Handbags are part of every woman's life. But why do women need handbags, and why do they spend so much money on them? Some women even buy a handbag on installments. This is often the case when a woman simply must have a bag that carries the label of a renowned designer. To make that happen, some turn to a handbag installment plan. Besides an expensive handbag, women often want expensive dresses and expensive shoes too. U.S. psychologists have now found out why. The answer, which we'll look at a bit more closely below, is: women want to keep other women from flirting with their partners.

Buying a Handbag on Installments - More Than Just Showing Off

handbag installment plan

Many people consider it pure showing off when a woman turns up with an expensive handbag. Among her girlfriends, a woman with a designer handbag naturally causes a stir. Her friends get downright jealous. But very few women admit that the designer handbag was financed through an installment plan. They are too proud and too vain for that.

Women would also never admit that by buying a designer handbag on an installment plan, they want to keep other women from flirting with their partner. Entirely different arguments are given for the decision to buy a handbag the woman can't really afford. These include:
. the look of the handbag was the deciding factor
. the handbag goes perfectly with the new dress she just bought
. she simply wanted to treat herself (more of an excuse than an argument!)

  • the look of the handbag was the deciding factor
  • the handbag goes perfectly with the new dress she just bought
  • she simply wanted to treat herself (more of an excuse than an argument!)

So there is more behind buying a designer handbag on installments than mere showing off. Real showing off would be if the woman told her girlfriends that she could afford the designer handbag.

Buying a Handbag on Installments - The Real Motives

handbag installment plan

Behind buying a designer handbag and setting up an installment plan, there is usually something else: boosting a woman's self-esteem. While men show luxury and prosperity by buying an expensive car or a motorcycle, women need an outlet for this too. Women usually don't have to prove themselves to their men, but rather to their girlfriends, their neighbors and their relatives.

When a woman buys an expensive handbag on installments and keeps the payment plan to herself, she shows that she has money of her own to buy something beautiful and expensive. Some women tell their friends or neighbors that their husband gave them the handbag as a gift. That lie takes a bit of luck, of course, because at any moment the friends or relatives could ask the husband about it.

Back to the findings of the U.S. psychologists: it is indeed the case that by buying a designer handbag, women want to send other women a signal. Namely: hands off my man! Only my man buys me such beautiful things! Most women enjoy this game of stirring up jealousy. Many risk a handbag installment plan for it.