To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop (Paperback)

~ April Benson (Author)
Key Phrases: countering the pressure, necessity score, mindful shopping, Start Again, Becoming Financially Fit, Shopping Journal (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book instructs wisely about the problem of compulsive buying and how it might be reasonably overcome."—New England Psychologist

"This warm, wonderful book provides a road map for making the journey from overshopping to full recovery and life balance. I particularly enjoyed the use of mindfulness techniques. Every overshopper needs this book!"—Olivia Mellan, Overcoming Overspending

"An extremely helpful book. Dr. Benson provides a practical, step-by-step method for recognizing, controlling, and finally stopping a shopping problem. I recommend it without hesitation."—Lorrin Koran, MD, Stanford University Medical Center

"If you are a compulsive or chronic shopper—as millions are—this book may well save your sanity, your relationships, your marriage, or even your life."—Jerold Mundis, author of How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously

Product Description

 Are you a shopaholic?Do you use shopping as a quick fix for the blues? Do you often buy things that you don’t need or can’t afford? Do your buying binges leave you feeling anxious or guilty? Is your shopping behavior hurting your relationships? Have you tried to stop but been unable to?

If so, you are not alone. Nearly 18 million Americans are problem shoppers, unable to break the buying habits that lead them into debt, damaged relationships, and depression. If this describes you, or someone you care about, the help you need is here.

Drawing on recent research and on decades of working with overshoppers, Dr. April Benson brings together key insights with practical strategies in a powerful program to help you stop overshopping. As you progress through this book, you’ll take back control of your shopping and spending and create a richer, more meaningful and satisfying life.

To learn more about the author, visit her website: www.stoppingovershopping.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Trumpeter (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159030599X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590305997
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,603 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #16 in	Books > Reference > Consumer Guides
  #18 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Compulsive Behavior

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books on the growing problem on compulsive shopping and spending!, January 2, 2009

By	Terrence Shulman (Southfield, Michigan) - See all my reviews

I am enthusiastically endorsing this new book from Dr. April Benson, one of the pioneers in the research, study, and treatment of compulsive shopping and spending. There may be other books out there on this topic but Dr. Benson culls together stories, exercises, theory, and statistics in a way that is easy to read and use and which powerfully impacts our emotions to break through denial but also empower us with hope and commitment to change. In a time where compulsive shopping and spending has reached its pinnacle (or nadir), this book comes not a moment too soon! I can also say, as a colleague of Dr. Benson, that her commitment to helping others is unparalleled. Her voice is a clarion call through the din of insanity which offers a clear path toward wholeness and a healthy relationship to things, money, shopping and spending. Read this book now--for yourself or someone you love!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Find Your shopping weak spots and how to fix them here., May 17, 2009

By	Pandababy - See all my reviews

Take one (former) shopaholic. Give her a Ph.D. in psychology and ten years experience treating over-shopping. Publish her book about how to get free of the vast consumer conspiracy surrounding us, and you have Dr. April Lane Benson and her vital new book: To Buy or Not to Buy.
This is not a comfortable book for me to read. I find my behavior unmasked and as undeniable as my shoulder-length gray hair. Have I used shopping to feel better about myself? Yes. Have I used shopping to avoid confronting a situation I want to avoid? Yes. Have I used shopping as a weapon to express anger? Yes.
Sometimes yes to all of the above, and other questions in chapter one. Like a trip to the dentist, confronting my negative behavior and the psychology behind it can be painful, but also healing. I love this book, because there is healing in getting the rot out. Dr. Benson offers a way to find authentic happiness to replace the false esteem of keeping up with (or exceeding) the 'Joneses'. She points out the relentless consumerism driving our economy, with tentacles invading our conciousness through stores, malls, television, catalogs, Internet and even cell phone shopping. She uncovers the true cost of credit card purchases, and documents the ways invisible forces demand that we buy "more more more and now now now".
Knowledge is power. Self-knowledge is the power to change. To Buy or Not to Buy is a tool that can enable us to get free of our compulsive shopping. If you are confident that you don't have any shopping addictions, I challenge you to go to browse inside her book - consider the many ways we can fool ourselves into buying things to fill an emotional hole rather than a material need.
I recognized some of my buying patterns in her analysis, and also patterns of friends and relatives. Our materialistic society is even more insidious than I suspected. There is compassion and not condemnation in Dr. Benson's words. I recommend her book and I will be spending the next three months working through all the exercises. I have two pages of notes this morning, a start to the journal she recommends keeping.
There is no such thing as an insignificant cavity - as we all know, sooner or later it will destroy the tooth. I am going to be working on the occasional - but not insignificant - ways that I over-shop, and expect that the result will be good, even if the process is sometimes painful.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help For Affluenza, January 6, 2009

By	Morris B. Holbrook (NYC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Excellent book It is quite impressive in every way - especially its balance of helpful therapeutic programs, careful organization, and deep thinking.
Prof. Morris B. Holbrook, Columbia Business School