Why does it feel so good to shop?

ScrimpAndSave · #1 (**permalink**) 12-13-2008, 06:49 PM

Maybe I should rephrase that...why does it make me feel so good to shop?

I've really cut down on my spending. Even with my grocery shopping - I plan what I am going to have for the next two weeks, but it, and I don't allow myself back to the grocery store until the two weeks are through.

I'm finished with my Christmas shopping and I don't need to buy anyone anything else. I had a major urge to shop today, so I went to the dollar store and spent $12. I bought mostly necessities (and 2 boxes of instant cappucino). I do feel a tab guilty, but I definitely had the money and I got a lot of stuff that I needed.

I don't know why I always loved spending money. Of course, I love to see it add up in my ING account, too. But there is something strangely cleansing about shopping...

GrimJack · #2 (**permalink**) 12-13-2008, 08:33 PM

Maybe it is your hunter/gatherer genes responding to the closest they get to proper functioning.

MoneyTrev · #3 (**permalink**) 12-13-2008, 11:21 PM

Is it because you feel you have money?

I know some people that just go shopping once they think they have money.

mrpaseo · #4 (**permalink**) 12-13-2008, 11:53 PM

Oniomania.

Please look this up.
Ray

ScrimpAndSave · #5 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 05:25 AM

MrPaseo...I don't think it is an addictive thing. I don't know, maybe not. I guess I start to feel a little stir crazy and just want to go and look around and pick up a few things.

I dunno...maybe it is an addiction...but I don't think I would have been able to save up $15,000 in 9 months if I had that disorder! Haha!

kork13 · #6 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScrimpAndSave

MrPaseo...I don't think it is an addictive thing. I don't know, maybe not. I guess I start to feel a little stir crazy and just want to go and look around and pick up a few things.

I dunno...maybe it is an addiction...but I don't think I would have been able to save up $15,000 in 9 months if I had that disorder! Haha!

Actually, it can be just as real as a drug addiction. Best comparison is to Cocaine. Chemically, shopping (or more accurately, the anticipation of buying something you will enjoy in some way) releases dopamine into your brain, which is a neurotransmitter related to pleasure, excitement, passion, etc. The presence of dopamine in the brain gives you pleasure, and your brain learns that shopping leads to pleasure. Thus, you want to do it so that you can experience that same pleasure again. Same thing with cocaine... it keeps dopamine in the brain longer, thereby enhancing its effect... really, a coke addict is addicted to pleasure rather than the drug itself (unlike niccotine, for example).

As for saving, that's when your brain's higher functions (frontol lobe) such as reason, willpower, and the ability to think ahead overrides the impulse to seek that pleasure. Some people, however, simply do not use this ability of the higher brain, leading to the addicted shopper.

sorry for the science lesson. just some interesting little tidbits on the technicalities behind it....

red92s · #7 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 09:01 AM

Honestly, I get just as big of a kick out of going to the mall, grabbing a coffee, walking around to stores and checking out the wares, and leaving with nothing but an empty coffee cup than I do when I actually buy stuff.

I guess I've just "turned the corner" on a lifestyle of saving money, and like saving more than I like spending now?

disneysteve · #8 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 09:41 AM

I think there can be something very satisfying about identifying a need and going out and purchasing the item. For example, a few months ago, I realized that I needed 2 new suits for my daughter's upcoming Bat Mitzvah (among other things). When I went to the store, picked out and bought the suits, it did give me a sense of accomplishment, one more thing I could check off my To Do list.

That is different than recreational shopping, though, shopping just for the sake of shopping. I'm not really one to do that a lot, though I will sometimes buy something I didn't set out to buy specifically. I think that as long as you are shopping responsibly, not going into debt or overspending and not buying a bunch of stuff you truly have no use for, it isn't a problem.

ScrimpAndSave · #9 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 09:41 AM

Kork, I think you misunderstood me. I believe that there are definitely people that are horribly addicting to shopping.

I am just saying that isn't me. If I don't go grocery shopping or window shopping for a few weeks, I love to get out and look around.

kork13 · #10 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScrimpAndSave

Kork, I think you misunderstood me. I believe that there are definitely people that are horribly addicting to shopping.

