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I feel that shopping spree is on in the city with frequent ongoing big brand promotional sales that trap customers, to keep their companies profitable and to restraint the lull in their businesses. It’s quite obvious; everybody likes to shop, it’s legal and greatly encouraged if you have a handful of money. After all, to many of us, brands mean style and quality and we are sometimes duped by them, as they are not always 100% pure in quality.

Today, I am writing about booby-traps, we girls, especially the youth, fall prey to the shopping spree and a few tips for avoiding this problem. Perhaps, they’ll make you think twice before going on your next spending spree. Things came to my head when my friend and her husband’s usual arguments shifted to a fight and a threatening divorce. She was spending lavishly on shopping and putting a financial strain on her husband’s hard-earned money and did not realize that she was putting her family in jeopardy.

Like many other addictions, shopping addiction can come about for a variety of reasons. The most common among a Pakistani society is all about to wear new, stylish and trendy outfits on every family get together and other ceremonies, be it an engagement, a wedding, birthdays, wedding anniversaries or special occasions such as Eid.

They always want to wear new clothes, shoes and carry, matching handbag and jewelry. They won’t repeat the same dress on another occasion. With a psyche that they cannot wear the same dress the second time on another occasion as people would think she repeated the same dress once again.

I would like to give a reference to Princess Kate Middleton. Unlike most of us, her life is the opposite of normal — after marrying Prince William, her world revolves around public appearances, palaces, and International Tours. But there’s a part of her life that is pretty ordinary: Just like the rest of us, she likes to re-wear her favorite outfits multiple times, which proofs that her fashion recycling is proof that she’s down to earth. She regularly repeats her outfits — and they still look stylish. She chose a sunny Roksanda Ilincic dress for a New Zealand trip in 2014 and Wimbledon in 2016. As shown in the photo.

To identify the root of one’s problem, most people need specialized help. One should look around to find who is adding fuel to the fire and why is there this desire of hoarding our wardrobes with all those clothes, shoes, bags and other unwanted accessories. Is it the desire to be perfect and be well-dressed … having a glamorous lifestyle, keeping up with the modern appearance, among the peers and family. I would say come out of this unrewarding race and think constructively, my husband rightly points out, “The problem lies in their personalities and their personalities need to be developed”.

If a person’s personality is underdeveloped, they become obsessed with appearances and fashion protocols. Thus, these individuals are really confused and perhaps, demoralized utilizing their financial earning and saving to cover up their weak personalities. In a nutshell, this “fashion gala” acts as a cover-up, what one truly is and what he or she is showing to the world.

Most of us, at some point, do feel guilty deep inside when we purchase something that we do not even need or sometimes do not even want. Do we really work hard so that we can shop harder? A question one must ask himself each time he goes out for shopping. Most of us try to find inner solace in shopping and we often confuse shopping with a hobby. Shopping is not a hobby. We need to focus on other activities such as find out our hobbies and keep them. Gardening and playing cricket can be counted among hobbies. Hobbies turn out to be more comforting so we should look into these aspects rather than turning our attention towards the appearance-driven things and increase the burden more on our financial stresses.

Japanese minimalist movement – where less is considered spending less time on cleaning or shopping and spending more time with friends, hobbies, or travel. Minimalism is a lifestyle in which one reduces his possessions to the least possible. It simply gives one a chance to think about what it really means to be happy. Thus, it shows that they enjoy small pleasures and not the extravagance. They believe in simple lifestyle even if they can afford more.

The Holy Quran has labeled the people who waste and are extravagant as the ‘Brothers of Satan’. It has advised balance and moderation to its followers in all affairs. Extravagance and waste are equivalent to going past the proper boundaries and is the opposite of moderation.

Finally, we should mold ourselves into new roles such as volunteering to help those who are in need rather than hoarding our wardrobe. There’s nothing more rewarding than helping someone in need, and the value of their gratitude far exceeds that of a Mango Shirt, Charles and Keith shoes or Prada handbags.

So, we should bring positive changes to our lives and shopping habits. We should endure far from the attraction of departmental stores and designer shops, defy leisure spending, and materialize our happiness with helping out others in need and follow the Quran.