Why do we spend so much money on crap?

Yeah, but... I overbought cups at Ikea - I did. They are cheap there, too, although I have not compared with Goodwill or Salvation Army prices. But you know what? I now always have clean cups on hand. I never run out of clean cups completely. And since I drink from cups a lot (3 cups of instant coffee in the AM and then lots of tea during the afternoon, plus, I sometimes heat chicken broth in the microwave and sip it, piping hot, from a cup), I just put a cup after one use in the DW and I do not need to think more about it. When I had only a couple of cups (I live on my own and have done so since 2009), I would wash them by hand, or reuse them for the same drink, and, this business with cups only occupied my mind unnecessarily with "What do I do with this cup? Do I rinse it? Do you leave it near the kettle? Do I put it in the DW?"

Now it is easy - I drink from a cup once and it goes into the DW. I do not need to THINK about what to do with a cup. And, if I break a cup, as sometimes happens, they are cheap Ikea cups so I do not care.

There is a silver lining to it, methinks.

I have spent 20.00 on dishes from thrift stores.. Not to keep. When my anger is off the charts and I have tried every coping skill I have, if nothing works, I pull out some cheap useless dishes ( keep bagged up in the barn) and set them up outside and use for target practice. It works.

An old lady just sweet-talked me into buying a set of postcards featuring paintings of chickens. I knew even as I was reaching into my purse that they were vile, I didn't want them, and I would never use them.

My husband suffers from bipolar and his spending drives me crazy. He spends thousands on anything car related. There have bee a few occasions where his emptied our bank account on unnecessary things for his car.

Is there any way I can stop or at least control this behavior? He knows what his doing is wrong cause he will delete all notifications regarding his purchase but he seems unable to stop himself

Maybe sit down with him and show him the devastation his spending is causing the family .. and you both agree that YOU will take charge of the finances , but make sure he has X amount of money to spend as he wishes.

in addition to Christina's wise words...

... your H must first stop deleting the evidence of purchases. He should sit with the evidence, instead. Otherwise he is trying to undo the past by erasure, but that only clears the way for the next car things purchasing spree.

If he owns the problem - I would have him enter each and every purchase in EXCEL and have a formula on the very top that tallies up the total as purchases are added... and watch it, and sit with that, and face it. Not as a mischievous child who tries to hide the traces of his less-than-commendable acts, but as a responsible adult who can face the issue, analyze it, and learn a lesson from it. Right now your H is behaving childishly. I am not suggesting that you tell it to HIM - this is just what it appears to be and YOU should know that.

Because I feel like if I just have this thing, one more thing, I will be happy. Then I am happy but after a few days the new shininess of it wears off and it's just another ordinary mundane thing so I need another thing. It's like chasing a high or something.. Also magazines and competition to look better or just as good as the next person.. I love clothes. (: