spending addiction

I will say that while i do like shopping a great deal, i am proud to say that i do not have credit card debt or a "problem" as many do. I work in retail and watch almost everyday as customers drop hundreds in my store on clothes and accessories that they definatly do not need. Anyway, I found this article online and just thought I would post it since i feel that many of the people who live in my end of town do have spending problems.

With more than $40,000 in credit card debt and more than 20 credit cards to her name, Diana Ryan didn't think she had a problem -- even though her husband had no idea just how many pieces of plastic she had tucked in her wallet. "It sounds cliche," Ryan says, "but I thought I could stop at any time."
But the lure of special offers and other card deals was much stronger than Ryan's willpower. "I couldn't say no when a cashier asked if I wanted to open a new card to get an instant in-store savings or receive a new promotion," she says.
Ryan represents a growing number of Americans who've passed the point of merely overspending and have entered into the realm of addiction. And, in doing so, they're maxing out a record number of credit cards.
One reason for this growing epidemic is the way consumers perceive credit cards. Credit cards were designed as a form of convenience, an alternative to writing a check or going to the bank to get cash. Yet many consumers use plastic as if its extra spending money, says Ethan Ewing, president of Bills.com,a personal finance education portal. They forget about the potential liabilities of spending beyond their means or not being able to pay their balance off at the end of the month.
Spotting the warning signs
As with most addictions, the person with the problem is often the last one to realize they have a problem. That, Ewing says, usually compounds the situation. In Ryan's case, whenever she went on a shopping spree, she would rationalize her actions: "I told myself we needed something, or might need it," she said. "I never missed a sale and would buy something just for the sake of feeling like I was getting a good deal. Whether or not we needed it or could afford it didn't really matter."
Certified financial planner Julie Casserly says identifying with just one or two of the following traits could be a sign you're heading toward addiction. If three or more of these signs are already familiar, it might be time for a plastic intervention.
You never have cash in your wallet.
When you do have cash, it burns a hole in your pocket.
You buy things just because they're on sale, or because they make you feel better if you're upset.
You have more than two "branded" or store credit cards.
You and your spouse or partner argue over money.
Credit cards balances are growing -- and not being paid down -- each month.
Your cards are all maxed out. But instead of paying them off, you open new ones in order to have additional credit.
You don't know how much you owe on the cards you have.
You own several things you've never worn, used, etc.
Another key indicator that you're addicted to your credit cards is dishonesty. "I hid my cards and statements from my husband," Ryan said. "I'd hide purchases of clothes, toys for the kids, you name it, in the trunk or the backs of closets. I've even used the dishwasher as a hiding spot."
"Hiding purchases and credit accounts leads to far more than debt and potential financial ruin," says Ewing. It can cause extreme stress on a relationship. "[My husband and I] separated for four months," Ryan says. "He only agreed to reconcile if I went though credit counseling."
Breaking the addiction
Things got so bad that Ryan began looking for a solution to her addiction. She tried cutting up her cards, but it failed to reign in her spending. "I tried that several times," she said, "but I always opened new ones." Instead, she found that carrying her statements in her purse served as a compelling reminder of the debt she'd racked up from her addiction. "I also joined a debtor's support group."
Ewing suggests treating "compulsive debting" as you would any other addiction and seek help. Debtors Anonymous offers support in-person, on-line and via the phone.
In addition to debt counseling, the following three steps will help keep you addiction-free.
Spend cash
Start paying with paper instead of plastic for routine expenditures like gas, groceries and dog food. Carrying cash will reduce the chance you'll toss impulse purchases onto the counter since you won't want to be embarrassed if you don't have enough money with you to pay for them. Whatever you do, urges Ewing, "don't use a revolving credit account card."
Freeze out plastic
The theory "out of sight, out of mind" really works, says Ewing. One of the easiest and simplest tricks, he says, is to put your card in a sandwich bag in the freezer. Or ask a trusted family member to hold onto it for you. "The time it takes to retrieve the card is often enough to quell an impulse," he says. Even the one minute it takes to retrieve it from the freezer can be enough to allow financial logic to kick in.
Set goals
Setting a "no plastic for 30 days" goal is a good idea. But Ewing says you should look beyond your credit cards when setting goals in order to truly break a credit addiction. "Decide what short- and long-term financial goals you'd like to achieve," he says, and once you have some goals in mind, it'll be easier to develop spending habits that encourage those goals.

Happy HOLLAween

obama :)

kindly provided by mallory and youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUNCpnRBf9o&feature=player_embedded

outfit idea

a great outfit, in my opinion

Speckled Owl

this is available at anthropologie. anyone who reads this blog feel free to get me this :)

White-rimmed golden eyes peer out from a spotted puff of faux feathers, all the better to be on the look-out while other little peepers are closed tight.
Acrylic, plastic; polyfill
Spot clean
10"H, 5.5"W
Imported
style #983309
$28.00

anthropologie.com

The Style Strategy: A Less Is More Approach To Staying Chic And Shopping Smart

With whimsical illustrations by Ruben Toledo, fashion guru Nina Garcia presents a witty and organized primer on how to be stylish and live well with an emphasis on quality versus quantity.
Paper, MDF, cardstock
166 pages
Harper Collins
style #973842
$21.99

Book Description
"This book is written to help propel you forward, into that place where style and shopping are one. Neither can thrive without the other pulling its proper weight. Effortlessly balancing the two is your mission."
From much-loved fashion maven and New York Times bestselling author Nina Garcia comes her most indispensable style primer yet—this one focused on looking timelessly chic, all while saving money!
Armed with Nina's no-fail The Style Strategy, fashionistas will not only discover a myriad of shopping alternatives sure to help them attain high-end looks at lower prices, but also learn how to maximize what they already have through maintenance, ingenuity, and creative style choices. Step by step, Nina helps readers honestly answer three key questions—What do I have? What do I need? What do I want?—before making purchases, so they can effectively eliminate any unnecessary spending.
This book also celebrates some of the most extraordinary women of the past, who remained admiringly fashion-forward during their own era's economic hardships.
Part of the growing classic collection from Nina Garcia, which already includes The Little Black Book of Style and The One Hundred, The Style Strategy is a must-have for this season and all seasons!

