This is a guest post by one of my awesome blogger pals, LaTisha Styles of Young Finances . LaTisha Styles is a motivational speaker, millennial money expert, and spokesperson specializing in simple finance for millennials.Young Finances teaches simple personal finance for millennials.

Do I need this?

No, put it back, you don’t need it.

But it’s so cute!

Stop doing this to yourself, you know you can’t afford it.

But I will be able to afford it in a week.

Yeah, but in a week you’ll be back for something else. Just put it back.

Hmm… Ok.

Inside I agreed with my rational self, but on the outside I still had the sweater in my hand and I was on my way to the register.

For 6 years I had a shopping addiction. It all started when I was 18. I had no idea that signing up for a credit card would lead me into a debt ditch. Instead I quickly registered, received my free t-shirt, and proceeded to spend money each weekend on stuff I did not need.

I enjoyed the thrill of the swipe. I didn’t have to hand over any cash and I could think about how to pay for the items later. I tried to justify each of my purchases.
As long as I could see myself using the item then it was ok to buy. But in the back of my mind I knew that I was hurting my future self.

Fast forward 6 years and I managed to rack up $22,000 dollars worth of credit card debt. I knew that it was time to start paying that down.

During those 6 years I had tried eliminating my credit card debt many times. But each time I made a little space on my credit card, I would start swiping again.

Here’s how I finally broke my shopping addiction and began to eliminate my credit card debt.

I established true needs and wants.

In the past, a need was justified pretty easily. I simply found a way to fit the item into my regular life. Fall is coming? I guess I need a new sweater. Want a homemade mojito? Hmm.. sounds like it’s time to buy a new blender.

I always found an excuse to shop because I always gave myself an excuse. It was much harder to justify my purchases when I finally started being honest with myself.

That conversation would sound entirely different now.

Do I need this?

No, put it back, you don’t need it.

You’re right. So that means I just want it.

Do you have the cash to buy it?

Well, not today.

Ok then put it back.

Alright.

It seems simple but it took me months of practice before I started to listen to my more rational self. And in the meantime I paid off every dollar of my credit card debt.

I made a video on exactly how I did it. It will be published on my youtube channel found here and If you subscribe, you’ll be the first to see it.

What about you? Do you have a spending addiction? Have you overcome one? if so, how did you do it?