How do you stop the compulsion to buy buy BUY more tea?!

So… I have so much tea that I will never be able to drink it all. Every so often I calc out my average consumption vs how much I have and it usually averages around 2yrs worth- and that is only because I occasionally purge my cupboard of samples and teas I’ve stopped loving with donations to friends and family… and despite that I cannot stop myself from buying more. I want to try them ALL!
This has never happened to me before, I’m usually a pro at managing my cash flow/hoarding habits.
So I’m looking for tips. Anyone care to share? or have any stories to tell? :)

131 Replies
Wonks said

You don’t stop. ಠ_ಠ

Wonks said

I tend to give other people my old crap that I don’t want anymore. This creates the illusion that I don’t buy that many teas…..

yup, that seems to be the only way! :)

yep!

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It’s pretty tough. I feel the same way. I just keep a wish list and tell myself that I’ll get some in the future. I try to get the teas I want in swaps so I can try them. I usually don’t want to buy a tea once I’ve tried it. I think the strongest factor to limiting my tea buying is a husband that regularly complains about how much space my tea is taking up. Although, I wouldn’t recommend getting married just to control your tea buying compulsions. :) The raised eye brows each time a package of tea arrives can get on your nerves.

Oh yes, the eye rolling is terrible!… and Mum is convinced that it’s causing my weight gain *sighs
Now that you mention it, I wouldn’t mind getting married… to bad I’m single right now haha

Tea causing weight gain? Why would she think that?
The money spent on my wedding was enough to keep me stocked on quality tea for the rest of my life. It’s much more economical to just get tea instead of married. But I suppose both have their benefits. :)

Geoffrey said

Heh. I cataloged a tea “wish list” a couple months back, mostly for samplers from various vendors I want to try, and some investment teas (pu’er beengs and strip-style oolongs with aging potential). Then I appended and tallied the price totals to it…. Thing got near $2000.

And I got scared.

I think perhaps the only sure route for the most hopeless cases among us is becoming a dealer to support the habit.

On the weight gain note, I’m rail thin and drink tea pretty much all day every day. I spoke with an acquaintance’s Chinese wife, who recently emigrated, and when learning of my tea habit she commented that the general assumption in China is that tea drinking makes you lose weight. I suppose this assumes that the tea is being taken without any cream or sweetener, which is how the vast majority of people in China drink it.

I have a thyroid condition and caffeine can aggravate it, apparently. I’m not saying she is wrong, but in moderation I think it’s ok!
You are probably right about the getting married business. Not to mention that hubby would likely also roll his eyes at my tea love :)

2k?! wow, that’s alota tea!!!
As for weight gain or loss, I’ve thrown up my hands at her now… no sense in fighting something so illogical! I agree with you about China, however I’m not sure they have many thyroid issues lol

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SimplyJenW said

I am going to try to pare things down a little by only making about 12 purchases this year (one for every month). Man, I think it will be hard, but sometimes the fun is in the planning….. And I have kind of broken the rules by ordering my February tea from overseas so it will be here by February. Yes, it is a sickness……

yep. I’ve checked myself into tea buying rehab. No more for me! until I cut down what I have, alot. and yes I am pouting!

Dinosara said

That’s a good idea! I think I will try the one per month plan as well.

I place several smaller orders a month and I think if I made the “one a month” rule I would just place one LARGE order Haha. Luckily I got a tea of the month club subscription for Christmas so I know I’ll get some tea even if I don’t spend :)

One per month… that will just keep my cupboard at stasis, maybe decrease it just a teeny bit. I have maybe two cups per day(if you don’t count my many resteeps) which is what, maybe 50g?
Nope, it’s cold turkey for me baby!!

Tea of the month… ah I’m too picky about my teas for that, with all my allergies and such I can’t indulge in that particular fancy. Oh well!

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Cheryl said

Wishlists and shopping lists (organizing those urges, ability to wait until an order is more cost efficient, or there is something else from same company that you want, etc etc). It can be very hard for obsessive personalities (such as myself). My motivation is to not be labeled OCD… keeping the “C” part in check is always on my mind.

Camiah said

I’m definitely O & C when it comes to some things. I steadfastly refuse to admit it is a problem—thus, I avoid the D.

wishlists… hmm yes that sounds dangerous but could be useful to!

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I think that’s an awesome plan, Jen!
To just have one tea order a month, the planning would be a lot of fun and could put a halt on too much impulse buying.

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Camiah said

What is this "stop buying’ thing of which you speak?

Actually, now all I have to do is remind myself of the six large Teavana tins (upsold! many times!), the box of samples, and the grocery bag full of Teavana bags of tea that I have nowhere to put because my tea cupboard is full to bursting. And not like organized full to bursting, I mean crammed full to bursting. As much as I hate the thought of not buying tea, I hate the chaos that my last purchase has rained down on my previously tidy(ish) kitchen.

Oh mine to. Bursting, so much that I’ve taken some of it to store in my room… for lack of anywhere else :/
I’ve taken over so much of the kitchen that my family has started to protest loudly, and often!

What is this "stop buying’ thing of which you speak? – that is exactly what I thought when I read the original post to this thread. Stop buying? Why, exactly would one want to do this? You’re not supposed to stop, are you?

hehe I will never stop!! but I do need to take a hiatus, until I can wittle down my current supply. and save up some monies to buy more!!

