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Published at 11:44am
Published on 8/27/08
Own This City
Video
Detoxer: Leslie Price
Went a month without: Shopping
On a scale of 1 to 10, how ironic is it that within six months of giving up shopping, you edit a shopping blog?
I don't know if it's that ironic—shopping's something that's a big part of my life, for better or worse. I guess I'd say a 2.
Has your month without shopping had any residual effects one year later? For instance, do you make fewer impulse purchases?
I think that the month wasn't really long enough to permanently change my shopping behavior. If I had tried to abstain for six months or a year, I really would have been forced to deal with the issues that prompt me to overspend. I have been trying to change, though. Closely monitoring my bank account helps. I'm also trying to buy fewer inexpensive items (e.g., less fast fashion), and instead save up for pricier pieces that I'll wear for more than one season.
Did you binge right after the story and run up like $20,000 on your credit card?
It wasn't excessive. I went to Macy's—the closest store to the office—and bought a pair of jeans and a dress. I think I also bought a few things at Duane Reade…nail polish? I just needed a little taste of spending.
Do you still discuss the story? Is it good party conversation?
I don't really talk about the story now, mostly because I think that, no matter how public I made it by writing that article, the whole issue of overshopping/overspending still feels pretty private to me.
