The Retail Therapy Trap

Retail therapy by any other name would still be stress spending. Think about this for a minute, there are two major things happening here and both have the real potential for diminishing returns. The stress causes havoc on your overall wellbeing and the spending is causing havoc on your finances. A great alternative to stress relief that is 100% free is exercise, it can be done in the comfort of your own home or better yet by taking the dog for a walk- you both benefit.

A survey conducted by Credit Karma on this subject reported that more than half (52 percent) of respondents said they have impulsively shopped to deal with feelings of stress, anxiety or depression. Eighty-seven percent of that group said they stress spend several times each year, with 60 percent of them stress spending on at least a monthly basis.