Something I preach to my fellow fashionistas, shoe addicts and beauty fanatics is the power and the drawl of the “shopping monster”. The shopping monster strikes for me the most when I’m bored or when I have to travel. I want new things. It doesn’t matter what it is, I want to look for it, find it, buy it and take it home. It doesn’t have to be expensive, actually a prefer it not to be, I just want something new. Do you know what happens after you get a whole lot of new? You get a whole lot of trouble…in your bank account.
I want my readers to take charge of their finances. To get control of your spending and to reach for financial freedom. A life without debt. Pay off your car, your college loans, your credit cards and your mortgage! Oh no, that is not possible. I could never. Oh, but you can, you can if you want to. And you can have a little fun shopping for that new lipstick at the same time. Let me tell you how. Stop hiding your bills under the bed (or in your desk or in the kitchen junk drawer)! Just because you can’t see them it doesn’t erase that they exist. The first step is knowing exactly where you stand within your INCOME, EXPENSES, DEBT and BUDGET. I know, they look very scary in all caps but you have to get over it and face them sooner or later, I’m here to help.
I want to share with you a new tool that can help if you are not great at ”the old fashion way” with a pencil and paper. It is called LearnVest My Money Manager. It is completely free easy to use and it will track everything for you. You just have to plug everything in, stand back and watch it work. It has tools, tutorials and a money boot camp to learn more about money issues. You will love it!
The next step is to kill the shopping monster. When you feel bored or get that itch to shop, do something else. Workout, read a book, anything. just distract yourself. Throw out all your catalogs you receive in the mail – don’t page through, just toss them in the recycling. They are just temptation waiting to happen in between commercials. Whatever you do stay off the 
internet and the online shopping sites because those just feed that shopping monster and drive up those credit card bills faster than a bullet to the pocketbook. If possible unsubscribe to all those sale emails you get every single day and call the catalog companies and remove your name from their mailing lists. If you don’t have time to unsubscribe, delete delete delete. Much like an alcoholic, shoppers do not need booze laying around the house smiling at them.
The final step is getting real with your finances and pull out all those bills, receipts and pay stubs and either write it all down or use an electronic tool like LearnVest My Money Manager to help. It will even help set up savings goals for you. For example, if you want to pay off your car quicker it will help make a budget to do that. If you want money to buy shoes once a month it will do that too. You are the only one that can make it happen. Stop avoiding it and do it.
Debt is not sexy nor is it fashionable. Financial independence and freedom from debt is the most stylish accessory you can have.
