I'm in a frenzy, help!!

I know I haven't been with this detailing community for long at all but Mark...

Its really hard to take you seriously when you post things like this. It's like that smoker in your life that always tells you they're going to quit and yet behind you or even in front of you they buy a pack and smoke a stick every hour. A few months ago you said the same thing and yet went ahead and ordered some more.

I mean dude its your money so spend it like how you want too but if you want to stop being a shopaholic talk to someone IRL. Friends, family or go out and talk to a social like worker to help you curve your cravings to go out and buy stuff.
 
Priorities and will power buddy. Everyone has their demons. At least yours doesn't have a chemical dependency intertwined in your brain. If you don't want to buy something it's up to you... unless of course Obama gets his way... Then you will buy what he tells you to buy... or you would be breaking the law! LOL! Im the MAN
 
Rei86 said:
Its really hard to take you seriously when you post things like this.
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You have your opinion of me, and that's fine. Lots of great people on this site that have given some good advice. Does this mean I'm never going to buy another product again? Of course I am. I just have to be a lot smarter about it. I never really stopped and thought about the consequences of being a shopaholic. I realize that now, and that's a very important step.
 
Hi Mark.

I'm truly sorry to hear about your current state-of-affairs and what you perceive it to entail. I always assumed that you have a very blessed life and enjoyed sharing those blessings. Your enthusiasm for also sharing in your passion for Detailing, different Detailing products, and different Detailing processes was, for me, an anticipated moment upon "logging in". I also assumed your purchases were for researching...seeking to find the best of the best...and again sharing your results, as you have so unselflessly demonstrated.

But if what I have interpreted from this thread of yours is true, then sometimes an underlying message being sent is often overlooked, unseen, unknown....not because of anyone's lack of attention or interest...but rather not to have been otherwise trained to do so. I will admit that I am one of those not properly trained to do so.

In my 'layman-speak', then, maybe what your expressing is something akin to buyer's remorse. IMHO, this is the happenstance of a culture influenced by the pervasive marketing/advertising machines. Living in, or influenced by, a capitalistic society that allows these machines to run full throttle, sometimes makes one feel that consumption of material goods will: Better our lives, enhance our status, and that the euphoria of shopping will be never-ending. That is truly what they are hoping for.

Perhaps you inadvertantly fell under their hypnotic spell. No need to feel guilty (buyer's remorse?). A lot of us do. I, too, have fallen victim to their snare on occasion...sometimes still do.

Businesses, and their marketing/advertising machines, I feel, have one thing in mind. That is to evoke a feeling of "got-to-have-it", "got-to-have-it-now"; and, to extract as much of our income as possible without having to resort to any violent measures.

To combat this, I will resort to turning to the natural wonders that abound around me; my enjoyment of being with family and friends; and the comfort and peace that brings. I wish that I lived close to one of our Nation's beaches...Looking out over the great expanse of an ocean kinda puts things in perspective for me.

Don't know if this will help, or not; but you should believe that:

I'm sincerely hoping the best for you! :)

Bob
 
This worked a little bit for my spending. I made a committment to pick a favorite product in each catagory then started giving away the others/dupes. When they run-out my favs gets replaced with gallon size.
I agree with those that say OK to spend on a hobby. Think of what some others spend on theirs. PLUS, this is a healthy one.
 
Mark, I came to the same realization a couple months ago. Over the last 6 months I've spent less than $300 dollars on detailing supplies. My cart is jammed with supplies, but when it comes time to check out, I ask myself what items do I really really want or need, and drop the rest.

Another reason I stopped buying so many supplies was because of a personal challenge I took on. I remember reading a post by Flash and Dana about having only a few products and working with what they had. I also learned a very important lesson from TOGWT, "it's the detailer and technique, not the product" that makes the biggest difference. Great products mask our limitations as detailers and I don't know about anybody else, but that doesn't sit well with me. They're supposed to be an aid, not a crutch. In short Mark, you believed in your list, now believe in yourself and use it!!!

Good luck buddy!
 
Mark, I know that you do detailing on the side.....so perhaps you are striving for perfection in the form of using the best possible product???
 
CEE DOG said:
unless of course Obama gets his way... Then you will buy what he tells you to buy... or you would be breaking the law! LOL! Im the MAN
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Corey, did you REALLY need to interject ridiculous/baseless/outlandish/bull$*** political crap into all of this? :nomore:

I mean seriously, pal... get a grip on reality and try to have some respect for Mark and his situation. :poke:
 
Marc's got the bug indeed ... have you tried the new 303 Speed Detailer >>>

Time will come and pass and you will focus on something else. It happens and time will resolve the issue.
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
You have your opinion of me, and that's fine. Lots of great people on this site that have given some good advice. Does this mean I'm never going to buy another product again? Of course I am. I just have to be a lot smarter about it. I never really stopped and thought about the consequences of being a shopaholic. I realize that now, and that's a very important step.
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Because you feel good when you buy something. Everyone does when they purchase something. Or when they see someone else purchase something and they want it, its an envious purchase.

I know you have a lot of products so just hold off till they've been used up. Take back a bit when you see something you want and really ask yourself is you need it. Hell my last order was around 400ish bucks but I stepped back and asked myself if I really even needed it all so I trimmed it.

