Say no to shoes

I said no to shoes. Are you proud of me? Well you should be because I’d be proud of you if you said no to shoes.

Just do it!

I love shoes as much as the next girl so when I walked into the Bay, I think this was a sign from heaven:

CLEARANCE SALE

I walked towards the light shoe racks and perused for a good hour. A lot of the stuff was picked over, as I think they’ve been marking their winter stuff down since January, but I still managed to find some really cute stuff in size 6. The one pair that I really liked was a pair of kitten-heeled, slingback Anne Klein shoes in gold alligator print. They were marked down to $70 with an additional 50% off!

Found them! Cute right?

I stared at them on my feet for several minutes and finally said NO. Luckily this was a mental NO or the outburst would have surely warranted a few stares.

So why did I say no besides the obvious frugalista reasons? I’ve been inspired by a few bloggers to adopt a more minimalist approach to my wardrobe. The reason I have so much stuff is not because I go shopping all the time now but because in the past, I said YES to anything and everything that was on sale. This has led to a very full wardrobe and a very empty wallet. I really think I was more excited by the sense of accomplishment of finding a great deal than owning the product itself.

And that, my friends, is how I’ve accumulated so much random crap. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure all the random crap can be pieced together to make a lovely quilt one day…I would name it the Quilt of Crap and it would most definitely keep me warm at night.

Here are the questions I ask myself when contemplating a sale purchase:

Is this something I would buy if it weren’t on sale?

Is this something I will get a lot of wear out of?

Will this go with many items in my wardrobe?

Is this similar to anything else I own?

Will this do my taxes and keep me warm at night like my Quilt of Crap?

(Correct answers: heck yes, you betcha, ohhh ya, gosh no, and a resounding YESSS!)

The moral of this story is not to stop buying clothing or shoes – because come on, we may be frugal but we’re not hobos – but to shop for classic yet modern quality pieces, not just cheap thrills. Now if something happens to be all of the above, then congrats – you’ve struck shopping gold!

So tell me, are you a sucker for bargains? Do you have a closet filled with random crap you bought on sale?