Meaningful Returns

When I was a kid, maybe 6 or 7, I saved up some money and bought my first pair of roller blades. They were sleek, shiny, and fast looking. But almost too sleek, shiny, and fast looking, because I didn’t want to get them scuffed up and ruined, and probably only actually roller-bladed in them four or five times before they were too small for me.

How often do we buy things other than art just to look at them? Probably it’s rare that our stated intention is just to look at them (or for other people to look at them), but as is often the case, our subsequent actions betray us. The sheer number of storage facilities in this country is itself proof that we often purchase things that we don’t fully intend to use.

So here’s a public confession. I am a lover of shoes. If I had more money, I would spend more of it on more shoes. Nikes and Allen Edmonds and Birkenstocks and Vans. But I can only wear one pair of shoes at a time, and there is no room in my small home for a bunch of shoes that I only intend to look at. So I made a conscious decision to wear the hell out my shoes. I take good care of them and I don’t buy my Allen Edmonds new because I can’t afford them, but I’ve committed to getting rid of any pair of shoes I don’t wear regularly.

It’s way more fun this way. Whether we’re talking about shoes, cars, clothes, watches, purses, or golf clubs, not only does it make more financial sense to buy only those things you will actually use, but it makes more life sense.