It's just willpower and the ability to ask yourself if you really need it or not. If you can't do that seek help from someone close to you.
 
Mark, why not get married? It may help settle you down...someone else will want to spend your money.
 
Lots of great advice here...thanks Mark because I was feeling I'm getting into a similar direction.
All joke aside, Bunky is right. Being married is like having an emergency brake :D
 
Mark,

C.S. Lewis said, "True Friendship happens when one person looks at another and says, 'Thank God! I thought I was the only one!"

My point is that you are not the only one; many on here have said the same as you, in post after post. If we really look at it closer, I bet all of us, to one degree or another, are guilty of a bit of this, in not guilty of a lot of it.

I want to go back to what I said before, however, that using the products (all of them if possible!) you bought to continue detailing is an answer to all of this. It would mean that you could not buy too many products for a long time, and it would mean that you did not waste money on products because you used them for a common good!
 
i will admit, since i joined the forum, my spending has gone up. the sales are too good to pass on. guess being that my truck is new, 2010 and i really like it, helps fuel the fire. but as of late i have become OCD about products and detailing. guess its a release for me. and it is fun waiting for UPS. i think joining the forum and conversing with other addicts put more fuel on the fire. and i noticed i am on here wayyyyyyy to much!!! once the sun passes i am already thinking of another coat of SNH. ITS A SICKNESS.....INDEED.
 
I can totally relate from the outside of what he is going thru. My mother in law for lack of a better description got caught up in this twice. They ran two business pulling in multi-millions a year down the drain with excessive spending. While I am not insinuating anyone has a problem like that, it's something that can strain personnel and professional relationships. I would pursue discussion with people you feel you can trust and understand. In the meantime, and I know AG frowns on this a bit, maybe you can resell some of the things you've purchased yet do not use and make sure you do not spend the proceeds on more product. See if you can control it that way and get used to not having all the options stay with tried and true products. Good luck with getting that under control.
 
Mark and Bobby,

There is a flip side to all of this that all of us need to look at: the money saved verses the money spent! In my case I own two daily drivers with more than 100k miles on them and Mustang 5.0 and a Corvette. I started this because I was tired of paying 15$ a wash and 400$ for a full detail (the mustang is black! as is one of the daily drivers!).

If wash the daily drivers once a week and the other two once every two weeks , then I am saving about 160.00 a month. And that figure is a bit conservative!

If I do a full detail on each car once every 4 months then I am doing roughly 5000 dollars of work on them. Even after taking materials I have spent out of it I am saving thousands of dollars. And I bet this has to be even more true for most on here because I am not detailing on the side.

Note that I am not saying we should not curve our apatite and spend more wisely. In fact, in the previous posts we have I have strong urged you (and all of us, really) to use the stuff we buy! And from what you wrote I really do think you need to set up some guide lines and practices to curve the spending greatly. But Let's see it for what it is! It is not like your buying drugs or spending time in bars! Your working on making cars, which you love, beautiful. And making a lot of great friends on here while you are at it. And helping a lot of us by sharing your knowledge! A bit hard to find a lot of fault in that! LOL
 
Hey Mark,

Relax big guy. Take a big breath. All is fine. You aren't married with kids, unless something happened over the past couple of months that I don't know about. Then you would really see your bank account disappear in large chunks. Wives (husbands), girlfriends (boyfriends) and significant others have a pretty good way of keeping our hobby's in check.

You have a wonderful list of products on your favorites list that will allow you to do just about anything you need to do within the scope of your knowledge. Use them up and only purchase when supply is low and on sale with free shipping. I know that it keeps me from spending too much money.

Richard made a good suggestion when he suggested building a birdhouse. Find something else to keep you busy for a month or so, instead of buying stuff online. Your forum friends will still be around, just like you were when I got back on a few weeks ago.

Most of the products that we use have subtle differences between them and can be interchanged with another. Instead of buying new stuff to try, how about using up the stuff that you have in your collection? How about trying them in new situations and learn about what they can and can't do? Heck, I've used carpet cleaner as a wheel cleaner and it worked really well. I've been using plastic polish on my BMW black plastic trim for ten years. I've used a glaze to clean my rims. Be inventive instead of buying a one use product. Cars have been detailed to near perfection going back a long longer than you and I have been alive.

I told you before, if you want to try something, let me know. If I have it, you're only in Pasadena.
 
im the same way about all of this detailing stuff since ive been introduced to autogeek. i had no idea how crazy this detailing world is. except with me i dont have much money lol so i just add stuff little by little to my cart and purchase at one time when theres nice big sales like that expand sale 2 weeks ago
 
lol just start doing some side jobs to pay for the stuff.How much you think these guys spend on some of the cars you see on here ?But I dont think they are shaking them lol. AG THE PUSHERS.
 
I have the same issue, I love new products. Its fun to get a new package. I don't think there is anything wrong with a hobby unless it interferes with another aspect of your life.

That said, I gave up buying new stuff for the whole year, it was my new years resolution. I've been good, the only time I actually strayed was when I had to return some autoparts and had to exchange for store credit. I did resolve to not use the stuff until next year.

As much as I enjoy it, it is a waste of time and money. I have stuff that is two or three years old that I haven't tried yet.
 
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