I couldn't believe my eyes when I first read about this. After it was reported that rapper Nelly owed $2.4 million in taxes to the IRS, fans of the rapper took to Twitter to propose that everyone help Nelly out with his financial troubles by streaming his songs en masse! The hashtags "#HotInHerreStreamingParty" and "#SaveNelly" trended on Twitter, as Nelly fans exhorted people to stream his 2002 single "Hot in Herre" for repeated listening. Nelly fans would have to stream the song over 280 million times on Spotify for the rapper to make enough to cover his debt, which is nothing short of far-fetched. While I find it noble that Nelly's fans would go to such great lengths to help the rapper, this is a classic example of adulation for celebrities gone too far. It sets a bad example for current and aspiring stars, sending the wrong-headed message that if you become famous enough, your fans will bail you out when you hit dire financial strai...

We all know at least one person (and it could be ourselves) who is prone to frivolous spending. He or she forks over hundreds of dollars during each visit to a mall or restaurant, adding to an already massive heap of credit card debt. What's worse, the person makes a habit of asking friends or relatives for money. What, then, causes this seemingly uncontrollable compulsion to spend? For a lot of us, it's tied to our self-image and self-esteem. Many people depend on shopping and consumer products for a "pick-me-up" -- much like getting their afternoon coffee fix. Consumers use material possessions to enhance their image -- walking around with that Coach purse or in those Jimmy Choos can greatly boost feelings of self-worth and self-confidence. There's nothing wrong with this if done in moderation -- we all deserve to spoil ourselves every once in a while. But once wasteful spending becomes a weekly -- let alone daily -- occurrence, it creates the potential fo...