{"id":22121,"date":"2015-07-04T08:43:46","date_gmt":"2015-07-04T12:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/?p=22121"},"modified":"2025-01-27T07:41:43","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T07:41:43","slug":"shopaholic-game-helped-pay-10000-deb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/2015\/07\/04\/shopaholic-game-helped-pay-10000-deb\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman Confesses Shopaholic Game Helped Pay $10,000 Debt : The Saturday Weekend Review #128"},"content":{"rendered":"

WINDOW SHOP UNTIL YOU DROP<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you are scratching your head wondering what on earth the Shopaholic Game is trust me, I was too<\/em><\/p>\n

No, I did not invent another game to help all of you save money however I certainly realized just how a challenge can motivate someone to save money and pay off debt. <\/a><\/p>\n

Not everyone can create success alone but when there are a few people involved with the same goals in mind it becomes a challenge of who’s going to make it to the end victorious.<\/p>\n

It’s not everyday someone drops the term “Shopaholic Game<\/strong>” into a conversation BUT<\/strong> this is what happened to my wife this past week while we were coincidentally out shopping.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what it is about when we get together with friends BUT<\/strong> money always seems to pop into the conversation and we aren’t the initiators.<\/p>\n

Trust me when I say we don’t talk much about finance with family and friends however we are always more than happy to hear what’s happening in their financial lives.<\/p>\n

Since we went home for the Canada Day Holiday this past week my wife decided to meet up with a friend at the mall. With baby in tow the wife and I met up with her long-time friend at a shop in the mall where I picked up some new sandals. I was in desperate need and I’m picky about what goes on my feet because shoes are very important to me.<\/p>\n

We were just cashing out so it was perfect timing that we all started chatting and walking around the mall with our son. My wife and her joked around, had some laughs all the while window shopping.<\/p>\n

I thought for sure my wife would go in a few stores just to see what was trending and hot in the clothing world. I was right but she checked in first at Pay-less Shoes because she also needed a new pair of sandals.<\/p>\n

There was nothing my wife liked but her friend who didn’t have to buy anything pulled down about 5 boxes of shoes and was trying them on. She told my wife she enjoys trying on nice shoes and that she had a large collection of shoes at home.<\/p>\n

My wife has her own little shoe stash but nothing like the 300+ pairs her friend has. When she said this my jaw dropped but I turned my head so no one could see. It wasn’t about the money either it was me wondering where she found a home for all those shoes in the house.<\/p>\n

At first I thought, “I wonder if she has a great job and no debt ” just to afford all the stuff she says she has. You know she talks more about what she has but the debt eventually makes its way out into the open. Initially you would assume she has money but that was hardly the case.<\/p>\n

She admitted to my wife while walking through another store that she is a confessed shopaholic. My wife was not in any shock to hear it because we are both huge fans of personal finance. We’ve heard it all before.<\/p>\n

BUT wait a minute here the plot thickens with a twist… she’s no longer in DEBT anymore? Great we both thought. She spoke up with a sense of freedom in her voice to tell us that she had $10,000 in consumer debt but it was paid off.<\/p>\n

The debt at the time consisted of all the stuff that she had bought then realized she didn’t need as time went on. I thought it was great that she had paid off her debt but I wanted to know, HOW SHE DID IT?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, this budget guru wanted to know how she managed to lock away the shopaholic in her to come back down to financial reality. It’s not easy to start the debt pay-off journey so when someone opens up about their debt problem it means they do want to succeed.<\/p>\n

The Shopaholic Game <\/span><\/h2>\n

The good news is that she was the first to pay off her debt in what she\/they call the “Shopaholic Game”<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what exactly is this Shopaholic Game?<\/p>\n

It’s apparently a game that three friends came up with to help themselves stop spending and to get their debt under control. They were all using a budget<\/a> but only tracking with a paper and pen which is great for beginners. Her other 2 friends who would frequent the mall with her also had shopaholic issues and debt.<\/p>\n

She said to my wife that she realized when they would all shop together they would each spend more money than if they had of shopped alone. When you have 3 women all who have shopping issues together it’s easy to persuade someone to buy something.<\/p>\n

Most often it was a case of if creating full outfits for work. Sometimes one outfit would cost her $500. It was simple to spend $1000 a month on clothes.<\/p>\n

