According to the statistics, four million British women are 'shopaholics', spending more than they earn, racking up debt ,and stress with it.
"When we 'grow up' and have cash in our pockets, we often become more reliant on paid-for-pleasures to entertain and uplift us" says Jessica Chivers, the self-styled "thinking woman's coach".
So, how's about returning to life's simple pleasures, by limiting your budget for a day or more? (Go on, it won't hurt!)
Imagine you had just £50 entertainment budget for the whole of next month. Maybe that's an easy proposition, maybe it's hard. It's certainly an interesting way to spend half an hour this lunchtime, don't you think?
What would you ditch? What's the most fun you can have for a fiver? What do you already enjoy that's free?
Here are ten ideas to get you started:
1.Sit in a public place and watch the world go by
2. Spend a day exploring everything within a mile radius of your home
3. Listen to a track from every CD in your collection
4. Make whatever's on page 69 of your least used cookbook
5. Design your ideal bedroom on paper - sketch, write, cut and paste pictures
6. Fill a charity bag with things that don't give you pleasure anymore
7. Pledge half a day's help to your most domestically challenged friend or relative
8. Join a different friend once a fortnight in their exercise of choice
9. Spend hours glamming yourself up in your favourite clothes - just because
10. Host a holiday supper - everyone brings a dish typical of their last holiday destination
For more inspirational ideas, dip into 101 Things to Do Before You Die (£7.99, Bloomsbury)
"It's fun and excellent for stretching comfort zones, jazzing up your life or distracting you from experiences you'd rather weren't happening" says Jessica.