Do me a favor and vote on the latest poll about how much you spend on shoes and I will let you in on a small shoe dilemma I am having. But I don’t want to influence your vote in any way so I will let you know the dilemma in a few days.
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Jennifer is a freelance writer and blogger. Her writing background includes copy for non-profits and businesses, the web, and national magazines. Other obsessions include Frisbee, road trips, books... more
Karen is a mother of three children ages 3, 5, and 11 and wife to Gerald. She left teaching to be a homemaker and work-at-home mom, where she rediscovered her joy of writing. Karen is best known ... more
I voted, but I’ll tell you that my vote was that I’d pay more than $100 for a great pair of shoes.
After much experience
, I determined that I spend that much buying 3-4 pairs of cheaper shoes I don’t like that much anyway. So why not spend $100 on a pair I love that I’d wear all the time.
It’s worked for me so far!
Debbie
Then make sure you come back on March 1st and I might make you feel better.
I buy quality shoes, BUT I just don’t pay retail prices. I have a pair of black Clark clogs that I have had for at least 5 years. They’re my favorite pair of shoes. They got me through many days of teaching and I still continue to wear them. They’ve held up very well. I just put a little polish on the toe every now and then. And in case you’re wondering . . . I only paid $20 for them. I think they were about $60+ regular price.
Karen, that surprises me.
My black boots have to be polished several times a year. I am afraid to get another pair.
Gosh, I love shoes, but I’m really cheap. I think the most I’ve ever spent was like $40 at an outlet store for Nike’s. Most of my shoes are from Payless (I used to work there and acquired close to 100 pair), but I don’t worry about wearing them out because I don’t wear them as every day shoes. I’ve found TWO pair of REALLY cute Candie’s heels at Kohls (seperate occasions) for $5, though and they really remind me how much I love good quality comfortable shoes. Babbling aside, the most expensive shoes I’ll probably buy in my life will be coming up for the wedding, I will pay up to $100 for shoes that are cute and extremely comfortable. (Just don’t tell the fiance. haha.)
I am hard on shoes–I wear the same pair daily all winter and then a different pair all summer and by the end of the season they are falling to bits. I usually buy a really good pair at the thrift shop or resale shop at the beginning of each season for $5 or under. Almost always they are new or gently used with no sign of wear–plenty of people in our area go out and buy brand new shoes all the time and barely wear them. It helps that my shoe size tends to be one most teens outgrow quickly (my oldest wears a half size smaller than me and is 10). The most I have ever paid for a good pair is $25 on clearance and that was tennis shoes.
I do a little of everything. I try to buy clearance/outlet for most shoes, but sometimes I splurge for the latest and greatest.
The most I can remember paying is $45 for a pair of half off black leather boots… because I wear them all winter long and went to work and finally wore a hole in the side! I went out at lunch that very same day determined to replace them and luckily they were 1/2 off.
Now, on the other hand, I’ve been searching for the perfect casual black heeled shoe, preferably leather, for what feels like years. I *finally* got some last Wednesday during JCPenney’s Wednesday deals for $12.99 each, and they were originally $50. I got brown and black, and I LOVE THEM.
For casual or dress shoes, I try to stay under $20 per pair on sale.
For workout shoes, I try to keep it to $40.
I spend $100 on my sneakers, which I wear until they’re worn OUT. But pretty much all the rest of my shoes get purchased at the thrift shop on 99c Day, or are given to me by my shopaholic/lots-of-disposable-income neighbor.
I am so looking forward to your responses on March 1st. Make sure you come back as I am simply teasing you for a frugal dilemma that you would not even believe I am considering!
Butterfly Garden, 100 pairs of shoes gives me more than one shiver. That sounds like a storage nightmare to me and I am so jealous you have that many options.
I voted $26-$50. I think the most expensive pair of shoes in my closet were for my wedding 7 years ago and they were about $50. Of course I am getting ready to splurge on a pair of frye boots for $250. But all of my shoes were about $25 or less.
I have two pair of shoes I paid around $100 for and I have had them for years. The Dr Martins I have I have worn for a majority of the days (except summer) for the past nearly 8 years, and they still look good! My sandals I have I “splurged” on and got some real Teva’s (they were on sale for around $30 I think). They have lasted me 5 summers so far, and they are still in really good shape. That is a lot better than the store brand ones I got a few times before for $8-10 that would only last one summer.
So if they are quality shoes that cost about the same as several cheaper ones, but would last as long as the several cheap ones, I say go for the expensive ones. It’s an investment.
Of course I don’t own many pairs of shoes and I wouldn’t spend too much on something I would wear only a few times.
We won’t dare ask Cooper Lawrence how much she spends. lol
i generally buy cheapie ($20 or less) shoes that fall apart, because i just don’t have the money to buy quality ones. The shoes i bought when i was in college and had credit fever are still beautiful and lovely. They are beautiful brown snakeskin stiletto pointy-toed shoes from Aldo and they were $90 and they are the most gorgeous thing in my closet. i really need some new shoes, and i think i might save up again and splurge on a pair that will last a long time.
P.S. Sale shoes are hard for me to find. i’ve got huge feet (9 1/2 to 10) and most shoes, when they are that big, just look bad! So the ones that are cute in my sizes are usually GONE by the time they would go on sale.
For me, it really depends. I’m not a big shoe person. I can’t justify spending money on a pair of shoes that only matches one outfit. For work, I have a pair of black shoes and brown shoes. My black shoes cost me probably about $25 and my brown boots that I wear, I bought on sale from Chadwicks for $20. Those are pretty much all I wear. I do have a pair of nice heels that I wear with my dressier pants. Those were a bargain from online somewhere.
When I bought my running shoes, I decided not to skimp. It’s important to have good supportive shoes for running. I did, however, go to Consumer Reports and see how people were reporting which shoes were good. I ended up getting my shoes on sale at Kohl’s for $29.99, regularly $70.
I do have a few pair of dressy shoes that I wear to weddings with a certain dress, but that’s it. And those were mostly picked up at some place like Payless for less than $20.
I’m not one to wear my shoes out much. I don’t buy shoes often either. I’m not uber fashionable so I guess buying cute shoes that I would never know what to wear them with isn’t me. So I don’t over spend on shoes ever.
kellys – it was. A lot of them were destroyed by mold in the basement of the old house. And most of them…never worn. (”SOMEDAY I am going to need these leather flats!” “I’ll start running SOMEDAY!”) I still have storage problems AND I only regularly wear about six pair. But they’re all so pretty. AND, I usually don’t HAVE to buy shoes to match clothes because I find so many I like so cheap! So maybe it saves me money? That’s what I’m going to tell myself.
That’s a great justification as long as you can afford it. Sounds like you got good deals so go for it. I just don’t have the space or $
Well I’m a guy but I’ll pay over $100 for shoes I love. Most of them are $60-90 though. I don’t buy the cheap/payless shoes. I’m addicted to sneakers hehe. I have over 15 pairs. I actually have more shoes than my wife.
Ok, so I changed my mind. I went ahead and posted my official dilemma. Let me know what you think.