All Consuming

'Stabbing at battle of Ikea' - "Sun". 'Most expensive house has GBP390m price tag' - "Daily Telegraph". 'Financier runs up GBP36,000 bar bill' - "Independent". Diamond-encrusted phones, waiting lists for handbags, 7-star hotels - in the summer of 2007, the UK economy finally reached its giddy peak. But it wasn't just celebrities and bankers wanting to spend, spend, and spend. Whipping out our cheap credit cards, the whole nation developed one obsessive, unsustainable habit: shopping. Now the cash has dried up and we've consumed our way to financial disaster. But were rich times really happy times? And if shopping got us in to this mess, should we really be encouraged to shop our way out of it? With finances in flux, now is our chance to break this all-consuming cycle. Offering everyday ways to start kicking the habit, Neal Lawson shows us how to put the basket down for good, and why we'll be happier for it.