[Coconutzo]

I'm curious. For those of you who are hypomanic/manic shopping monsters, do you feel guilt... say the day of? Or do you think it's all gravy? Does the shopping help calm you? Or does it make you spin further? Do you catch yourself and think, what am I doing? If you do catch yourself, do you care?

I'm a shopper when I'm up, FOR SURE.
Sometimes it's sweeping and grand and hilarious and "Check out the 14 leotards I just bought even though I don't dance!" And "Who doesn't need a head to toe sparkle jumpsuit?"
Other times, when I have a shred of sanity remaining I will see the problem before it happens. HOWEVER, I find myself helpless to stop myself. I'll be like, " I'm about to do something really stupid. This is really dumb,this is really dumb. This is really...Oh F$$k, I've gone and done it" Then afterward I get all panicky. I hide bags, I hide purchases, but I would never ever ever return the magical items I for whatever reason NEEDED IMMEDIATELY.

Either way, it's not calming and it definitely spawns more shopping. Or wackier shopping. Or something.

[bizi]

yes I bought 350 bottles of nail polish becasue they were discontinuing them and I needed them for my business. I gave over 100 bottles of orange away to the good will.
80 year olds don't like orange, what was I thinking? I kept some of the darker orange ones though...
lol
bizi

[cincidak]

Yes. It gets worse for me if I give in. But it weighs on my mind. I become obsessed /convinced I need something. It won't let up till I buy it, or take a stronger dose of my antipsychotic.

I never feel any guilt while spending or even shortly after. Heck. it is 5 years since my big spree. No guilt. My life would be so different today had I not spent the money but the memories of that time are highly valuable to me. Nope. No regrets.

[bizi]

not that long ago I bought a car on impulse. it was a honda insight, sports car.
I could not buy it. I called my hubby who was in classes and tried to tell him about my purchase. I knew when I drove it home that it was a wrong purchase, I almost hit something because of a bad blind spot. I came back the next day and tried to turn it back in and get my car back from them.
I was adamant and was getting histerical about it. They eventually let me turn it back in and get my old car back after 4 people in the chain of command.
I was ranting about how unsafe the car was.
Think they wanted to shut me up!
I could not not buy that car.
that is the second car that I have bought on a whim.
bizi

[Unrigged64072835]

I have to tell my husband not to give me a shopping spree, especially for clothes. Just give me a set gift card and be done with it. Every time I go on a shopping jaunt it's never enough, and it feels so good doing it.

[manicminer]

I did one of those "you're approved for a $6000 personal loan" deals, even though it was 26% interest. But it felt good at the time.

A few years back I bought a house ($135,000), new truck ($50,000), engagement ring ($1,400) and a 4-wheeler ($3,500) in 30 days. Luckily it all worked out in the end and my wife and I have a lovely home with some property and can do what we need to do with it.
But it could have ended in disaster...

I dropped $800 on 3 purses this weekend and even signed up for an American Express credit card.

f*** me!

I caught myself after the fact. There is no undoing the credit card registration, and at least one of those purses was final sale.... But it's all been charged to the American Express credit card that is supposed to come in the mail!

My problem is not "shopping sprees" per se, but more along the lines of impulse shopping. I see it, I want it, I buy it. Done.

on the day, it's all just great- it's all just happy times.

right, cat food- put it in the basket, dog food, i'll have that.. statue of a german battle ship, yep, i'll take that, ooo a full set of fishing supplies, a tennis dvd and a sewing machine, will take all that- and while i'm at it i may as well take this toy train that blows real steam and a lawn mower. it's.... it's wonderful!. I love it!.

I don't feel guilt really, I mean when their's something i actually genuin want and I don't have money, i'm like.. well why. why did i buy all this

I just end up being frustrated because I don't know where to put everything, so it gets thrown in the cupboard, I'm left with a cupboard full of junk I don't know what to do with and no money, and ugg

I told you the budgie story.. finally got my hands on a real pet budgie just to release it, and it died!. (aww poor little birdy, not!)

i did Actually start feeling really guilty when i was told of what happened to the bird

[p00dlez]

I don't have a lot of money so my shopping sprees have been kind of small but I do buy some stupid things. I have bought things like sparkly lip gloss, a ton of make up, and some clothes that I would NEVER wear in a million years.

