I love kinky boots.
I am a huge fan of Cyndi Lauper and have been enjoying her interviews while she is visiting Australia for the opening of her musical Kinky Boots. She is so unusual, authentic and talented. AND I love boots.
I collect boots and buy at least one pair each season. I live in the sub tropics so I can’t wear my boots all year round but I will wear them whenever the opportunity arises. I even have kinky gumboots for wet and muddy festivals, which is a regular occurrence here. Boots are my thing.
I find it excruciatingly hard to walk past any shoe store sale and say no to a pair of gorgeous boots at half price, but I do. I have learnt that I can suffer buyer’s remorse within hours if I make an impulse buy. And if I use my credit card for the purchase I am also reminded of my buyer’s remorse a month later, a double whammy. I work hard not to allow my emotions to drive my purchasing power.
For some of us spending money has become a tool to fill an emptiness or numb a pain. It even has a name, Retail Therapy. For me spending money isn’t therapy, neither are my other indulgences like eating chocolate or drinking wine. Shopping is enjoyable and fun but the activity isn’t going to help me feel any better about myself. I can have as big a hangover from shopping as I have from a bottle of wine or a box of chocolate.
I have learned some tricks to avoid the money hangover which include keeping track of my spending. My Xero app records my transactions directly from my bank account and I always know where my money is going. This keeps me aware of my spending habits and when I am buying unnecessary things. I try to never spend what I don’t have and my number one rule is no impulse buying on credit. My seasonal boot purchase is in my money purpose plan. I have trained myself to delay gratification and I save to buy that stunning pair of boots at the beginning of each season. Because I have planned for the purchase, money is always readily available and the purchase so much sweeter.
Do you use spending as a distraction from what is going on in your life? If so, explore the feelings behind your impulse to consume. What are you feeling in that moment? Loneliness, emptiness, overwhelm? In the moment that you are compelled to buy, ask yourself ‘Do I really need this?’ or ‘How will it enhance my life?’ You may even seek to investigate these feelings deeper by investing in yourself. Find a practitioner to usher you through the process of self-discovery.
As Cyndi says, ‘Girls just want to have fun.”
