I admit it.

I am a compulsive shopper. I like to shop. I like to buy things. I buy things I don't need. I am known for spending upwards of $80 at Borders when "passing some time." Shopping is a great cure for my boredom. But my bank account doesn't like it so much. 

Now, to illustrate this point, let's take a look at my shopping trip to Target today. First, I go to a coinstar to trade in my coins for cash. Yes, they charge for this. About 8.9 cents per dollar. In the end, it was worth it to me because I don't like wrapping my coins and dealing with the bank. If I was cashing a large quantity of coins, though, I would make the investment. (Because if you cash 100 dollars of coins, you're losing nearly $10!) 

Then, I find the things on my list:

1. Fiber Bars- Oats and Peanut Butter (I actually buy the generic "Market Pantry" kind, but couldn't find a picture)

2. Mott's Natural Applesauce (Natural just means no sugar added. It's about half the sugar as the "original") 
3. Skippy Reduced Fat Super Chunk. YUM. Love me some chunky peanut butter.
4. Yoplait Yogurt- Strawberry Banana (These cost 52 cents each at Target-- compared to 1.09 at Albertsons, hence why I'd rather shop at the former. Not to mention Target has CLOTHES and oodles of other fun things to tempt me!)
Alright. So that's all fine and dandy. Now I have snack bars and breakfast foods and peanut butter for my toast for the week. But, I want to take a stroll around the store. (Typical compulsive shopper behavior.) So, lets take a look now at the types of things that I look at.

1. Sports Bras (So, I only glance at these, because even at the price of 14.99, I know I can't afford one.) I am allowed to at least ponder this one, because I actually NEED one. 

2. After seeing the sports bras, I guess my psychological thinking is to find something cheaper that fills my desire to buy one. (This is my psych 101 for you.) So, I go to the fitness aisle, and come across a cute pink sweatband. (It wasn't nike, but it was certainly hot pink!) 
3. Next to the sweatband, I see a jumprope. It's around 3 or 4 dollars. I've been wanting to jump rope lately, but I left my jumprope (along with all the rest of my workout stuff) at home. So, I weigh the sweatband against the jumprope and decide the latter is more practical and useful to me. I put it in my basket. (Yay! .......No, no, no!!) 
4. So, I'm heading to the checkout. Seriously, I AM! I just take a sweep of the movie section before getting there! I see one of my favorites is on sale for $6.50!!! For a minute, I debate. I could leave the jump rope, and have enough to buy the movie. Hmmm. Will I watch it? Yeah. Is it worth $6.50? Sure. But then I tell myself it's on TV all the time, I watched it only a month ago, and someday I will buy it when I'm not so poor and want to watch it. I want to go to London, don't I? Every penny counts. 

5. Lastly, I see this Double Feature: A Little Princess and The Secret Garden! AHH! Now both of these movies were favorites of mine as a child. They are classics from the 90's! If it hadn't been for the price (13 something), I would've SNAGGED it! I mean, sheesh, forget about London! This is important! Every time I see it, I want to buy it, for the pure sake of holding onto my childhood. I could watch those movies over and over.  

Finally, I hesitantly put the movies down and head to the checkout. I stand in line behind a woman who apparently likes (what I like to call) the "mini's section." Ya know, the one with all the travel size everythings? She had 34 dollars worth of mini first aid kids, nail clippers, chapstick, shampoo, conditioner, etc. And as I am standing there,  I look down at my potential purchases. Looking at the jumprope, I wonder, "Why would I buy something I already have?" Yes, it is pretty cheap, and yes, I would use it (at least temporarily), but I put it down on the shelf with other last minute rejects. I might need those few dollars while I'm in Maryland!

When the cashier rings me up and says my total is $7.17, I can't help but feel pleasantly surprised. I leave with only the things I needed, that I had planned to get. Okay, yes, I wandered the store for an extra 15 minutes of my life, but point is-- I didn't buy the jumprope, or the pink sweatband, or any candy at the register (alright, so the only thing that stopped me from buying a milky way is my lent commitment, but ANYWAY!)  

I'm Bri and I am a recovering shopaholic. 

(and my mom owns three vacuums :]  )