Are you shopaholic?

I’ve encountered husbands telling me that their wife is a shopaholic. With no reason at all, they share or confide with me the shopping skills of their wives. Even men whom I just met. I am sure that they have no bad intention whatsoever and absolutely with no intention to besmirch their respective spouse’s reputation, but maybe they were just subconsciously voicing out whatever inner feelings they have about the level of spending excellence of their sweethearts. You see, men think differently from us women. Their perspective about how many clothes or shoes or home decors we should have, must have, or would like to have is of course different from ours. My husband was like that too in our first 20 years of marriage. I think I’ve mentioned it before, when I came home with a blue supot from SM, he would say “pinayaman mo na naman si Henry Sy”. It took him awhile to accept my love for plates. Before, he would say “plato na naman? Di ba marami ka na nyan?”
Ngayon, when he spots a nice plate which he thinks I would like, he would even encourage me to buy it. If I don’t, he begins to worry if I am having a migraine attack or if I am having a fever or an onset of flu.

Let’s go back to the other husbands.

One common comment or similarity in their situations is the claim that the wife’s personal things have occupied their own cabinets or closets. One husband said they have a his and hers walk-in closets but his wife’s clothes, shoes, bags are already inside what’s supposedly his. And based on his estimation, what remains in the space for his clothes is only about a fourth of his walk in closet.

Another husband said they have a four bedroom house and his wife’s unopened shopping bags, at least three hundred pairs of shoes in boxes have spilled over to the two other bedrooms. His children from his first marriage don’t have any more room because his new wife has invaded the bedrooms for his two children including the closets.

A neighbor told me his wife consistently shops twice a week and she brings home at least two dresses with matching two pairs of shoes each week. Which he computes to total 100 dresses and 100 pairs of shoes a year. They’ve been married for 5 years and that brings his computation to his wife having around 5oo dresses with matching pairs of shoes and sandals. This doesn’t count the number of handbags that go with the shoes and dresses. He is a real estate developer and I tell you that he has a huge house. Actually, it already qualifies as a mansion. He told me his wife’s things can be found under the stairs, in the two storage rooms, in three other bedrooms, in the cabinet inside his home office, in his walk in closet and on the floors. He loves his wife who is 15 years his junior. Syempre, treat her like a baby. Buy baby buy. Shop baby shop. He is not complaining about the amount of money she spends because he is wealthy but I think he is complaining because they are running out of space to place her loots.

I recently met a Filipino businessman based in Northern California. He told me his wife is a shopaholic. They have a custom house with 5 large bedrooms. His wife’s shopping prowess turned 2 of the bedrooms into her walk in closets. She also put her things inside the closets of the three other bedrooms supposedly for their sons. Update: he divorced his wife three months after he discovered that she has squandered all the money in his savings account. The money went to her shopping sprees and sadly, he claims she also spent it on her boyfriend.

He retired at the age of 50 after working for a government entity for 20 years. He got a fat retirement package and since then, all he does is to be at his wife’s beck and call. Everyday, he drives for her to the mall. To different malls.
She would shop for an hour or two while he sits in the car waiting for her call to pick her up at the mall’s entrance. He said she would always have a shopping bag in her hands. Whether it’s a pair of shoes, a blouse, fashion accessories, jeans, etc. He said she just buys, basta meron lang mabili, and when she gets home, she leaves the shopping bag inside one of the bedrooms and would totally forget about it. When they attend a wedding or birthday, she goes to one of the “shopping storage” and pick a gift.

One time, he was traveling to Bulacan to visit his relatives. Without his wife’s knowledge and approval, he said he filled up two maletas of handbags, shoes, clothes, fashion jewelries. These were unopened, unused items bought by his wife. He said she never noticed and until now, she hasn’t looked for them.

One guy asked me if I am like that. Am I a shopaholic? I don’t think so. If the meaning of shopaholic is filling up my own cabinet space, invading my husband’s closets, putting my clothes, shoes and bags in my daughter’s own cabinets, in the guest room, in my son’s cabinets, then I am definitely not a shopaholic not even in a small measure. I haven’t even filled up my own cabinets and closets. I don’t have a hundred pairs of shoes. I don’t have 50 handbags.

One of my OMB readers, Joey, once said that shopping adds years to a person’s life because shopping makes us happy. Maybe this is one of he reasons I am aging fast. I don’t shop as much. I should counter stress by shopping more. That reminds me I need some new undies.

Princess Leia of Aldrenaan’s iconic cinammon buns

What’s so funny? Having a 40 D bra means having large breasts. Having large breasts means big boobs. Big boobs are not funny, they’re kind of heavy to carry but in some ways the woman feels sexy.