Meet Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher). She's cute, she's spunky, and with a dozen credit cards in her hand, Manhattan storefronts on every side, and a designer wardrobe for every occasion, she's also deep in debt. When it comes to proper management of money, she probably couldn't even save up to buy a candy bar. When it comes to actually dealing with the hole she has dug herself into, her laundry list of excuses and her Big Brown Bag of denial are doing nothing to remedy the situation. Color both her and us very surprised when she unexpectedly lands a job as an advice columnist for a financial magazine.

Essentially the story of a girl who does not know how to spend money, the mess she gets herself into because of that, and the lessons she learns about cost, value, and wise investment as she digs her way out, Confessions of a Shopaholic is both a relevant and somewhat uncomfortable tale for the times. Based the bestselling series of ChickLit novels by Sophie Kinsella, the movie reflects the same fun and flirty feel of the books behind it. As Rebecca is talked into buying overpriced accessories by department store mannequins, you can't help but laugh. When we find her and another woman engaged in a WWE match over a pair of designer boots, you have to smile. But at the same time, with our country and many of the individuals in it dealing with debt just as bad or worse than Rebecca, Confessions of Shopaholic cannot help but hit just a little bit deeper than your average hour and half of Valentines' weekend fluff.

Following its plotline from denial, to realization, to change, Confessions of a Shopaholic is almost like Rebecca's every-woman's-guide-to-finance column brought to life. As our country has slowly come to see, when you spend money that you truly do not and never will have, you run into problems. As Rebecca must almost painfully comes to terms with, denying and ignoring your debts will only pull you further and further into their imprisonment. But as Rebecca also shows us, even the greatest debt can be paid off. If we are willing to recognize that want doesn't always equal need and cost doesn't always equal value, even the biggest spender can live within a budget. And although we may always live in a world with money at its center, the greatest value any of us will ever find will rarely carry a price tag.

As Rebecca says in one of her first columns, there is a difference between cost and worth. You know the drill—take the price of this dress or that top, divide it by the number of times you've worn it, and right before your eyes the price drops and the value rises. You've seen the MasterCard commercials—take one price, add it to another price, add it to another price, and sometimes the result is priceless. Picture Rebecca trying to decide between a tacky bridesmaid's dress for her best friend's wedding and an overpriced designer dress for a TV appearance. Freeze frame Rebecca's parents' giddy expressions when they finally decided to do something with their savings other than just let it sit in the bank. Think of almost every one of Jesus' lessons involving money and possessions.

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