It was once the norm for Cassandra Ooi* to buy more than 100 pairs of socks, 200 pairs of panties and 200 pairs of stockings in a year, and blow $20,000 on shopping alone.

She used to be an obsessive-compulsive person who would go over the top with anything that caught her interest.

Cassandra told Her World that spending money was initially a way for her to get back at her first husband who left her for another woman.

But her shopaholic behaviour became a full-blown problem in her mid-30s when her publishing job wasn't going anywhere and her second marriage seemed to be heading for the rocks.

Compulsive shopping became her way of coping with her insecurities and strained relationship with her family as she felt that she was a disappointment to her parents as well.

Cassandra's husband also knew that she was unhappy living with his parents and hence, he opened up the doors to her full-blown shopaholicism by giving her supplementary cards to all his credit cards.

In a year, she bought two dozen designer suits that cost more than $1,000 each. She went on these buying sprees because she could. Otherwise, she'd feel empty.

The 1997 financial crisis led to Cassandra's husband losing his job overnight and this loss of security and income was a harsh but necessary wake-up call.

For the sake of her daughter, Cassandra started budgeting and saving money for the first time in her life, as she did not want her compulsive spending to impact her child negatively.

In the past, not wanting to know about money was her excuse to spend it.

But Cassandra is now a normal shopper, although there are still days when she feels the urge to buy.

* Names have been changed.

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