A Surrey woman who used to spend up to £1k a month on Shein kicked her shopping habit - by getting herself blocked from Klarna.

Lauren Mayers, 24, says she used to receive around five packages a week from fast fashion brands after becoming addicted to spending during the pandemic.

The property team assistant from Surrey says social media videos encouraged her to keep buying clothes - which quickly got out of hand.

Things started to get worse when she discovered Klarna, initially using the app to get loads of items delivered to try on and return later.

However, she says that their option to pay for packages in three payments quickly became dangerous, and she ended up spending a whopping £4,000 on the app alone.

Overall, Lauren believes she was spending between £750 and £1,000 every month on clothes, skincare, makeup, and gadgets.

She said: “It started when I got my first full time salary. It was like a whole new world. Very quickly I got into bad habits. Klarna really helped with that.

“I was going out all the time with friends every weekend and every weekend I thought I needed a new outfit. Every time I went on holiday I would buy like £300 worth of clothes from Shein.

“It became something to do, and then I suppose that habit kind of stuck when lockdown lifted. It was just boredom and that dopamine hit that pulled me in.”

The self-confessed shopaholic says she hadn’t realised her spending was an issue as she managed to keep out of debt with the salary from her London job.

However, when Lauren decided to clear out her wardrobe and was left with six full bags of unwanted items, she quickly realised that something needed to change.

In order to kick the habit, the first step was to pay off her Klarna balance and delete the app - even making the company block her account so that she couldn’t be tempted.

She said: "Klarna was a driving factor in how I was able to feel comfortable spending so much on clothes. It became quickly addictive.

"I think the pay in three payments is even worse than buy now pay later. It blinds you to the total and makes it feel manageable. It is dangerous.

“I started looking at what was important to me, I had always wanted to own a home, but I didn’t know how I would get there. I realised I never would be able to if I carried on like that.

“I paid off my last balance and then I made Klarna block me. From there I just deleted it and it forced me into changing my habits.”

Since deleting the app, Lauren says she has transformed her spending habits, and has managed to save £15,000 to go towards a deposit on a house.

Her top tips include deleting all shopping apps to avoid temptation, and being more imaginative with what you already have in your wardrobe.

Another tip is to always wait before buying something new, as once you have had time to reflect, the excitement of adding it to your basket should die down.

She added: “I always thought I was quite good at money because I wasn’t in debt but that is not always true. It is how I justified it, but I was still throwing money down the drain and being wasteful.

“Delete the apps if you can’t control yourself. Realistically you are never going to need clothes if you have clothes.

“If you are going to buy something you should wait before buying it. If you wait overnight that dopamine goes away and you realise you are not really bothered about it.

“Also just look at what you have. I think sometimes you can forget what is in your wardrobe. Take everything out of your wardrobe and put outfits together in your room. You will realise that you don’t need to buy any more.”

Now, Lauren is calling for more support on shopping addiction, and is encouraging apps such as Klarna to bring in stricter age limits and credit checks.

She said: “I felt out of control. I knew I was overspending and I knew I was spending too much on nonsense but I couldn’t stop.

“The same way there is support for gambling there should be a similar support for shopping addictions. Ultimately the same part of the brain is affected. It needs to be taken more seriously.

“These apps and platforms are made to make you addicted. As long as you recognise that and are willing to take the steps to change then you can come out of the other side.”

A Klarna spokesperson said: “We always recommend using the money in your account to make a purchase and only use credit for those times when it really makes sense.

"For those purchases, Klarna’s interest-free BNPL products offer a fairer and more sustainable alternative than high-interest traditional credit.

"We have always run a credit check on each purchase, apply strict age limits and the average Klarna customer is 39 years old."