Anglo-Saxon Treasure Trove Uncovered

Huge hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure uncovered in UK

LONDON — It's an unprecedented find that could revolutionize ideas about medieval England's Germanic rulers: An amateur treasure-hunter searching a farmer's field with a metal detector unearthed a huge collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver artifacts.
The discovery sent a thrill through Britain's archaeological community, which said Thursday that it offers new insight into the world of the Anglo-Saxons, who ruled England from the fifth century until the 1066 Norman invasion and whose cultural influence is still felt throughout the English-speaking world.
"This is just a fantastic find completely out of the blue," Roger Bland, who managed the cache's excavation, told The Associated Press. "It will make us rethink the Dark Ages."
The treasure trove includes intricately designed helmet crests embossed with a frieze of running animals, enamel-studded sword fittings and a checkerboard piece inlaid with garnets and gold. One gold band bore a biblical inscription in Latin calling on God to drive away the bearer's enemies.
The Anglo-Saxons were a group of Germanic tribes who invaded England starting in the wake of the collapse of the Roman Empire. Their artisans made striking objects out of gold and enamel, and their language, Old English, is a precursor of modern English.
The cache of gold and silver pieces was discovered in what was once Mercia, one of five main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and is thought to date to between 675 and 725.
For Terry Herbert, the unemployed metal-detecting enthusiast who made the discovery on July 5 while scouring a friend's farm in the western region of Staffordshire, it was "more fun than winning the lottery."
The 55-year-old spent five days searching the field alone before he realized he needed help and notified authorities. Professional archaeologists then took over the find.
"I was going to bed and in my sleep I was seeing gold items," Herbert said of the experience.
The gold alone in the collection weighs 11 pounds and suggests that early medieval England was a far wealthier place than previously believed, according to Leslie Webster, the former curator of Anglo-Saxon archaeology at the British Museum.
She said the crosses and other religious artifacts mixed in with the military items might shed new light on the relationship between Christianity and warfare among the Anglo-Saxons — in particular a large cross she said may have been carried into battle.
The hoard was officially declared treasure by a coroner on Thursday, which means it will be valued by experts and offered up for sale to a museum in Britain. Proceeds will be split 50-50 between Herbert and his farmer friend, who has not been identified. The find's exact location is being kept secret to deter looters.
Bland said he could not give a precise figure for the value of the collection, but said the two could each be in line for a "seven-figure sum."
Kevin Leahy, the archaeologist who catalogued the find, said the stash includes dozens of pommel caps — decorative elements attached to the knobs of swords — and appeared to be war loot. He noted that "Beowulf," the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, contains a reference to warriors stripping the pommels of their enemies' weapons as mementoes.
"It looks like a collection of trophies, but it is impossible to say if the hoard was the spoils from a single battle or a long and highly successful military career," he said.
"We also cannot say who the original, or the final, owners were, who took it from them, why they buried it or when? It will be debated for decades."
Experts said they've so far examined a total of 1,345 items. But they've also recovered 56 pieces of earth that X-ray analysis suggests contain more artifacts — meaning the total could rise to about 1,500.
The craftsmanship was some of the highest-quality ever seen in finds of this kind, Leahy said, and many British archaeologists clearly shared his enthusiasm.
Bland, who has documented discoveries across Britain, called it "completely unique." Martin Welch, a specialist in Anglo-Saxon archaeology at University College London, said no one had found "anything like this in this country before."
Herbert said one expert likened his discovery to finding Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhamen's tomb, adding: "I just flushed all over when he said that. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up."
The collection is in storage at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, where some of the items are to go on display starting Friday.
It's unclear how the gold ended up in the field, although archaeologists suggested it may have been buried to hide the loot from roving enemies, a common practice at the time. The site's location is unusual as well — Anglo-Saxon remains have tended to cluster in the country's south and east, while the so-called "Staffordshire hoard" was found in the west.
In the meantime, archaeologists say they're likely to be busy for years puzzling out the meaning of some of the collection's more unusual pieces — like five enigmatic gold snakes or a strip of gold bearing a crudely written and misspelled Biblical inscription in Latin.
"Rise up, O Lord, and may thy enemies be dispersed and those who hate thee be driven from thy face," reads the inscription, believed to be from the Book of Numbers.
Also of interest is the largest of the crosses, which experts say may have been an altar or processional piece. It had been folded, possibly to make it fit into a small space prior to burial, and the apparent lack of respect shown to such a Christian symbol may point to the hoard being buried by pagans.
"The things that we can't identify are the ones that are going to teach us something new," Leahy said.
For England, a country at the edge of Europe whose history owes an enormous debt to the Anglo-Saxons, the find has the potential to become one of its top national treasures, according to Webster.
Caroline Barton, assistant treasure registrar at the British Museum, said objects over 300 years old and made up of more that 10 percent precious metal are only offered for sale to accredited museums in Britain, so the collection will not be leaving the country.
Associated Press writer Karolina Tagaris in London contributed to this report.