Herding Cats: Our Favorite Savings Stories for the Week of September 27th

We chose to forgo the usual overarching theme for this week's roundup and bring you stories from all over the place. Stay tuned to learn about a couple of hot new products for the holiday season, some valuable savings tips, and how you can leave a certain Florida strip club healthier than when you came:

• Consumerist: Experts Predicts Worldwide Robotic Hamster Shortages - The first time I saw a commercial for Zhu Zhu Pets on TV I thought I was on drugs. Something about the combination of random bright colors and electronic hamsters driving around in little cars was just too psychedelic to fully process. If you ask me, real live hamsters serve two great purposes: they teach kids about being responsible for the well-being of another living thing, and like other cute, cuddly, albeit expendable pets, they introduce their young owners to the unpleasant concept of death. Then again, today's parents are all about staving off desensitization at any cost, so Zhu Zhu Pets will probably sell like hotcakes this Christmas.

• New York Post: "Homeless" Doll Costs $95 - Apparently the collection of ultra-politically correct American Girl dolls has come a long way since my sister was a giddy collector of them in the late 90s. They've now covered enough racial, religious, and temporal demographics to introduce a homeless doll to the family. This would actually be a decent idea if they slashed the price so that parents of poverty-stricken girls could hope to afford it. Or donated the proceeds to homeless shelters...

• Mainstreet: Reality TV Meets Personal Finance - It's good to see that reality TV is adapting its programming to the horrible economy (I happen to be a fervent hater of any and all reality shows, but hey, I'm all for being topical). The best reflection of the recession that I've seen on TV, though, was definitely last night's episode of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia." Mac and Dennis create their own Paddy's currency in hopes of building a self-sustaining, recession-proof economy, Frank and Deandra become door-to-door knife-and-vacuum salesmen, and Charlie moves into a cardboard box on the waterfront. It's phenomenal commentary. As for "Bank of Mom and Dad," I find it difficult to believe the same people responsible for instilling the overwhelming sense of entitlement that led to their offspring's financial problems are the best sources of guidance for getting them out of said situation.

• Not Made Of Money: Three Ways to Curb Impulse Spending - This article was written for idiots like me. My personal recession began in early 2008 (long before the actual global one hit the rest of you), and as I often note in my wistful musings, I was completely broke for about a year and a half. Now that I have a steady paycheck and moved home to avoid Los Angeles rent payments, you'd think I'd be stockpiling every dollar I make to prepare for the next bust in my economic cycle, but I actually find myself putting dents in my checking account simply because the feeling of being able to spend money freely is so new and novel. It's sort of okay because I always search around for the best deals, but impulse spending is definitely not a habit I want to hang onto.

• The Washington Post: Celebrity Cash - The mother of late Washington Redskins free safety Sean Taylor missed out on potentially tens of millions of dollars because her son didn't have a will when he was murdered in a 2007 home invasion. The author of this post bags on the 49-year-old woman for being more beggar than self-sufficient adult, but I've always thought that financial hardship is relative. If you're used to living lavishly, surrounded by worldly riches, you're going to suffer horribly when the money runs out, much more so than someone who has never tasted that lifestyle would.

• WalletPop: Floozies and Free Fiu Shots - Good things are happening at the nexus of strip clubs and medical care. As if that feelgood combination wasn't inherently golden on its own, a gentlemen's club in Orlando has made it a reality by offering free flu shots for seniors, city workers, and other community residents. No joke I want to make about this can possibly be appropriate for publication on Savings, so I'm going to end my remarks while I'm ahead.

  Will you being buying Zhu Zhu Pets or the homeless American Girl doll for your kids this Christmas? Is your impulse spending out of control? Would strippers ease your fear of needles? Let us know in the comments.