The carry on spending habit of the shopaholics

Around 16 per cent of women are defined as being shopaholics after building up hefty debts in the pursuit of fashion, according to price comparison website uSwitch.com.

The average shopaholic owes 3,354 on credit and store cards and loans, more than half of which has been spent on clothes and accessories.

They also typically spend around 2,400 a year or half of their disposable income on looking good.

But while a third of these women claim to have reined in their spending because of the economic climate, 23 per cent say their habits have not changed at all, and 4 per cent claim they are shopping more to cheer themselves up.

Only 14 per cent of of shopaholics said they budget for their monthly spending and 41 per cent admitted they would buy an item if they really wanted it, even if it pushed them over their overdraft limit.

Three-quarters of shopaholics said they used a combination of credit cards, store cards, loans and overdrafts to fund their shopping sprees, but this has led to them typically having to spend 19 per cent of their income on debt repayment.