Shopping addiction has many forms

I have just looked over what I have spent on comics and comic art this year. I have just spent an hour trying to work out where my mistake was. I was sure I could not have spent nearly that amount.

No wonder my business has been having cash flow problems.

Paypal was the issue. If on credit card my wife would query it, but move it through paypal via the business and away I went.

I don't regret much of what I bought, which I guess is part of the problem, as although I am very happy with it piece by piece nothing has given me the buzz I got from the first cover art I bought. I guess I am still looking for it.

New Year resolution is that I will only chase exactly what I need for the collection and stop getting distracted by similar stuff and I will set a cap.

oh and the fact that I checked and found I have 40 comic boxes plus maybe 500 other comics bringing it out to around 5,000 - well that belongs in a hoarding forum I guess.

of course I could just throw some out - but that would never happen

Limiting your spending to only completing the collection is good if that's practical. It's good to know that you've recognized the issue and are setting a goal to correct it.

Adding my thumbs up for having a plan .

If throwing anything out is not an option , what about re-selling the ones you feel are less important to your collection ?

The money may not be huge , but it will take some of the load off of the storage situation .

NewSunRising wrote:

If throwing anything out is not an option , what about re-selling the ones you feel are less important to your collection ?

but it will take some of the load off of the storage situation .

yep and it helps a lot. The damm thing with that art, is it takes no room. I have 4,500 comics, maybe 1,000 magazines and boxes of car literature. The car stuff, mags and literature has been on ebay now for 2 years and I record the sales. I cannot believe it when I look back over it. I basically had my spare office here FULL of boxes, and boxed under desks on top of cupboards in the stationary room. My son, told me "mum hoards, but you do too, the difference is that your stuff is worth something", thereby I call myself a collector (another word for a hoarder with a plan)

I have started yesterday selling some comics. The plan is to unload the newer stuff maybe 500 by year end. No decent buyers for that lot, then given them away or junk them.

The problem with that art is that it is worth as much as my Comics. Spent 35 years buying comics and bingo one year spent more than they are worth, on art.

Anyway I have stopped now. Only certain stuff will be added, and I just hope I can stick to it. I have found a new thing to get into, so hopefully it will provide the distraction I always need.

and thank you very much for the feedback. I think having a plan, and doing something about it, is often the most positive thing we can.

I have not bought any new "stuff", for almost four weeks.

Today there was an ebay auction going off for something I have an interest in. It was not on my "list", but I have collected similar things that were.

maybe I could just make a small bid

maybe it should be bigger, it is really pretty nice

later while driving to work,

damm, I did not check the detail. Is it full inks or blue line (a cheaper version)

It must be full inks, after all last week he wanted $$$ for it.

damm, maybe that is why it did not sell, maybe others checked and it was a blueline

maybe I can cancel my bid, do I have time

and I missed it thankfully

and as soon as I realised I had done that my reaction was .... "I should have bid more"

oh well almost a month, now lets see if I can roll it into two

Nearly 6 weeks. An art piece came up today that is exactly what I collect. I checked prices content and then set a limit, and I lost. Was under bidder.

Happy to save that money for something better. For a year I had been in a must win, mode no matter how much. I seem to have found some balance.

That's a great update Terri .

Regaining that kind of control is a really positive gain . I used have collections - vinyl records and pins ( the novelty ones with sayings on them ) . As my collections grew larger and larger , it occurred me one day that once I was gone , who was going to want all this stuff ? Who was going to be stuck with getting rid of it ?

I was the only one who really valued the stuff and it had gotten to the point where I didn't really even pay attention to what I already had - my focus was always on the items I didn't possess yet .

Do you think it would help to stay away from Ebay for a while ? I'm sure that checking it regularly has become a habit , but it may be that doing so is triggering your " Need to have it " feelings .

Good progress though - I hope your sense of balance continues to grow !

I was wondering about avoiding it altogether, but maybe my favorite piece and certainly best value was a buy it now item I grabbed first morning. I know this stuff is out there but I am trying to really focus now. There is a huge (collectable) piece coming up at Heritage next month. One of the reasons I was able to let this one slide but I have now focused on maybe three things and will be patient.

I am finding if I drag out my stuff occasionally and look through it, I am less likely to want more.

If I focus hard enough I reckon I can go maybe years without pulling the pin. Hopefully transition form hoarder to collector.

Also sorted through a lot of my 6,000 comics and started selling this month. I find I enjoy the selling almost as much as buying. Kind of the reverse buzz from auctions.

Terry E. wrote: I find I enjoy the selling almost as much as buying. Kind of the reverse buzz from auctions.

With the added bonus of making a profit .

I was the same way when I quit gambling and tackled my debt - nearly 30K . I became fanatical about paying it off and got a sweet surge of happiness every time I sent a big chunk of my paycheck to my credit card company .

It took me nearly 2 years . That last payment gave me a high that lasted for days . I floundered a little after it was paid off . I need to adjust to living without the "rush" , be it from gambling , or from digging myself out of a financial hole .

I am trying now to normalize the role that money plays in my life - It has been far too important to me for the past 10 years , it was the center around which my life revolved .

Balance . That's what I'm working towards .

You sound like you finding some . That's a huge achievement .

Terry, good for you that you are selling the items. I am still at a point that I cannot give away or sell my stuff. I buy good stuff (name brand kitchen stuff) and I am going to start dealing with the "Do I really need it?" question. It is very hard to get rid of it. I like it all so much. I've given things away in the past and I have regretted it because I did wish I had it later so I could use it. I would not buy it again, though, it is too expensive. It was a rotisserie chicken and baking small electric oven type of thing. Can't remember the name. I just spent so much money. Part of me isn't regretful. But another part of me is because I didn't need 5 types of eyeshadows. Or so many kitchen gadgets just because...(for no reason). I refuse to hire an organizing person (we don't have the money) and I would not want to be told to get rid of stuff. I still cannot part with my things. I have made a little bit of progress, I got rid of most of my makeup and went and got me only what I needed for Christmas. It all fits in this one container. I had hundreds of dollars if not a couple thousand of money spent on makeup. *sigh* I am currently tackling my kitchen issue. Reorganizing, putting away things I will use later but can store in a plastic bin. Like for example, party trays. I don't have many parties but I like to know I have them in case I need them, so I will store that. I am a work in progress.