One afternoon while they were doing their thing at the mall shopping they were sitting in the food court enjoying a cup of coffee. The Shopaholic Game was born that afternoon when one of the friends said that they were behind one payment on the mortgage and she had to get her shopping under control.<\/p>\n

All of them agreed she said and so they came up with some rules for the Shopaholic Game that had to be met each week. It almost seemed like The Grocery Game Challenge<\/a> from the perspective that the Shopaholic Game was motivational to save money to help pay down debts or increase investing potential for retirement.<\/p>\n

What they had to do in this Shopaholic Game was when they wanted to buy something instead of buying it they would document all the specifics about the product. They would then bring back the information weekly to the round table one of the women had in her basement to discuss.<\/p>\n

Honestly it all seemed like lots of wasted time just to try and control spending money they didn’t have but this is what they needed to do to stop the debt. I gave them credit for that.<\/p>\n

At the end of the month the person who was able to track their potential impulse shops and review them without purchasing them would get a star on a debt chart. The chart had their debt at the top and spots for stars.<\/p>\n

The person who made it to the end with the least debt over the course of a year won this Shopaholic Game but most importantly they paid off or down their debts.<\/p>\n

The morale of the Shopaholic Game was to keep the shoppers out of the stores as much as possible<\/strong> and to teach them that impulse buying is a HUGE reason people are in so much debt.<\/p>\n

Once you eliminate bad habits such as shopping too much or even smoking <\/a>you can use that extra cash you have hanging around to pay down debt. Each of the ladies made a debt pay down schedule and over the course of the year my wife’s friend was able to pay off $10,000<\/strong> worth of debt.<\/p>\n

So, instead of spending up to $1000 a month<\/strong> on stuff she didn’t need she was able to get rid of her debt. This is just another case of someone who earns a very good living from what she tells us and having to resort to desperate measures to be able to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

Now they have no debt and the mortgage is always paid on time and the stress is gone. The biggest lesson my wife and I learned from this conversation was that challenges are important to many people.<\/p>\n

When a challenge presents itself to someone who needs to make change in their life they may just take that challenge and push themselves to succeed, Why? In the simplest form, because there are others just like him\/her battling the same war, spending money.<\/p>\n

So for now she’s only allowed to window shop and any time she needs something she has to save money first then shop second. No debt besides the mortgage equals the best time of their lives financially.<\/p>\n

My wife did end up buying a really nice pair of sandals which cost her $59.99 plus tax and came with a glowing recommendation. Guess who already had a pair?<\/p>\n

Would you participate in a Shopaholic Game or challenge of sorts to help you pay off your debt? How would the Shopaholic Game motivate you to succeed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CBB Week At A Glance<\/span><\/h2>\n

This week was all about our little family spending time together. We went to my wife’s parents house for a few days which was a nice getaway. Since it was Canada Day we took our son to the fireworks and parade for his first time.<\/p>\n

He loved the parade although it was the police and fire trucks that got him fired up. His big eyes were wide open every time the sirens would go off and he would clap his hands.<\/p>\n

At night we participated in the fireworks and festivities with the rest of the city. It was busy but worth getting out of the house for some free fun.<\/p>\n

I picked cherries from my father-in-laws house and made some Rhubarb Cherry Apple Sauce<\/strong> which I will share on the blog this Sunday. The rhubarb was from our back garden.<\/p>\n

I’m starting to create new recipes for rhubarb but this one I made up just to see what it would be like. It turned out beautiful and our son loves it with vanilla yogurt on top. (So do we)<\/p>\n

Other than that I didn’t post too much this week as I wanted to chill out a bit. A writing break is good once in a while.<\/p>\n

Happy 4th of July, Independence Day <\/strong>to all of my American Readers!<\/p>\n

How was your week?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published This Week<\/span><\/h2>\n

Just in case you\u2019ve missed any of my blog posts this week I will share them all below.<\/p>\n

If you have a question that you would like to ask Mr.CBB fill out the Contact Mr.CBB<\/strong> form on the Home Page and send in your questions.<\/p>\n

If you want to share a story<\/strong> via a Fan Question only please ensure that there is minimum 500-1000 words and details\u2026 we love details!<\/p>\n

Right now CBB is posting Tuesday (Grocery Game Challenge) , Thursday (Personal Finance Post), Saturday (Personal Finance and Weekly Wrap-Up and a recipe on Sunday!<\/p>\n

This week I posted only on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday so I could spend time with my family.<\/p>\n