http://thefinancialdiet.com/9-pricey-investment-purchases-i-actually-dont-regret/
This is a great example. The "thought process" behind this article is mine blowing.
I agree with some of what she says:
- Yes, buying used furniture is smart. Buying used furniture that's already in your apartment is really smart. Her reasoning about "making things cheaper in the future" is kind of oddly worded, but I think
she's awkwardly saying that her choice was cheaper than buying new from a furniture store.
- Frye boots, I don't know. I've never owned a pair, but they are widely available used, and they do look better than my cheap Kohl's boots. People say they'll last for decades and are worth resoling. I suspect they're worth buying used.
- Yes to a modest car. If, like me, you live in a place where a car is a necessity.
- Yes to a good winter coat. I hate the cold, and I've been wearing the same two coats -- one a long, dressy type and the other a Lands' End Squall jacket -- for well over a decade. Probably pushing two decades. Add good leather gloves to the list.
- Your hair and eyebrows, no way. Those services last -- what? -- a couple months? That idea's stupid on the face of it.
- I can't quite understand her stance on tops. She's saying she was clearing out her whole closet
every year and giving away all her tops because they were out of style? Stupid. On the other hand, yes to buying quality classic items that'll last.
- No to expensive workout classes. So many options, none of them actually free (even if you're just a runner, you need quality shoes), but a whole lot of them aren't expensive.
- $70-250 jeans? No, just no. The proper place to buy jeans is Plato's Closet. Preferably a Plato's Closet near a university at Christmas or late April /early May ... when students are moving out of their dorms. You can get great jeans for $10/pair. And, no, putting aside the cheapest of the cheap, expensive jeans aren't going to last longer.
By the way my $50 boots have lasted me many winters now.
Depends upon the style. I have a pair of hiking boots, which I picked up for $2 at a yard sale, that I've had probably a decade. I have a back-up pair that my daughter outgrew; I think I paid about $10 for them on ebay. In contrast, I love to wear tall boots (which tend to cost about $50) with skirts to work in the winter, and those tend to last 2-3 years before they get "cracks" in the ankle area where the boots "bend" with my foot.