Dear Artchic, I'm a wild bird lover, so I'm happy that you bought something that the wild birds will benefit from so much during the winter months. (Only some species eat worms - you can Google if you want to.)

Your post made me giggle, just because of what you bought.

I'm a compulsive shopper, too. I can't even begin to guess the hours I've spend trying to figure out why I do it. The best answer I ever came up with was relief of anxiety. I think it's a similar behavior to overeating.

I can't tell from your post just how bad your problem is from a financial sense. Are you spending money that you need for essentials? Are you in debt as a result of online shopping? (Those are rhetorical questions - just something for you to think about.)

My problem extended to not being able to handle credit in general and I eventually stopped using credit cards and lines of credit. I read a book by Jerrold Mundis, the founder of the Debtor's Anonymous 12-step group that somehow got through to me.

I hear the people who are saying that it doesn't matter why you're doing it, just figure out a way to stop it. Part of me totally agrees with that.

I have known people, though, whose compulsive buying is a problem and those for who it becomes a disaster.

Another point of view (one that I don't think I ever considered back in the years when I was buying on credit) is to consider what you might prefer to have instead of the items you've bought.

What opportunities are your compulsive shopping costing you? Do you have financial goals? A house? A graduate degree? A vacation? Nice furniture? Investments?

I found that budgeting and keeping track of everything I spent helped me. Money is so abstract now that paying closer attention to where it's going is almost always helpful.

A mental health checkup is good, too. *Do* you have a problem with anxiety? Are you possibly taking any meds that make the problem worse? (I had a problem with Ambien & online shopping for a while. I also got amnesia with it, so the packages were a total surprise when they turned up.)

Good luck to you in dealing with this and don't forget to feed those birds when your mealworms arrive! (Don't put them all out at once.) You can put them out in any kind of container that will keep them from crawling out unless they're outdoors on the lawn or something. It should be a lot of fun to watch the birds go nuts when they see them.