In a TV show debuting tonight on TLC, seemingly normal people exhibit some pretty strange behavior. They jump into dumpsters, steal parts of newspapers off of neighbors’ porches, and stuff their collections into elaborate storage units and under their kids’ beds. They also save tons of money on obsessively plotted shopping excursions, but that’s almost beside the fact.
Why do some people take their roles as consumers literally and consume and consume and consume—purchasing items they don’t need, splurging on silly gifts (for friends and themselves) without pausing to consider costs, hitting the mall whenever they’re feeling down or bored, and digging themselves huge amounts of credit card debt in the process?
Four new books explore why consumers do what they do—even when they know it’s unhealthy, unsanitary, and/or obviously bad for their finances.
