For most college students, spending too much money is a huge concern. College students have access to an incredible amount of places to spend money, whether it is clothing stores, restaurants, concerts, or clubs. Especially in an expensive city like DC, it is very easy to spend too much money without even realizing it. For most students, shopping sprees lead to a week of ‘taking it easy’ and eating only in the dining hall. However, some students become consumed by the need to spend, and it has drastic, ‘adult consequences’. For one of my close friends, a George Washington sophomore who wishes to remain anonymous, these consequences became a reality after she racked up over ten thousand dollars in credit card debt- mostly on clothing.
Q: What were your spending habits before coming to college?
A: Well, I have always liked to shop, but at home [a small town in upstate New York] there was a small variety of stores to choose from. The nearest mall was over an hour away, so whenever I wanted to buy new clothes I would buy them online or save shopping trips for whenever I visited New York City. I would usually spend about $200 to $300 in the city, and I would periodically buy clothes online, but usually not spending more than $100 at a time.
Q: How did you pay for these expenses?
A: I had a job at a coffee shop, and since my parents paid for my food, car, and other expenses, most of the money I earned at my job went towards clothes. I made a lot of money at my job so I was never too concerned about spending too much of it.
Q: Did your parents approve of the amount of money you would be spending on clothes?
A: Since I got good grades and did not get into trouble, they never saw a problem with it. My mother also loves to shop, and whenever I went into the city to buy clothes she would buy a lot as well, often much more than I did. Sometimes they would tell me to save money, and remind me that in the real world I would have to pay for many other things so clothes could not be such a priority. However, they seemed to think that since it was my own money I was spending, there was not much they could do to stop it. I guess they thought it was something I would grow out of.
Q: But this was not the case…
A: Absolutely not. As soon as I got to college, I started spending much more.
Q: What do you think prompted this change?
A: Many things. In DC there is an unlimited amount of stores. My first week here I spent close to $800. My favorite area to shop was Georgetown. I would go into Zara, Anthropologie, Tommy Hilfiger, you name it. All of my favorite stores were concentrated together, I could just go into one after another.
Q: Were you shocked by how much you spent in one week?
A: Honestly, I did not even realize I had spent this much until my debit card got declined. I knew I was spending a lot but I did not want to even check the balance. Part of me saw this coming, but another part of me was in denial.
Q: Was this your own money?
A: Yes, this was what was left over from my job at home.
Q: Did you decide to cut back on spending for a while?
A: Initially, yes. But it was too hard to resist shopping. No matter where I went in DC there was always something cute or trendy that I just could not resist. I stopped shopping at the expensive stores in Georgetown for a while, but I still managed to spend quite a lot of money even at cheaper stores.
Q: How did you pay for this, with your savings gone?
A: I used a credit card that my parents got me for ‘emergencies’. I felt bad doing this, but I justified it to myself because I knew my parents made a lot of money and they probably wouldn’t even notice. I had a pretty large scholarship as well, and in my mind I saw this as a reason for me to spend more without feeling guilty.
Q: Did your parents eventually catch on?
A: They were upset when they saw that I cleaned out my savings account, and when they saw their credit card bill, they were angry. However, I told them I would stop using that, and stop shopping so much in general.
Q: Did you?
A: For a while. I really did feel bad about going around my parents’ backs, and I wanted them to trust me. But then in October, I signed up for my first credit card. I had been getting offers for a while, since I was in high school, but I never really needed one since I had my debit card. But by this point, I was really missing my shopping sprees and figured I owed it to myself.
Q: Did your parents know that you signed up for a credit card?
A: No. I felt bad about this, but I told myself that I would get a job so I would be able to pay for the bills.
Q: How did having a credit card change the way you shopped?
A: It was like having a gift card that I could use wherever I wanted. I knew this wasn’t the case, but it was so easy to just swipe away and forget about it. I actually did get a job, so I wasn’t too concerned about the amount of money I was spending. I went back to my old habits of going to Georgetown and shopping in nearly every store, except now it was a daily thing. I would probably spend around $200 a day.
Q: Did your friends think this was unusual, or did they have similar habits?
A: My friends all loved to shop, but they definitely did not spend as much as I did. I guess they assumed that my parents were paying for it, because they always commented on how lucky I was to get to shop this much.
Q: Did your shopping get in the way of your everyday life?
A: Definitely. I would sit in class and have my laptop open the entire time, with six different windows open to different online websites of stores. I would sometimes even buy clothes online while I was in class. I stopped hanging out with my friends who didn’t shop as much as I did, because I felt bad leaving a store with three shopping bags when they were on a budget. I also stopped spending money on anything that was not clothing related, so I missed out on a lot of movies, dinners, and nightclubs with my friends.
Q: When you got your first bill, were you shocked?
