BPromisesToKeep,

Exactly the same for me....somehow when I write something, more starts flooding into my mind & the fingers just keep typing.

I just read this post not even realizing it was in bipolar to start with. Interesting the spending experiences that happen, but just wanted to let you all know, that even NON-bipolar people (who deal with depression only) end up having very similar spending issues.....maybe not quite so extreme, but I too have so many cloths that I could wear a different outfit for at least 2 years.

Don't get me started on the Beanie Babies & other stupid collectibles......I think that my husband did some of the spending through me though as he seemed to encourage it without putting a stop to it. He also had this problem of wanting to buy 2 of every collectible so that he could sell the other for a profit when it went up in value. This started long before my depression ever started.....what a sucker I was to listen to that garbage.

The strange thing is that I have all these THINGS & when I left my husband, I left everything & only took a few things. I brought the kitchen pans when I knew I would be buying a new place after my Mother died so I had something to cook in. But now, all I have is a bed & small chest of drawers, a rocking chair, dining room table & chairs, coffee table & a few end tables & lamps. Out of all the cloths I had, I brought only a few bags of cloths that I brought with me in the moving truck. I also brought my Christmas decorations as I left in the fall & Christmas was soon here. I had to buy a few essentials, but other than that. Initially I thought I would be able to go back & bring a few more of my things, but the economy went downhill so quickly & gas prices went so sky high.....costs me over $1000 to drive back & forth, so that's definitely NOT in the budget since I can't even afford $100/month on gas.

I remember having the TV going on HSN so many nights to keep the nightmares away from the trauma, then I would wake up the next morning realizing that I had a few "just have to have's" that I had ordered when I was trying to go back to sleep .

Wow, Florida stinks...... In that case, they shouldn't allow people with a psychiatric diagnosis to have credit cards then either......grrrr. You don't give people things that can damage themselves with no way to recover at least one time.

Thing is that my husband (who didn't have any psychiatric DX) believed in using credit cards. Believed that you can buy as long as you can make the monthly payments.....so you buy things when they are on sale. I tried with my business degree mind to show him how much more he spent for the things because of the interest, but he blew me off, so then I ended up getting into the buying things I wanted when I saw them & put them on the credit cards too. When we both had engineering incomes we could make the payments, but when that ended in 1994, he didn't stop the spending & I didn't care when my major depression set in. I also added to the debt with medical expenses & ICU ventilator & holds that gave me no choice than being in the hospital. (praising God that that phase of my life is in my past)

Guess this is to let you all know that you aren't alone in the spending sprees. People who don't have psychiatric dx's get into the spending addiction also. Even my mother went shopping for cloths to make herself feel better after my father died. The bags of cloths I gave away after she died was very revealing.

I also know just how much I don't need when I walked out & left if all behind. Funny thing is that I left 3 years ago & I can't even remember what things I have still there. Much of the debt is sitting in collection & they aren't doing anything about it because now both of us are on disability with no money to even make payments on the debt & survive.

I have gotten to the point where I feel horrible when I spend money on anything I don't need now....takes me back to the value system I had before I got married (just more proof that I never should have gotten married)