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Dorothy said

I make sure to never buy more tea than I can drink in a span of 6-12 months. So in our two person household (apartmenthold?), I have a max of 30 teas and no samples, or up to about 45 with samples. There are some types like green tea and darjeeling that benefit from this, because it keeps them fresh and I enjoy drinking fresh tea.

Also, I can’t afford every tea that interests me, so that fits in well to my tea limit.

My only advice is that when you suddenly find a tea that interested you, commit to not buying it until some time has passed (a week or a month). If you’re still SUPER excited to buy it, do so; but don’t if you’re less interested. This usually helps me with compulsive purchases.

how much do you drink in 6 months? I think I just need to figure that out. trouble is, if I stick with that plan, I can only buy maybe 30g per month and most of them have a 50g minimum! OI…

Putting it off sometimes works for me. and others, not so much. I guess it depends on the tea. I wish they sold them in smaller quantities at places other than Davids

Dorothy said

Not sure how accurate this is, but I use about 155g to 465g per month (5g to 15g x 31 days of the month). But that’s spread across different teas as I don’t drink from 1 bag exclusively all week. So in 6 months that would be 930g to 2736 but I am not likely to hit the bigger of the two.
As an example, most of my tea is usually in a 50g bag. 20 of them would be 1000g combined. So with the first months numbers I’d take a bit from each but still not finish them all. And in 6 months I would have to buy more tea at some point to replenish my stock.

You really do have a lot of teas, so I’d recommend finishing off what you can and sticking to samples. The seasonal DAVIDsTEA samples stuff is small right? Like 5-25g? That might be good if you wanna try something new every now and then.

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Dinosara said

I get the impulse, and at one point last fall I got so much tea that I felt completely overwhelmed. That feeling really helped curb my spending, so I haven’t had to do too much. Mostly I have to stay away from anything advertising sales because a good deal is my kryptonite. But I definitely understand what you’re going through!

oh me to. Sale? oh yes, I am hooked on those.
I think I’ll be ok with not buying tea for about a month and then I’ll start to get itchy again

LefTea said

But it was such a good deal and I’ll drink it anyway. Famous last words!

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Adeline said

I tend to get really paranoid about spending too much money — it gets stressful, but on the bright side I rarely actually overspend.

You might want to stop buying new teas until you’ve finished a certain number of what you already have (something that I’ve seen a lot of makeup fans do when they feel like nothing in their collection gets used enough). Chugging, throwing away, or otherwise wasting tea doesn’t count!

I know it’s terrible, but I am the opposite. I get a certain high from spending money when I really shouldn’t. It’s not easy to control!

That is my plan, but the impulse control is just not coming along! after about a month I will likely cave. Wish me luck!

Raritea said

This has been my method so far. I currently have a Tea Tote (large plastic bin) which I use because I am constantly moving between my school town and my home town. It fits around 8 tea tins and some accessories. My rule is that I only go out and purchase a new tea if it can fit in the tote which usually means that I have to finish one first. This method avoids waste and keeps me from going on crazy tea shopping sprees (which I can’t afford to do anyways)!

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Tamm said

Oh I totally had an issue with this! I got into buying because I was new and generally I’m a tightwad. But the sweet siren call of tea was too much for me. Having a Teavana close by has really made tea buying easy. I am now swamped! I just finished one off today and there’s a few others that I’m trying to whittle down. I think that right now what is making this easier for me is that I am kind of bored of what I have. I really am doing an overhaul of what I want to drink. I put up a goal that I have to finish at least 1/2 of the new teas I purchased before I buy more.

Oh teavana is evil for luring me in!!
If I want to finish even a third of what I have, I can’t buy any more for atleast six months! and at the rate DT comes out with new teas, well that just aint happenin :/

LefTea said

Teavana’s hard for me too because I have a few staple teas that I really like and want to keep on hand. I could just go buy them in store since I transfer them to a tin anyway so the bag/tin debate isn’t an issue, but I hate paying more for tea (well anything, really) than I have to and when they run free shipping that can be combined with a coupon code I can get so much more. I stock up on my staples but usually never a full lb and at that point, it’s cheaper to get the lb for the discount so I have to add a few new things into my cart. At least those bags are generally pretty flat so they can fit in my cabinet in between my tins.

LOL LefTea I’ve so been there… spending more money to save money and stock up because you so rarely get any. and then I get a rep as hoarder *sighs

I’m in with Indigo 1000%!! Seriously, I was telling Amy Oh how I was going through my tea stash before Christmas. I have so much tea, I forgot how much I had! So I made a New Year resolution to drink more of my stash before buying more tea. Well, I liked the sample of Mei Li she sent me, and I got a good deal, so I bought two tins. Then, Thunderbolt Tea was having a 2011 tea sale through Jan 1. So I couldn’t pass it up…….it really was a good deal (I tell myself)!! It’s nice that that resolution lasted LESS THAN 24 HOURS! OK…….I’m gonna restart my resolution…….NOW!! ;-))

Indigo, I just read all of your original post. That’s about my calculation—1.5 to 2 years worth of tea!! LOL…is that funny?? What can you do but laugh! :)))

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