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LaTanya B. I LOVE fashion and art. Outside of work (and sometime during work lol!) this is where my head is. I love anything that can express feeling and emotion whether it be music, poetry, dance, art, books and even fashion which I consider an art in itself. My advice is to do whatever brings peace and joy to your life even if your not doing it for a living. Who knows, things can change:) I hope this blog brings happiness and light. Peace & Love, L.B.

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Confessions of a Shopaholic Pt. 2: Debt and Resolution

After my internship was over, I got a job at H&M and with every paycheck I got I was taking advantage of my 25% discount. By that time my debt had gotten so bad that my whole paycheck couldn't cover the past due amounts and late fees on my credit card (and support my shopping habit) so I just shopped. I was stressed so I shopped.


I thought about going home but felt like I would be a failure, that I would be giving up on my dream. After a few more months of this I had worked up debt totaling somewhere around $14,000 and I still wanted to shop. I had no other choice to to go back home.

When I came home I fell into a serious depression. I didn't have a job and I had debt collectors hunting me down. It was a very hard time and I was beating myself up for putting myself there but I couldn't help it.

I didn't realize I had a problem until I came home and so I had to figure out how to pick up the pieces. I joined a debt management program and after some time got a part-time job then moved into a full-time job. I sold a lot of the things that I bought through consignment and Ebay in order to pay down the debt. Now a few years later I have a successful career, I am almost debt free and I went back to school to finish my degree.

I had to figure out how to spend my money by knowing what I need and what I can splurge on and when. I put money to the side to buy expensive things that I want and try to think ahead. I still love to shop and will always be a "recovering shopaholic." I have moments when I want to spend all my money but going through that experience lets me know what I'm capable of. Since I like to spend a lot at a time I wait a few months for my shopping pot to get big before I go shopping. I always allow myself to splurge (on me) on my birthdays and Christmas, and I put money away to shop in vacations and trips. It's not easy to live by these standards but it works for me.

For years I have been embarrassed to tell this story, to let people know that I had a problem with something like shopping to much. I never told people the real story about why I moved back from NYC. But I think that this problem is real for a lot of people. I now believe that I can still be fashionable without spending frivolously. Over the years I have expanded my knowledge on fashion to not only include high fashion but also affordable fashion as well. I hope that other people will understand that fashion is not just what you see in Vogue magazine. Fashion is more about person style. It is what you make it.

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Confessions of a Shopaholic: The Shopping Problem

Today I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic. I felt a connection to this movie because it was so similar to the way my life used to be. I felt it may be time to make my own confession in hopes of passing my story forward.


In the summer of 2004 I moved to NYC. For years I dreamed about being a part of the fashion industry so I took a chance on a whim and applied to the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising and got accepted.

I loved living in the city, but the one thing I hadn't anticipated was how tempting the store windows can be and how deep I would fall when it comes to shopping.

LIM in located on 53th and 5th Ave, 2 blocks from H&M, Saks and Versace, and one block form Gucci, Zara, etc. Everyone at my school loved fashion of course and most of the girls there were always shopping or getting stuff from there internships. They knew about brands that I had never heard of living in the DC area. In DC I knew about what hot out there but in NYC I didn't feel like I knew as much. I thought I had to do better at looking the part in order to take advantage of opportunities. So what started as a confidence booster became an obsession.

The first few months in NYC I didn't have a job and was pretty much living off of money saved. Once that ran out I started pulling out the credit cards. I had 5 of them, don't ask why. I shopped everywhere spending $300+ almost every time. I bought things like Louboutins, Manolos, Jimmy Choos, a Chloe bag, Gucci bag, Fendi bag, not to mention a lot of clothes from Bendels, Barneys and Bloomingdale's.

It felt good to shop. I was living by myself in the big city and I was lonely most of the time even though my family lived there. I missed home sometimes. Shopping was my stress reliever.

I eventually got a paid internship at Bloomingdale's and during my lunch hour I would spend the time walking around the store sometimes just looking but mostly shopping.

To be continued.....
Check back to find out how things turned out.

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