It’s that time of year when the weather turns crisp and the proud citizens of New York bundle up in their winter gear. But before we head off into the mother of all holiday seasons, let’s take a look retrospective look back at some stories from the past month. Here are some of our favorite posts from around the net, as well as our more popular stories from October in this month’s Mashup.

According to the University of Richmond in Virginia, almost 9% of the American population may be classified as compulsive buyers. This number is up from 5% a few years ago. An interesting fact is that it isn’t just women who are considered to be compulsive shoppers. According to a 2006 Stanford Study, men are just as likely as women to suffer from compulsive buying. Given that the average U.S. credit card debt is $10,000 and comprised mostly of unnecessary purchases, we decided to take a look at this issue to find out what it entails and how to combat compulsive urges to shop.