A: It was for close to $8000 dollars. Honestly, I was not surprised because I knew I had been spending a lot, but seeing the figure on paper was pretty scary.
Q: How did you handle this?
A: Pretty much in the worst way possible. The money I made at my job wasn’t even close to enough to cover it. I decided to just sign up for another card. I wasn’t thinking about the consequences at all, I was just thinking about how badly I needed to shop. I actually went out that day and bought a pair of $400 boots.
Q: When did it dawn on you that you had a problem?
A: One night in the middle of November, I was in my room as my roommate and our friends were getting ready to go out to dinner and to a club. Like I said, I rarely did these things because I preferred to spend all of my money on clothes. But this particular night, something hit me. I looked around at all the shopping bags and clothes literally spilling out of my closet, but I was sitting in sweats on a Friday night because I couldn’t afford to go out and enjoy wearing these things. I realized that I barely even wore most of the things I bought more than once or twice, as I would get bored and buy more. That night I called my mom crying, and told her what was going on.
Q: How did your parents react?
A: They were shocked, and very upset. They realized that I had a bigger problem than the average teenager who liked to spend. We discussed everything in detail during Thanksgiving, and we decided that I would have to take debt management classes and go to a therapist to deal with my shopping addiction.
Q: How did you pay for the debt?
A: My parents paid it initially so I would not ruin my credit for the future, but they said that I had to get a job and pay them back.
Q: Did that happen?
A: Yes. Once I got back to school for the spring semester I worked two jobs. I barely ever went shopping and did not touch the credit card applications that were mailed to me frequently. I have been paying my parents back ever since. It was such a scary experience, and I knew that if I let it happen again my parents would not be so forgiving and help me out.
Q: What did you learn from this experience?
A: I learned that, especially in college, you have to be extremely careful to budget your money. Especially for those of us who like to shop and live in an expensive city- my mom described it as a ‘perfect storm’ for credit card debt. Its very hard to stay away from those expensive stores, and even now after everything I have been through I sometimes think it wouldn’t be a big deal if I just had one little spree. But then I remind myself of how quickly those sprees can get out of control. I have learned to satisfy my need to shop by going to thrift stores and consignment stores where I can buy designer brands for a fraction of their original price. I also go out with my friends a lot more, and we try to find fun things to do that require spending no money, like walking around at night at the monuments or having lunch in the part in Adams Morgan.
Q: What is your advice to other college students who love to shop?
A: Definitely create a monthly budget and stick to it. If you enjoy shopping at expensive stores like I do, give yourself a certain amount of money to spend there and that’s it. Give yourself a certain amount of money to spend for food and other non-shopping expenses. And save a little for emergencies. Also, check your balance frequently so you wont have any awkward interactions with sales clerks you’re your card gets declined, like I did. Also, think of what you need to buy and buy those things before anything else. I know I would spend money on tank tops and sandals in late September and then have no money left for a warm coat. If you want to splurge, make sure it is an item that you will wear over and over, like a coat or a pair of boots. But try to stay away from expensive shopping meccas like Georgetown if you know you will not be ale to resist the urge to buy something in every store. Also, look up a store online before you go there, so you know what the prices are and will not spend more than you planned on. Remember, you can enjoy shopping in a city without going into debt; you just have to be smart about it. I promise you, its actually more fun to find cheap clothes that look just as good as the stuff I used to pay $500 for.
Q: Were you shocked by how much you spent in one week?
A: Honestly, I did not even realize I had spent this much until my debit card got declined. I knew I was spending a lot but I did not want to even check the balance. Part of me saw this coming, but another part of me was in denial.
Q: Was this your own money?
A: Yes, this was what was left over from my job at home.
Q: Did you decide to cut back on spending for a while?
A: Initially, yes. But it was too hard to resist shopping. No matter where I went in DC there was always something cute or trendy that I just could not resist. I stopped shopping at the expensive stores in Georgetown for a while, but I still managed to spend quite a lot of money even at cheaper stores.
Q: How did you pay for this, with your savings gone?
A: I used a credit card that my parents got me for ‘emergencies’. I felt bad doing this, but I justified it to myself because I knew my parents made a lot of money and they probably wouldn’t even notice. I had a pretty large scholarship as well, and in my mind I saw this as a reason for me to spend more without feeling guilty.
Q: Did your parents eventually catch on?
A: They were upset when they saw that I cleaned out my savings account, and when they saw their credit card bill, they were angry. However, I told them I would stop using that, and stop shopping so much in general.
Q: Did you?
A: For a while. I really did feel bad about going around my parents’ backs, and I wanted them to trust me. But then in October, I signed up for my first credit card. I had been getting offers for a while, since I was in high school, but I never really needed one since I had my debit card. But by this point, I was really missing my shopping sprees and figured I owed it to myself.
