Dr April Benson author of the book To Buy Or Not To Buy: Why We Overshop and How To Stop. It's a great book that I highly recommend to anyone who's ever shopped... in a recreational manner!!!

Here's the interview with Dr. April Lane Benson:

Deborah: Based upon your experience April, why do you think people shop compulsively?

April: There are as many reasons to overshop as there are overshoppers. Each one is a way of attempting to deal with thorny individual issues and unmet personal needs; each is based on what real overshoppers have told me over the years. Mostly, people shop to soothe themselves, temporarily ease depression, overcome negative self image, or to avoid dealing with something else. For some people, compulsive shopping is a response to stress, lose, or trauma, and an attempt to feel more in control. Sometimes people use compulsive shopping as a weapon, to express anger or seek revenge. Or, some may shop to hold on to love, as in the compulsive gift giver. Ultimately, compulsive buying is an attempt to resolve a personal issue or spiritual dilemma.

Deborah: Why are women more prone to be thought of as "shopaholics?"

April: Actually, this is a misconception; shopping is not just a woman's thing. Studies show that men and women were almost equally likely to be compulsive buyers. They do shop differently, however. Men tend to shop more in a "work" frame and women are more "leisure" shoppers. Women--who tend to be other- oriented and relationship-centered--tend to buy clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, and appearance oriented goods. While men--who tend to be self-oriented and activity-centered--often purchase electronics and sports equipment, primarily functional goods. Men and women also relate differently to what they have...women value their emotional and symbolic possessions, while men favor their functional and leisure items.

Also, men's shopping is more culturally acceptable. We tend to see men more as consumers and collectors, but not shoppers. While women's shopping habits are often seen as self-indulgent and unimportant. Call it what you will, the fact is that both genders are subject to serious abuses when it comes to buying behavior.

Deborah: What tips can you recommend to our readers who consistently overshop or spend beyond their means?

Here's April's Tips:

1. Be a private eye around your buying behavior. Identify the cues or triggers that lead to overshopping or overspending, e.g. a bad day at work, a fight with a spouse, feeling lonely, bored, or in need of reward, free time, or the holidays perhaps. Look for patterns and connections. It's important to realize that shopping is an equal opportunity, all-purpose mood changer, but works only temporarily. After a short while, your mood will often dip even below where it was before you shopped because now the guilt and the remorse are added to it.

2. Look at the consequences of your overshopping. In what areas of your life is it costing you? Financially? Emotionally? Socially? Occupationally? Spiritually?

3. Choose someone in your life to be a Shopping Support Buddy and brainstorm together about how that person will support you to stop overshopping.

4. Expect that you may very likely feel worse before you feel better, since the anesthetic qualities that the buying supplied are now gone.

5. Write down everything you spend and assign each expenditure a score, based on how necessary you deem it to be, from 0=entirely unnecessary, to 1/3=a little necessary, to 2/3=very necessary to 1, essential. At the end of the week, look at how many of your purchases you rated entirely or relatively unnecessary and then you'll see how much you could save if you were only buying things that were more necessary rather than less.

6. Make sure you allocate some money each month for Heartsongs, things that make your heart sing. Otherwise, you're putting yourself at risk for feelings of deprivation and a spending binge.

7, Consult one of the many online calculators that will help you to see the high cost of credit card debt.

8. Take control of your cues by avoiding them altogether, or limiting your exposure . If Bloomingdales is a cue...stay far away!

9. Also build in a pause between your impulse to buy and your actual buying behavior. During the pause, ask yourself:

a. Why am I here?
b. How do I feel?
c. Do I need this?
d. What if I wait?
e. How will I pay for it?
f. Where will I put it?

10. Use cash or a debit card, without overdraft protection. Know what's in your account at all times.

11. Make a list of your best reasons to stop overshopping. Keep this "Why Not Shop?" list with you at all times.

12. Ask yourself: What Am I Really Shopping For?. What underlying emotional needs have triggered my impulse to overshop? Instead of shopping, do something else that is healthy and life- enhancing to meet some of your underlying needs. If you shop because you're lonely, find another way to feel connected that builds self-esteem, not tears it down!

Remember: You can never get enough of what you don't really need.

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The ASX200 was up 1.5% in February as the market digested a heavy reporting season, as well as sovereign debt rumblings in Europe and China applying the brakes to their ever increasing economy. On the flipside iron ore and coking coal prices are running hot, the Australian economy is strong and overall signs globally are pointing in the right direction. The market has since gone on with these February gains rising 5% over the past couple of weeks and is consolidating around the 4800 mark.

Reporting Season

Overall we thought the reporting season was positive and did nothing to discourage the belief that expected 2011 Earnings Per Share growth recovery will be delivered. Some late cyclical names like Toll and QBE Insurance are still feeling the effects of a tough 2009 but in all better than expected earnings led to upgrades for the December half. Operating margins led the way as company's attacked balance sheets and tightened their belts while top line revenue growth failed to materialise for many sectors and stocks. We consider this quite normal in a cyclical upturn and believe as the recovery gathers pace and becomes more evident throughout the economy, revenue will follow suit. An event described as "inevitable" by our strategists given the current strength of most economic indicators. This strongly suggests that earnings upgrades will continue as late cyclical sectors such as media, transport and mining services emerge over 2010.

Globally

Overall the global picture is pretty good. Germany, France and India are travelling very well. European manufacturing expanded for a fifth month in February.

