A fashion-obsessed mum racked up thousands of pounds of debt on Klarna at the height of her shopping addiction. She’s sharing her story to help to reduce stigma for others struggling with the same habit
A mum has revealed how her Klarna shopping addiction got so uncontrollable that she couldn’t afford nappies or formula for her son.
Rhapsody Gonzalez, 38, became riddled with debt through the buy now, pay later (BNPL) service – spending up to £1,000 a month on clothes and luxury items at the height of her habit. Her total debt from the addiction came to £18,000.
And the mum is not alone – around 1.6 million people in the UK have outstanding balances across all BNPL apps. As of this week, millions of shoppers in the UK will benefit from more rights and protections thanks to new rules surrounding the schemes. The government said it was delivering on its commitment to end the BNPL ‘wild west’, and the form of credit will now be regulated by the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Rhapsody’s spending habits started after falling in love with fashion while studying art and textiles at college. She’d use her £35 per week collage allowance on vintage finds, trawling through eBay and bidding fanatically.
The mum, a content creator and strategist from North London, said: “It was eBay and bidding on it that started the whole thing. I remember looking back it was kind of like gambling and I remember getting very upset trying to buy and buy things and not winning bids.”
She later started working sales assistant jobs at stores like Topshop, Urban Outfitters and Oliver Bonas, and found herself spending 90% of her pay check on clothes. Her first luxury purchase came in 2017 when splashed out on a pair of Balenciaga Triple S trainers for over £600. She was only working part time.
In 2022, after having her son and being diagnosed with PTSD, she felt “lost”. Her spending habits spiralled and she took out a £4,000 loan to fund her addiction.
She then discovered Klarna and then took out an additional £2,000 loan to buy a new wardrobe with the hope of becoming a fashion influencer on social media.
Rhapsody continued to use the buy now pay later payment plan to spend between £600 and £1,000 per month on luxury clothes purchases, accumulating more than 170 pairs of shoes from when she was a teen.
“After I had my son I didn’t have enough money to buy formula and nappies because I spent all my money on my clothes,” she admits. “My partner was in debt himself as he pays all the bills so I couldn’t tell him. My mum didn’t know anything and when I needed money to buy formula or nappies I would just say I needed to do some shopping.
Her debt snowballed when she bought two online creator courses with two loans of £7,000 and £2,000 and was hit with a £6,945 tax bill in 2025 – taking her total to £18,375.
A real turning point in her addiction came in December 2025 when she was chatting to a friend at the pub who revealed they too were in credit card debt. Rhapsody thought she was “the only one” in her situation and the chat prompted her to make a change.
“I started looking into it and thought ‘I think this is an addiction’ – it was not a normal feeling and sometimes I get to the point of just not wanting to live which is ridiculous. I have two beautiful children, a family, a home, a job and no reason to feel like that about not being able to buy things. I’d feel guilty with every purchase – I can’t actually remember a time I didn’t feel guilty.”
Sitting down and mapping out her finances in January, Rhapsody discovered she was over £18,000 in debt and began her repayment journey. Despite a relapse in April, she has got extended credit by swapping to a Virgin bank account which gives her two years to pay off her debt interest free.
With just £315 of Klarna debt left to pay, she now has £5,000 of credit card debt to clear. She has cleared £1,000 already selling £600 of her clothes on Vinted, as well as looking into selling an e-product and applying for sales assistant jobs at supermarkets.
After paying off her debt monthly she is left with just £300 of her £1,600 monthly wage. “I am stressed but I handle it very well because life is just stressful,” she says. “I’ve recently opened a stocks and shares ISA for my children.
The mum is also doing a no-buy year to keep costs low – though she admits she has never splurged on other things like an expensive skincare routine, and there “really was nowhere else to cut back on”.
“It soothes me to just browse clothes,” she said. “When I’m anxious or anything really I enjoy it, it makes me feel good and it’s not until I actually purchase it that’s when the guilt kicks in.
“We know about substance abuse and being an alcoholic or someone who gambles but people don’t know it’s possible to be addicted to shopping. It’s a thing hidden in plain sight. There’s no Pretty Woman moment where you walk into Chanel and it’s awkward – you can buy Chanel and nobody would know. Another thing I’ve noticed I do, and others do, is we hoard it – I’ve got quite a lot of clothing still with tags on it.”
The content creator continues: “I don’t have many followers but I can tell you I’ve had over 50 heartfelt direct messages from women who genuinely can’t stop shopping and are in really bad places financially.
“It’s something people are ashamed of at the end of the day and do get themselves into debt but as it’s seen as such a frivolous materialistic thing you don’t think you’re allowed to say it’s something wrong.
“People do find it really hard because you can’t stop doing it, it’s a part of you and it helps you deal with anxiety or whatever even if it’s just looking at your phone.
“In the mainstream of other creators it’s ‘oh it’s just a haul’ and ‘you can stop buying at any time’ and actually it’s really not that. And also they don’t know it’s an addiction, it’s a really slow creep.
“I do want people to not feel ashamed and to realise it is an addiction and then hopefully turn around or even go and speak to their GP about it and try and get into a better place in their life.”
If you are affected by this story, contact your GP or Mind charity at www.mind.org.uk for help with shopping addiction
