Are you struggling with an addiction to shopping for charms? I've always thought that charm bracelets were cute and stylish, elegant even. . . but I never thought I'd find myself addicted to charms. As it turns out, I just can't have enough "charm" or charms for bracelets that is.

My addiction started when I purchased my first bracelet. I didn't really put a lot of thought into what I was buying, I just wanted a pretty charm bracelet. It was absolutely gorgeous, genuine Italian Moreno Glass. Yes, it was expensive, but this was a special treat to myself.

I received several compliments on my new bracelet. I was really excited about my new and fashionable way to show my love of Italy. Venice has always been my favorite city. I wasn't thinking about that when I bought the piece, but it got the wheels turning on how I could justify buying more jewelry by making it more relevant because of it's personal significance.

As it turns out, charm bracelets are a surprisingly fun as well as being a versatile way of elegantly displaying your interests, hobbies, values, and especially your sense of style. It's also highly addictive. I suppose, just like people can get addicted to tattoos, I have become addicted to finding the perfect charms for bracelets. Charms that articulate my interests in a "charming" way.

So, what led me to write about my addiction to charms? I imagine there are a number of girls and women that quite possibly have the same addiction. And, if you're reading this then you can also probably relate to spending a small fortune on charms. I have a pretty extensive collection of Charms that cover a wide assortment of moods, loves, and interests and if I took the time to total the cost, I'm sure it would qualify as a full blown addiction worthy of a hotline to help regain my life and dignity.

However, let’s not lose sight of the fact that a big part of charm collecting is the pure excitement and joy of accumulating charms. Shopping for charms and sifting through the vast assortment of colors, shapes, patterns, and themes is exhilarating. Not every charm is for you, but finding the ones that are — that's what it's all about.

That leads me to my point and reason for this article; realistically, I'm not going to stop buying charms and if you're a charm-o-holic like myself then hopefully you've already discovered my dirty little secret - online jewelry stores. Yes, I have found a few online jewelry stores that offer Pandora quality charms for wholesale prices. I'm talking about Moreno glass charms for as low as $7.50. I spent several hundred on my first bracelet. I wish I had discovered these sites sooner.

I don't think I'm allowed to mention these online jewelry stores by name in my article, but if you read my author bio, you'll be able to visit them. With a hobby or addiction like charm collecting we can't be restricted by the high price of brand names. There is a limitless assortment of charms out there and I plan on looking through them all to find the perfect representations of my interests.