Q: Did your parents know that you signed up for a credit card?
A: No. I felt bad about this, but I told myself that I would get a job so I would be able to pay for the bills.
Q: How did having a credit card change the way you shopped?
A: It was like having a gift card that I could use wherever I wanted. I knew this wasn’t the case, but it was so easy to just swipe away and forget about it. I actually did get a job, so I wasn’t too concerned about the amount of money I was spending. I went back to my old habits of going to Georgetown and shopping in nearly every store, except now it was a daily thing. I would probably spend around $200 a day.
Q: Did your friends think this was unusual, or did they have similar habits?
A: My friends all loved to shop, but they definitely did not spend as much as I did. I guess they assumed that my parents were paying for it, because they always commented on how lucky I was to get to shop this much.
Q: Did your shopping get in the way of your everyday life?
A: Definitely. I would sit in class and have my laptop open the entire time, with six different windows open to different online websites of stores. I would sometimes even buy clothes online while I was in class. I stopped hanging out with my friends who didn’t shop as much as I did, because I felt bad leaving a store with three shopping bags when they were on a budget. I also stopped spending money on anything that was not clothing related, so I missed out on a lot of movies, dinners, and nightclubs with my friends.
Q: When you got your first bill, were you shocked?
A: It was for close to $8000 dollars. Honestly, I was not surprised because I knew I had been spending a lot, but seeing the figure on paper was pretty scary.
Q: How did you handle this?
A: Pretty much in the worst way possible. The money I made at my job wasn’t even close to enough to cover it. I decided to just sign up for another card. I wasn’t thinking about the consequences at all, I was just thinking about how badly I needed to shop. I actually went out that day and bought a pair of $400 boots.
Q: When did it dawn on you that you had a problem?
A: One night in the middle of November, I was in my room as my roommate and our friends were getting ready to go out to dinner and to a club. Like I said, I rarely did these things because I preferred to spend all of my money on clothes. But this particular night, something hit me. I looked around at all the shopping bags and clothes literally spilling out of my closet, but I was sitting in sweats on a Friday night because I couldn’t afford to go out and enjoy wearing these things. I realized that I barely even wore most of the things I bought more than once or twice, as I would get bored and buy more. That night I called my mom crying, and told her what was going on.
Q: How did your parents react?
A: They were shocked, and very upset. They realized that I had a bigger problem than the average teenager who liked to spend. We discussed everything in detail during Thanksgiving, and we decided that I would have to take debt management classes and go to a therapist to deal with my shopping addiction.
Q: How did you pay for the debt?
A: My parents paid it initially so I would not ruin my credit for the future, but they said that I had to get a job and pay them back.
Q: Did that happen?
A: Yes. Once I got back to school for the spring semester I worked two jobs. I barely ever went shopping and did not touch the credit card applications that were mailed to me frequently. I have been paying my parents back ever since. It was such a scary experience, and I knew that if I let it happen again my parents would not be so forgiving and help me out.
Q: What did you learn from this experience?
A: I learned that, especially in college, you have to be extremely careful to budget your money. Especially for those of us who like to shop and live in an expensive city- my mom described it as a ‘perfect storm’ for credit card debt. Its very hard to stay away from those expensive stores, and even now after everything I have been through I sometimes think it wouldn’t be a big deal if I just had one little spree. But then I remind myself of how quickly those sprees can get out of control. I have learned to satisfy my need to shop by going to thrift stores and consignment stores where I can buy designer brands for a fraction of their original price. I also go out with my friends a lot more, and we try to find fun things to do that require spending no money, like walking around at night at the monuments or having lunch in the part in Adams Morgan.
Q: What is your advice to other college students who love to shop?
A: Definitely create a monthly budget and stick to it. If you enjoy shopping at expensive stores like I do, give yourself a certain amount of money to spend there and that’s it. Give yourself a certain amount of money to spend for food and other non-shopping expenses. And save a little for emergencies. Also, check your balance frequently so you wont have any awkward interactions with sales clerks you’re your card gets declined, like I did. Also, think of what you need to buy and buy those things before anything else. I know I would spend money on tank tops and sandals in late September and then have no money left for a warm coat. If you want to splurge, make sure it is an item that you will wear over and over, like a coat or a pair of boots. But try to stay away from expensive shopping meccas like Georgetown if you know you will not be ale to resist the urge to buy something in every store. Also, look up a store online before you go there, so you know what the prices are and will not spend more than you planned on. Remember, you can enjoy shopping in a city without going into debt; you just have to be smart about it. I promise you, its actually more fun to find cheap clothes that look just as good as the stuff I used to pay $500 for.
Interviewed by Lisa Di Venuta
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