Have you ever come home to find that your mate has just dropped a cool hundred bucks on a shiny new widget, even though you're trying to save money? Worst of all, your mate didn't buy you one. How do you feel? Dejected? Cheated? Overpowered by the cool stuff that you're not accumulating?

You, my friend, are about to escalate your consumerism to superpower status. That's right, you're ready to join the "stuff race" with your very own Cold War Shopping Spree!

Here's how it works: one partner buys something for himself or herself, prompting the other partner to do the same-- perhaps spending just a little more. (After all, it's only fair, and you deserve it, right?)

The escalation continues up to and beyond your credit limit, until you reach the acme of your credit card debt. Then the liberating forces of collection agencies come and relieve you of the burden of your material possessions. Then you and your mate can huddle, in your own Post-War Dream, waiting for your very own first-world financial bailout. Or another one of those 66.6% interest credit cards to arrive by mail.