or satisfied because someone will always out do you. Of course it’s nice to buy yourself something new if it’s something you really love and can afford to buy. The secret to getting what you want, is still wanting after you’ve got it. Buying an expensive frock because you saw Cheryl Cole in it on the red carpet and thought she looked amazing, is pointless because unless you live her lifestyle, chances are you will never wear it. Going into credit card land, a place where plastic is fantastic and will do nicely, to purchase a dress you will never wear and spend forever paying off, is a sure signal you are a shopaholic and need help. You cannot buy your life in a shop, on any credit card or by becoming someone else and that is a fact. If you buy a new sofa today and don’t have to pay for it for a year, by the time the payments start, you will be over the sofa and in debt, desperate to keep up with the Jones' by purchasing a brand new sofa. Go figure. It makes no sense.
If you are watching TV ads and spend your life day dreaming over celebrity magazines about a life of long lashes, long nails, fast cars, Caribbean holidays and St Tropez tans, it’s time to wake up, especially if you are unemployed or still live with your parents. It’s good to think big, have dreams and aspirations but they all have to be attainable in order to succeed in creating a sustainable lifestyle long term, not just in the moment or your mind. Anything you cannot afford to pay for with cash is out of your price range and not worth going into debt for, no matter how much you think you need to buy it. If you are stuck in a life with no way out because the odds are against you, nothing you buy will change this, only force you to sink deeper in to debt.
Saving money, smart shopping and developing your unique talent is the route to your happiness, providing all the motivation you need to fulfil your dreams and desires outside your shopping addiction.
Shopping addiction is like all other addictions, a quick fix in the moment with more remorse than reward in the long term, leading you back to square one every time until the next time.
It’s time to get off the shopping treadmill and reflect on the state of your finances right now before it’s too late to rectify, replenish and restore a more manageable, balanced reality you can sustain.
If you cannot imagine your life being worth living without the lift from shopping, make up, fashion, luxury lifestyle, five star everything, don’t despair Venus Cow will show you how to have it all on a budget. The Hollywood Look For Less has been created from tried and tested top tips in order to keep you from having to go cold turkey on your shopping addiction.
So in between the bashings of brutal truth, common sense life coaching based on my experience of self talk and self mastery to lead you to mastering yourself, your behaviour and your life, get inspired by mastering a champagne lifestyle on a tap water budget just like me.
You will be amazed by changing the way you think about things how much those things change and how much money you will save in the process.
There truly is a way to have it all, even with no money. You just have to change. As all great ex shopaholics insist “buy new and the joke is on you.”
Photo by Blake Bronstad