user: Compulsive shoppers often cannot control their spending habits and become emotional spenders. They "shop till they drop" and then they keep shopping. But compulsive shopping and spending generally makes a person feel worse, rather than better, about themselves.  Compulsive shopping usually affects women more than men. Women with compulsive shopping issues usually have racks of clothing with the tags still on them. They will go to the mall with the intention of buying just one item and come home with bags of clothing. Compulsive shopping can be a seasonal balm for depression, anxiety, and loneliness during the holiday season. It can also occur when a person feels depressed, lonely and angry. Do you go on weekly shopping sprees? Do you continually spend more than you can afford?  Do you get a certain rush when you go shopping and buying things you don't need? You may feel a certain "high" when buying many things on a weekly basis. Notice if you have large amounts of debt on your credit card or multiple credit cards. You may also hide your purchases from concerned family members or partners. Or you may try to cover up your spending by taking on a part-time job to supplement your spending habits. Individuals who have a compulsive spending problem will likely be in denial and have a hard time admitting they have a problem. Compulsive shopping is considered an addiction. So talking to a professional therapist or going into a support group for compulsive shoppers are both important ways you can address the issue and work to resolve it. During therapy, you may identify the underlying issues behind your compulsive spending and acknowledge the dangers of over spending. Therapy can also offer healthy alternative ways to cope with your emotional issues.

Summary: Understand the characteristics of compulsive shopping. Recognize the signs of compulsive shopping. Talk to a therapist.


Even if you're just planning on running a vacuum over the keyboard, unplugging your keyboard first is probably a good idea. This will help reduce the chance of electrostatic discharge damage. You can perform a quick clean of your keyboard by running the tip of the vacuum over they keys. Press the keys in so that you can reach all of the crevices. Hold your keyboard upside down over a surface that's easy to clean or that you don't care about (such as outside). Run your hand over the keys while holding the keyboard upside down and shake it while you do so. You should see lots of debris shaking out. If you want to do a deep clean on your keyboard, you'll need to remove each of the keys so that they can be cleaned and you can access the innards of the keyboard. Removing keys is a little tedious, but can save you from needing to replace your keyboard when it gets bad.  To remove a key, press the key in front of it down. Insert a flat object such as a car key or flathead screwdriver under they key you want to remove. Gently pry the key up until it pops off. Repeat this process until all of the keys have been removed. Space bars can be tricky, so you might want to leave the space bar attached. Take a photo of your keyboard before removing the keys so that you have an easy reference for where they're supposed to go back to. Once you've taken all of the keys off, you can take the keyboard housing apart. Flip the keyboard over and unscrew all of the screws holding it together. Separate the various parts, making sure that you note where everything was connected. Different keyboards come apart in different ways, and some keyboards may not be able to be disassembled. Once the keyboard has been disassembled, you can start washing most of the components. Anything that is just plastic can go through the dishwasher or be hand-washed. The keys can be washed individually by hand, or you can put them in an enclosed dishwasher basket.  Most keyboards will have a rubber contact mat that gives the keys their spring. This is completely non-electronic and can be run through dishwasher or cleaned with hot water and soap. Don't wash anything that has a logic board or circuitry, and don't wash any cables. You can hand clean around these things using rubbing alcohol and a brush. Once everything has been washed and been given plenty of time to dry, you can put everything back together. Rebuild your keyboard, ensuring that all of the components go back together the same way the came apart. Refer to the picture of your keyboard when reattaching the keys.  You can reattach the keys by simply pressing them directly into their spot on the keyboard. Make sure that everything is completely dry and cool before putting everything back together. Any moisture can ruin the keyboard when it is plugged back in.

Summary: Unplug the keyboard. Use the vacuum. Shake the keyboard upside down. Remove the keys. Disassemble to keyboard. Wash the components. Reassemble the keyboard.


Go through your computer's hard drive and find old videos and pictures you've assembled over the years. Put them all together in a video, using any video software your computer provides, and set it to a fun song.  When you're done, you can email the video to friends or burn it on DVDs. Be careful about uploading your video online, however. Only do so if you're completely comfortable with the content being visible to a private audience. You should also make sure you're not violating copyright laws if you used a song. Type a song into a search engine to see if it's copyright protected. Most popular music songs will be. Go through your room and find any old photos you have. Go through magazines and clip out interesting images, like quirky ads or pretty pictures. Tape everything up on your wall in a fun photo collage. In addition to using pictures, use words. Try clipping an inspiring word, like "Dream," out of a magazine. Find a poem or quote you like online, print it out, and pin it up on your wall. If you have a camera, even just your phone's camera, use it to take some fun photographs. Take still-life pictures of interesting objects in your home. Take photos of your pets. If you're able to go outside, photograph things in your neighborhood or backyard. You can also take silly photographs. Use the camera on your computer, for example, to take a series of goofy pictures of yourself and post the album on Facebook with a title like, "Bored at Home." See if you have any old coloring books lying around. Even if you feel too old to color, it can be a fun way to pass the time. You can also make your own drawings and then color them in, or add colorful designs to notebooks and binders for school. They do make coloring books for adults, usually designed to reduce stress. See if you can find any of these types of books lying around.



assistant: Summary: Make videos for your friends. Create a photo collage on your wall. Take some pictures. Do some coloring.