Legend of the Flying Dollar, Part 2

Take a trip with me.  A couple weeks ago, we met a nice man named M— Man, who taught us all about the hidden fees associated with pretty much everything.  Well, one thing that he did not cover, maybe because all his helpers had to leave or because the theme was only going to be a week long…

Either way, we have come to an entirely new problem where money will be seen flying around, but no matter how hard we try, we will not be able to reach it.  It’s like those old phone-booth type things, where they slip in money with the fan going and you have to try to reach around a grab them before time runs out?  Only imagine the money being holographic.  Very frustrating.

Anyway, let me introduce Dollar Bill to you.  Dollar Bill, as his name implies will never be completely out of money due to his structure… but what he doesn’t want you to know is that he was once made from 20s.  Here is Dollar Bill’s main problem: he is an adrenaline junkie.  He absolutely loves jumping from wallets to cash registers at warp speed.

He likes to live with… shopaholics.

Here are the basics: a shopaholic is a person that compulsively sends money, whether it’s a little at a time or a lot at a time.  Amount does not necessarily matter.  Frequency does.  It’s an actual disease called Oniomania.

Besides for the obvious cash flying out of the wallet and into various different registers around town, there are other very real consequences.  Lack of space or organization, for example.  Another big one is buyer’s remorse.  You know that feeling where you randomly decide to buy that DVD at the check-out line, only to feel really awful about it by the time you get home?  That’s what I’m talking about.

There are ways to stop this… I promise.  I mean, retailers everywhere have been doing studies on how to get people to buy more!  Here is one I have found that was very enlightening and helped me see through the different tactics (if you have time to read an entire study).

Do you think you’re a shopaholic?  Do you think you’re actually safe from this phenomenon.  Even if you do not have this disease, how close are you to being compulsive or simply just over spending?  Take this quiz and find out!

I’m not going to report you to Debtor’s Anonymous, which is the shopping equivalent to AA.  I’m not going to make you come to meeting, like what happened to Becky Bloomwood in Confessions of a Shopaholic.  Just read in the privacy of your own home.

Come back all this week to help me help Dollar Bill.  He contacted me for this assistance, which shows that he really wants it.  So read for yourself, your mom, your roommate… or just for all those base-jumping Dollar Bills out there!