Interesting article, and I agree that the family's choice was depressing: They chose to buy four TVs, luxury items, though they knew this would make things tight. It also reeks of choosing material goods over people.
I don't see that a family earning $100,000/year (not a bad wage at all, but it's upper-middle class, not wealthy -- especially since the father had to work two jobs to make this happen) can afford boxes of $40 chocolate and $85 skirts for the children. Shoot, I don't have a $85 skirt, and I'm fine with that!
I also disagree that people today are "highly skilled shopping experts". I think most people make decisions based upon impulse or advertising. Yes, people do comparison shop -- say when they're buying a big ticket item like a car or a TV -- but that tends to be a decision between Brand A or Brand B. Where most people fall short is in making the choice about whether they should buy at all.