I am a consumer whore. (And how!)

The economy is bad. I have friends getting laid off, friends unable to find any sort of a job, friends about to graduate and terrified about their prospects, or lack thereof.

For the first time ever, I have a full-time job. I have benefits, and insurance, and it's not through my parents. I have a steady paycheck.

I already got my tax refunds back. And, as a bonus, I got more money in my federal return than I was supposed to. They sent me a letter saying, "We made a change to your return amount for this reason. If you object to this change, here's how to refute it. If you agree, you don't have to do anything." Oh, I agree all right! Give me all the extra money you want to.

I'm also not paying rent at the moment, which I'm sure is one of the biggest factors in my current situation.

My current situation being, frankly, awesome. For the first time in years, I have money in my savings account. I can pay all of my bills, all on time, and still have money to put aside and save. For the first time in years, when I got paid last Friday, I still had money in my checking account from my last paycheck.

This is amazing beyond belief. Beyond words. It just makes me smile and feel so, so proud of myself, of what I've done for myself.

So, since I'm in such a good position, I'm trying to do my part to stimulate the economy. How selfless and giving of me, right? Right.

I bought an iPod touch, which I've mentioned here. I just bought a new camera, which was a fantastic deal, and something I'd been wanting for a long time anyway. (And it's seriously way better than my old one. It was way past time for an upgrade. And it's only my fourth camera ever in my life, as far as I can recall. I had a 110, then an APS, then my last digital, and now this one. But I digress.) But now, now I have a problem.

See, I can't stop shopping.

It started out innocently enough, with a trip to Target to pick up some things I needed. I found a couple clearance shirts, and got those, too. And then one day I went to Kohl's, and got a whole bag full of clearance goodies. And then today, today I went to the Mall of America. By myself.

Make note of this: I should never, ever be allowed to go to MOA by myself. Ever. I need someone with me to tell me not to buy things.

I like shopping by myself, because I'm a very slow shopper. I make a round through the store, grab the things that catch my eye, and head to the dressing room. But that's only round one. After I try things on, I may need different sizes, different colors, and while I'm fetching these variations, I'll probably see something else interesting that I missed the first time around. So I grab that, too, and head in for round two. And so on, and so on.

Other people get bored and frustrated by this behavior. I can't imagine why.

So I went to the MOA by myself today, and it was a big mistake. Or a giant success, depending on how you look at it. I managed to pass up the adorable Nine West green spring jacket that was $125, but I did drop quite a lot of cash at Marshall's, New York & Co, H&M, and Nordstrom's. I tried to stop. I tried to leave the mall. I had plans, and I was late. But every time I headed toward the exit by my car, another too-good-to-pass-by store jumped into my path. Naturally, I had to stop in.

I did eventually make it out of the mall, but not until I was woefully late to hanging out with a friend, and not until my wallet was significantly lighter and wetter (from all the crying it did [see, my situations is pretty good, for me. But I still feel like a poor college student, so I still get nervous and guilty spending any money at all, ever. And compared to a lot of people out there in the real world, I still really don't have that much money. At all. But again, I digress.]), and not until my feet were sore, and not until my hands hurt from carrying around such a variety of bags and hangers all day.

I think I could spend days at that mall. DAYS. I spent four hours there today, and I feel like I passed by a bunch of stores in attempt to speed up my journey from the car and keep my wallet from dehydrating. I did a lot of good shopping, I got a lot of good deals, and I passed by a lot of unnecessary, frivolous items. But my proudest moment of the day?

I managed to leave the mall without getting a Cinnabon.