SHOPAHOLIC ANONYMOUS

I felt very restless all of a sudden. The thought of my impending credit card bill popping up in my mailbox (or my parents' mailbox, to be exact) doesn't make me feel the least bit happy at all. I love shopping, I love the rush it gives me - it's better than the effect of alcohol, nicotine, pot or Valium on me. I know how shallow and materialistic I sound right now but there's this unexplainable feeling that I get after a new acquisition for my wardrobe -- especially if it was such a good bargain. I just seem to have the knack for finding the best bargains especially when it comes to my wardrobe. The thought of the credit card billing statement in my doorstep just forcibly brought me back to reality.

These past few weeks, I've kind of buried myself with work because I'm nearing the end of my probee (probationary) status in the new company I've been working for. Shopping has become my outlet, apart from my night outs with the girls but that's a different thing altogether since it's usually devoted to a totally different topic.

I’ve heard of A.A. but is there such a thing as Shopaholic Anonymous? I’ve tried self-control (I’m usually good at this but not with regards to shopping) by rationalizing that I have way too much stuff already but it didn’t work. I’ve put into my head the theory of material obsolescence by Naomi Klein but it doesn’t seem to work anymore as it did before back in my college days. I picture in my head the millions of people in the whole, wide world that live on less than a dollar a day but that don’t seem to hold on for long once I see something that I instantly fancy with the words “SALE” and “30% - 70% discount” attached to it.

I’ve avoided stepping into the malls but its allure is so tempting, I just can’t resist especially if I find out that there’s going to be a sale period. Add to the mix Mastercard’s current promo wherein the grand prize is a shopping trip to Paris for 3 days and 2 nights with all expenses paid. The monthly prizes are as equally enticing – shopping trips to the other Asian shopping capitals such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, places that I’ve never been to but would love to go to one of these days. I’ve asked my friend Cathy, whom I’ve been with these last few weekends, to be my purchase patrol but it only worked once.

Cathy lost her wallet last Saturday night and immediately after the discovery of the loss, she had this strong resolve to hit the mall the next day to check if she’d be able to recover it. I volunteered to go with her since I was going out of the house anyway to pay my credit card bill. We agreed to meet up in Glorietta but didn’t specify any time. I went about my business paying my bills and when Cathy still hasn’t arrived, I went to Mango and picked up a beautiful small scarf for only Php 249. I also went into Fino Leatherware to buy this mustard colored leather notebook holder for Php 1,600+ (I got a 45% discount from the original price of Php 2000+, I would've gotten a 50% discount if I paid it in cash) – I’m going on a business trip by next month to South Korea so I have to look really presentable to my client I argued.

By the time I met up with Cathy, she had this exasperated expression on her face upon seeing the paperbags. We had lunch in Glorietta and then snooped around U (Rustan’s is on their Annual Mid-Year Sale period) where I found a cute pair of orange leather and canvass pumps designed by Hindy Weber-Tantoco. I asked for the 7 ½ pair to be put on hold until I come to a decision about them. We then proceeded to Starbucks Robinsons Galleria and thank goodness for the honest staff of that establishment for safekeeping it until Cathy was able to claim it! She immediately thought of buying a smaller wallet, preferably the ones with a chain attached to it, so she’d never have to worry about misplacing her wallet ever again. We scoured the entire mall but found their selection to be too limited and headed over to Megamall.

When we got there, we dropped by many stores – Sari-sari, Tutto Moda, Manel’s, Tribal, Linea Italia, United Colors of Benetton, Chocolate and Company, Human and a couple more others. Once we got inside Human, the dress that I’ve been eyeing on caught my attention. I showed it to Cathy and even tried it on. I have been thinking of buying it the last couple of months but decided to wait for it to go on sale. I asked the saleslady if they still have a lot of stock for that particular item but she told me that the ones on display are the last ones. It comes as to no surprise as I have not been able to see them over at their other branches such as the one in Glorietta or Robinsons Place MetroEast. Upon hearing the saleslady’s words, Cathy encouraged me to purchase it seeing how good it looked on me. After the transaction was completed, she berated herself for failing to live up to what I asked her to do.

She did succeed though as my No-Purchase-Using-Your-Credit-Card Nazi because just a couple of hours earlier, she forbid me from buying this cute but very sheer top from UCB (down to Php 800+ from an original price of Php2,000+). Right at this moment, a couple of things are swirling in my head – the orange leather and canvass pumps from U (Php 695 from Php 995), the white eyelet A-line skirt from Urban and Co. (about Php 2,000+) {I love the way if flows – they used a very light fabric and I love the cut of the skirt}, the peach sheer top and the pink ‘40’s style patent leather stilettos from Benetton and the white empire cut top with embroidered blue and green swirls from Mango (Php 650+ from an original Php 2000+). The little devil in me is telling me that since my Standard Chartered bill is already paid up, I’d be able to pay for them by next month. But then again, I would also have my insurance bill to think off. Decisions, decisions!

There was a time when I lost my appetite for shopping. I don’t know what exactly caused it but I just had this feeling that every ware that the shops at the malls has to offer is just the same which prevented me from purchasing anything for months. I don’t know as well what triggered my bad shopping habit back but I’d really like to curb it though it’d be very difficult.