I don't even wear make up lol and the clothes were too tight and more along the lines of something a biker chick would wear. I don't own a motor cycle either. I did go on a basket shopping spree but I actually liked the baskets after the mania was over so I am not upset about them.

[jpb4815]

I spent 1300$ last month while manic, I don't even know what half of it was on. Now while trying to pay bills this month I am highly regrettful.

[Crazy Hitch]

Ha! eBay is my enemy

[Cocosurviving]

When my shopping spree kicks in it's usually for purses Michael Kors. I usually get two at a time with the wallet. The ones I get are not on the clearance rack. If they come in small, medium and large I want large. There usually around $500-600. I turned 40 this past May so I bought a Louis Vuitton it was $2k. I buy Pandora bracelets and charms. I buy the Essie nail polish which is almost $9 a bottle. I shop for clothes as well.
I buy electrics too. I bought a iPad Pro $900, Beats by Dre headphones $400 and iPod touch $400. Numerous of music downloads on iTunes. I bought a car. Traded in my 2011 Honda Accord for a Honda Civic 2016. I never feel bad when shopping. It's like a high to me. When I come down and look around at what I bought. I panic and try to see what I have left in the bank. I've never taken anything back. Then look at the calendar to see how much longer I have until the next month. I've really tried to do some self talk to curve the spending.

[BipolaRNurse]

I used to shop compulsively---spent my family into bankruptcy not once, but twice! I never saw anything wrong with it until my husband found the bags crammed full of goodies in the back of our closet.

One time, I dropped a thousand bucks in Walmart of all places. Among the things I bought was a hideous neon tank top with a neon toucan splashed all over the front. I wouldn't worn it in a hundred years, but when I bought it, it seemed like the most awesome piece of clothing I'd ever seen. I promptly stashed it in the back of the closet along with the autumn-themed dishware and glassware, and forgot all about it. A few months later I found the damned thing and was horrified---whatever had possessed me to buy THAT??

And that, my friends, is my version of bipolar spending. Now that I'm properly medicated and have little money to speak of, I've learned ways to even save a few bucks each month. I've always managed money better when I don't have any. I panic when my bank account drops below $500 after bills and meds, and I have about a thousand left in savings which I don't touch because I may need it for an emergency. My son is to take over managing it for me in case I become manic in the future.

[mindwrench]

I tell myself I'll just look. Then I tell myself I'll just test drive. Or I'll just put it in the shopping cart on the website, and hover the mouse over the complete transaction button and oops, I clicked it. I know better every step of the way on nearly all of the dumb things I've done with money. I get a instant high as I take possession of whatever it is. Then I keep self talking that it will turn out to be a wise move. GRRR. I don't really regret it till I can't pay my bills, or I'm broke and have 3 motorcycles. Selling things at a loss to try salvaging the situation is the painful part for me.

[~Christina]

In the past .... Oh hell , it wasn't pretty.

Well due to a very strict budget I just do not have money to go out and blow , even hypo and the world is great , shines and I'm wanting that neon tank top that BipolarRn talked about (( lol I remember when you made a thread about that Walmart shopping spree lol))

The only thing I let myself get is 3-4 new nail polishes a month, I don't buy any over 6 bucks because I will probably use it once and move on to my next one lol ...my mom and I had a beauty shop she did hair I did nails , that's where my nail polish habit started lol

A few times I seriously was coming unglued and just HAD to go shopping .... I asked my husband to give me 20.00 for the " everything is a dollar store " lol I had a blast ! And it didn't cause a blip in our budget.

[Tucson]

I need to feel really poor to keep my spending in check. However, when I am hypomanic, and I find myself reaching for my credit card despite my reservations, it is very easy to overspend on impulse buys. The more I buy, the easier it gets to spend more. I am scared of a major spending spree happening again. I would have to declare bankruptcy.

Tucson

[searching4732]

A few months ago I dropped a pretty big sum of money on hair extensions, eyelash extensions, a new wardrobe and all new makeup. All of that was probably close to a grand at least. And then I booked some impromptu vacations to go visit friends I haven't seen in years, and spent a few thousand on hotels, food, etc.

Wow I never really did the math in my head until just now. That was an awful lot of money.