Yep. I took to using "Consumer Reports" recommendations to overcome my anxiety and self doubt with information so Id get necessary purchases over with. Of course, that can lead to endless hoarding of information as well, but it helped me make such decisions. I was taught by my abusers I was smart in school but had no common sense. It was a lie, like most things they tried to say about me. They didnt really know me or try to get to know me as a person. Turns out Im fine in the common sense area. Hope you find you are, too.

I think mine is just dislike for shopping. Especially for phones. Gotta talk to HUMANS to buy one of those things. Has nothing to do with my agoraphobic tendencies...

Okay, okay, I guess I have that, too.

It sure has made me a clever make-do artist, though. Want any tips on making that worn out old phone do another 10,000 minutes? Rubber bands and tin foil are the key ingredients. A little piece of chewing gum can hold a key in place for months.

Tizzy I don't think its that uncommon really for some of us. Easy to buy for others, but hard for ourselves. I think for some its a matter of seeing our own self-worth. But it is important to remember that you deserve some good things in life as well as others. Would you give a phone to someone you love if they needed it? Don't you deserve the same consideration? Love yourself to get the things in life that you need as well.

I will go to the mall KNOWING I want/need to buy something. Like boots, for example, so I can winterize my skirts...

I'll find a pair, but there are black and brown ones. I literally freeze. Then I'll leave with nothing, in tears sometimes.

I think it's b/c I grew up with my father saying that I was horrible and can't do anything right. So I'm so afraid that I'll make the "wrong" choice. What if I should have bought the brown one??? It's a real mind f*ck.

Sometimes, I'll just buy both and take them home to see which ones I like better. It's too overwhelming in the mall. I can always take back the other pair.