Vuitton & compulsive spending

GO NOW: Take me straight to Louis Vuitton and the perils of compulsive spending

Tiffers van Tien

Treat compulsive spending


Vicky is a shopaholic. Her credit cards are maxed out. She owes thousands of dollars to friends and family. She says: I've got a great job at a radio station in London, I rent a beautiful flat (apartment) in Chalk Farm, and I drive an old but immaculate 3-series BMW.

On the surface, I'm doing really well. To many people I'm a picture of success. I wear the best outfits money can buy. I go to work in Louboutin and Jimmy Choo shoes.

My outfits are from the most exclusive designer boutiques in New Bond Street, where Victoria and David Beckham buy their clothes. The thing is, the Beckhams are multi-millionaires and I am not. I'm struggling. I'm up over my head in debt.

Leonisa COLECCION MAXY 2011

So what should I do? All this has me wondering, should I get a payday loan? In U.S. dollars, I owe about $40,000 on my credit cards, I owe my boyfriend about $15,000, my dad about $8,000, my brother $2,000, and my little sister $1,000. I'm often overdrawn at the bank, I can't make my cellphone and broadband payments, and there's no way I can afford to eat out with colleagues.

READ MORE about Vicky's compulsive spending and how it can be treated.