I am just saying that isn't me. If I don't go grocery shopping or window shopping for a few weeks, I love to get out and look around.

haha oh no, I didn't mean to say anything about you, or anyone else--sorry if I was unclear there... I was just more or less answering the original "why does it feel so good to shop?" question

ScrimpAndSave · #11 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 10:50 AM

I agree...and I think it has a lot to do with endorphins, too. At times, I can't help but think..."I work really hard...I earned it...I should be able to spend it."

That is part of it, too.

Gruntina · #12 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 10:55 AM

I think for some people, shopping feels like they have a higher standard of living.

Myself, I enjoy shopping but I admit I do aim in clothing’s and home interior things. I like anything that would make our home or my family and I look/feel happy and feel put together. I do looks for the best deals and do go to goodwill stores and the like. But I have a limit of like 500 dollars a year on these items annually. I do have a savings fund to save for home improvement and bigger ticket items but that will not be indulged yet until at least several years when the timing is right and all of my finances are in place.

kork13 · #13 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScrimpAndSave

At times, I can't help but think..."I work really hard...I earned it...I should be able to spend it."

That is part of it, too.

definitely.... that tends to be the justification I give myself when I make one of those more frivolous purchases, or just something I hadn't originally planned on. haha sure, not the best way to go, but it keeps me happy.

Cassandra · #14 (**permalink**) 12-14-2008, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScrimpAndSave

I agree...and I think it has a lot to do with endorphins, too. At times, I can't help but think..."I work really hard...I earned it...I should be able to spend it."

That is part of it, too.

I justify it the same way when I want to buy something expensive. I also compare myself to others sometimes and think, "If they can afford, surely I can too!" And then I realize, "They may or may not be able to afford and I can't really afford it myself...".

I find that I can get my shopping "fix" just by window shopping now. I think I like searching for items and trying clothes on more than actually buying the stuff.

Goldy1 · #15 (**permalink**) 12-15-2008, 05:29 AM

I was going to say there are books written on the subject and on the advertising aspect of it. Obviously for women, it is the gatherer instint. I think many women just like fancy clothes and shoes etc. That never really clicked with me too much. Don't get me wrong. I like nice clothes etc myself but I am not insecure in my appearance so I never really became a big shopper. You don' t need expensive duds to look great.

Think about those shopoholics on the talk shows. I have a relative who blew like half a million in a few years from an inheritance on nothing but clothes and dining out. That is sad and pathological.
I have a coworker with an admitted shopping addiction I tried to reason with.
I said to her. "When I am in a store and I look at the price of an item I tell myself how many hours I have to work to buy it, and ask myself if it is worth it?"
She looked at my blankly and said "I never think of it that way." HOW CAN YOU NOT. lol

SnoopyCool · #16 (**permalink**) 12-15-2008, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrimJack

Maybe it is your hunter/gatherer genes responding to the closest they get to proper functioning.

I think this is true for me! I shop to stock-up on household essentials, groceries, etc. I've found relief in couponing and Walgreens/CVS. I've walked out of there with many free, deeply reduced things that we use in our home. That's very gratifying to me, and healthy on our budget.

GREENBACK · #17 (**permalink**) 12-15-2008, 07:52 AM

I guess this a a little bit reverse thinking of this subject but back in the spring I sold a few things and ended up with about 3k to go into my savings account. I took the money and counted it and took it to my brick and mortar bank. The feeling of depositing that cash was as good as any shopping spree and the bonus is I stiil have the money so I got the rush you might get from shopping and it's not just a temporary high.

PrincessPerky · #18 (**permalink**) 12-15-2008, 10:57 AM

Anthropologically...getting stuff has to feel good. Survival at one time depended on convincing lazy humans (that's most of us) that getting stuff even when not hungry was a good idea (saving for famine)

Plus the joy of new, humans are designed to be curious and want variety. (good for learning-infants really show this)

Also chemically humans want to get a mate. (though what exactly your subconscious thinks is good for getting a mate varies from person to person)

But like a fine wine, it is ok to indulge in a bit of dopamine, everything in moderation.

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