It happens around now, every year. There’s been no long weekend for three months straight. Usually dreary weather. Midway through Sun Run 10K training, and it’s getting hard. And now, one blessed day, the sun comes out. There’s only one response, and it’s called Retail Therapy. Don’t laugh. You know exactly what I’m talking about here: the madness of a grossly-out-of-proportion-to-one’s-means spending spree. An antidote to boredom. Or loneliness. Or SADs (this is Vancouver, after all).

My worst was a ticket purchase … to England the next day … mere hours after a first fight with my then-boyfriend. Two weeks, £2,000 (that would be $8,000 Cdn.) later he and I made up, but boy was my lingerie budget seriously trashed. In fact, so was my whole financial picture.

Therein lies the rub. Retail Therapy, like any other binge, feels great in the moment, and awful the morning after. I’ve learned a few things in the years since England. For my fellow Retail Therapists, I offer the following counter strategies:

1. If I find something I must buy, I give myself permission to buy it in 24 hours (or a month, if it’s a ticket to Italy). This gives my sanity a fighting chance to change my mind. Frequently, the urge will pass in a day. If not, the purchase decision is at least better grounded, and it won’t wreak as much havoc, if any.

2. Address the underlying need. Dissatisfied with my home: Do I need the new couch from Liberty’s, or would re-arranging the furniture suffice? Feeling lethargic: Do I need a ski weekend in Whistler and a new snowboard, or would scheduling a few runs along the seawall work? Dumped egregiously by a boyfriend: Do I need to go to Cuba or … wait … yeah, in that case, Cuba. Definitely. *

3. I’ve figured out the times I will likely be vulnerable, and prepare in advance. Surprisingly, there are good strategies for handling boredom or breakups that don’t require huge cash. Friends, small celebratory actions, intellectual engagements – these and other ideas are high on fulfillment and easy on the budget.

I hope these help. If all else fails, at least, at least, choose a country with a favourable exchange rate. There are lots of them, you know. If only I’d gone to Mexico instead…

*Strike that from the record.