In a day when gloomy financial news seems to have wreaked havoc on the family budget, some folks seem to have enough money to buy luxuries such as a Dallas Cowboys end zone (I'm sadly a Saints fan and would settle for a Super Bowl appearance or maybe even a winning season for my Huskers who almost pulled off an upset today against the Texas Tech Red Raiders). As offered in Neiman Marcus' annual Christmas catalog, the 155-page book of overly expensive gifts was released last week. Though not many people are able to afford such items, the merchants advertising in the catalog have an ultimate purpose of getting shoppers to purchase less expensive items.

However, Neiman Marcus is not immune to this current financial crisis. The department store reported a 9.6 percent decline in September same-store sales. Analysts were predicting a 7.1 percent drop.