About me
HI! I'm Toni Marie and I am a 50-something mother of 4 children and have been married for over 24 years. Besides shopping I love reading, gardening and watching Masterpiece theater shows on PBS. I have dreams of someday writing the great american novel, but for now will be happy to maintain this blog!
I wasn't always a shopaholic, but can honestly say that as far as I remember I was an "irresponsible" shopper. I never thought much about how much I was spending. If I wanted something I bought it. I never worked off a budget, lost sleep or cared much about my credit card balance. I also didn't give any consideration to the amount of interest I was incurring by carrying a balance. I just enjoyed having the freedom a credit card gave me to buy whatever I wanted.
My shopping began to spiral out of control when I was in my forties. I believe I began using shopping as a means to fill a void in my life, I no longer knew who I was outside of being a wife and mother. I began to admire women who were working moms. I saw them as powerful and purposeful. Shopping provided me an escape from my own feelings of insecurity. I knew for years that I needed to find a purpose besides "stay at home mom", but this was not an easy solution for me. I am still trying to figure this all out!
I have been in and out of therapy for my shopping addiction for over 10 years.