A factory index for the 16-nation euro region increased to 54.2, the highest since August 2007. We believe the state of Greece (2% of Europe) is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things however the highly geared UK remains a concern particularly if the upcoming election reveals a hung parliament which would have tough consequences for the GBP. China is slowing with manufacturing growing at a slower pace in February however we feel from a commodities point of view this is more a 2H10 story. China's growth rates are still likely to be around the encouraging 8/9% mark so we believe the long term story will remain intact.

US data remains positive and we don't see any reason for this to falter. Key recent data has included:

Consumer spending climbed more than expected in January by 0.5%, the 4th straight gain, as slowly American households are regaining some confidence in their job prospects, their income prospects and that's leading to a gradual expansion of consumer spending.

Retail sales rose in February suggesting household spending could grow at 2% over the first quarter this year which would be an important boost for GDP alongside inventory restocking and business investment. In the last 6 months there has only been one month where retail sales (excluding oil) fell and that was -0.1% back in December. There is undoubted strength there, not runaway growth but clearly defying all expectations that US consumption was going nowhere. It is not leading the recovery but is strong enough to add significantly to US GDP growth. Together with soaring share prices of big industrials stocks such as Boeing it looks like there is a broad based recovery taking place.

Employment: Initial jobless claims remain a third less than a year ago showing stabilisation in unemployment. This suggests that the recent dip in consumer confidence should not be a real cause for concern. Manufacturers boosted payrolls by 11,000 workers in January, the first gain in three years.

ISM for February signalled the 7th straight expansion as manufacturers increased production and employment. The jobs gauge rose to the highest level since Jan 2005 with the factory index at 56.5 which although down from the 5 year high of 58.4 set in January still is above 50 which signals expansion. Investment in equipment and software increased at an 18% annual rate in the fourth quarter, the most since 2000. Factory orders in the U.S. have been increasing after companies pared back inventories last year by a record $120 billion. Efforts to rebuild depleted stockpiles contributed 3.88 ppts to a fourth-quarter growth rate of 5.9% that was the strongest in more than six years. The need to rebuild inventories and invest in new equipment may keep factories hiring, prompting the rebound in employment to ripple through the rest of the world's largest economy.

Overall, the broad message from the data is the same whether it's US consumption or US Industrial spending or industrial production across Europe or OECD leading indicators. It's hard to find a real weakness at the moment. While it wont lead, the US consumer will be a useful adjunct to growth. Poor figures due to cold weather such as in construction and housing starts will play some havoc however we look to a rapid catch-up in the second quarter. We are expecting US GDP of 4% for the year.

Australian Share Market: February Reporting Season

Our strategists remain positive on the market, describing the current environment in Australia as a "classic cyclical recovery" that will be "very powerful". 2009 represented the first year of this recovery and showed all the typical signs ie very large returns across all stocks as confidence returned. History suggests 2010 to be much more volatile but still offer 10/15% returns.

Earnings delivery becomes harder as investors focus on top line revenues as opposed to cost cutting measures and monetary tightening will continue which will be a headwind particularly for consumption sectors. Hence we recommend a switch from high beta cyclicals to growth stocks focusing on the quality earners with high return on equity and strong Balance Sheets (even if PEs are high).

CSL very much fits this mould as it benefits from a stronger US Dollar (relatively) and trades at its lowest PE in a decade. As does a Carsales, Seek or Wotif which are high growth stocks having high 20+% returns on equity.

We still believe in a US recovery driven by the inventory cycle and a recovery in manufacturing. As discussed above, the consumer is not expected to be the leader of the recovery but we will be looking towards the September quarter for some signs of recovery here also. We suspect US data could reflect weakness in Jan/Feb due to snow and consumers unable to shop as a result though manufacturing data still likely to be very strong. As discussed previously key beneficiaries include QBE, CSL and Westfield, as well as stocks such as Newscorp, Computershare, Sonic Healthcare, Brambles, Billabong, James Hardie and Incitec Pivot, and direct US SP500 exposure via the ASX listed iShare IVV.

We had our London based head of commodities analyst in last week and he is "very, very bullish" on bulk commodities during the first half of this year.

There is still huge demand out of China for steel (especially in anticipation of higher iron ore prices) and he does not expect any slowdown to be felt until the second half. Coking coal appears to be going through a structural change that could last for 3 or 4 years while iron ore negotiations are expected to produce much higher prices than last year with Vale pushing for 80% hikes (still short of the 100% rise in current spot markets). BHP and RIO remain head and shoulders above the rest, while those with a higher risk appetite could look at more specific exposure via MacArthur Coal (coking coal) and Atlas Iron (iron ore).

Other names to note over the past month are Downer, Boart Longyear and Virgin Blue. They look very well priced at the moment and we expect significant outperformance over the medium term.

Research and comment by Macquarie Equities

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Managing on a Low Income
Wednesday 9th June 2010 for one session at REID CIT Campus
Cost $20
Struggling to make ends meet? Sometimes it can be hard to imagine getting ahead, let alone really getting there. Living on a low income can take a lot of energy and require a lot of skill balancing your budget from day to day. Our habits and attitudes have a lot to do with how we relate to our money and making ends meet. You may or may not already have good money management strategies in place. This course is one of the first simple steps to making the most of your money, from getting a greater grasp on your day to day budget and debt strategies, to your longer term superannuation strategies.

Superannuation Demystified
Wednesday 14th April 2010 at REID CIT Campus
Cost $50
This evening will cover the taxation strategy of superannuation including the taxation on contributions while in the scheme, and on the way out of the scheme. Technical strategies such as advantages and disadvantages of salary sacrifice to superannutaion and defined benefit superannuation schemes in the context of your financial life and estate plans will be covered.