We often spend to potentially achieve happiness, but studies have actually found that the acquisition of stuff is not what makes us happy.
We often justify purchases with our current financial situation in mind. But what if your situation changed in an instant (which it can). If you lost your job tomorrow, would you still buy that $300 dress?
All shopping really is is a distraction. It’s a form of procrastination. We don’t typically call other forms of procrastination like…turning our phones off and drinking a bottle of wine therapy. We call that good old-fashioned procrastination. Yet, somehow, shopping snuck its way out of the procrastination category and into the therapy one. Maybe because we do it soberly (eh, well, not always. Mimosas and shopping go well together).
If your partner has an over-spending problem, you can help her with that by tagging along on the shopping trip. Budgeting together makes you a stronger couple. And you can talk some sense into your partner about that $200 sweater.