A lot of people who are in serious credit card debt have a problem with compulsive shopping. An example of this is Mrs. Gagner. Gagner became so addicted to shopping that she filled her closets with $200,000 worth of clothing and other items that she really didn’t need. In trying to pay off this debt she had to empty out her 401k and every other emergency fund that she had. The problem was so bad that she couldn’t stop it on her own and eventually had to go to a 30-day treatment center to learn about how to handle her shopping addiction.

The basic problem: A true addiction to shopping.

To avoid this problem: If you think that you might have a shopping addiction, you can get help. There are groups to assist compulsive spenders. Debtors Anonymous is the most well-known of these groups. There’s no shame in getting help.

Additional resources for compulsive spenders:

• Hi, I’m Addicted to Credit Cards
• 5 Tricks to Get a Handle on Unnecessary Spending
• 12 Tools of Debtors Anonymous
• How to Manage Compulsive Spending

Next Debt Horror Story: Living $10,000/month over budget