Shoes and Shopping

I never really gave too much thought to the fact that as I lost weight all over, I would also lose in my feet. What this means is that I've had to get rid of most of my shoes (of course Thad said I had too many anyway). But the problem arises now when I have an outfit and literally no shoes that can be worn with it. No regular pumps left in my closet + a cute new dress I got last week + plans for the weekend = need to go shopping. Although I'm now working part time, we are doing our best to save money - both in spending less and in adding to our savings. We will be moving back to California later this year and will need to have as much saved as possible. So, I'm very careful with what I buy - looking for special sales and clearance items, using coupons and promos when I can. I also consider how many x or y items I really need to use, how little I can get away with having in my closet, and am mindful of the fact that I may not be in a size for a long enough time to justify buying nicer clothes. At this point I don't expect my shoe size to change anymore, so I feel okay about buying better quality shoes.

And so I made a trip to the mall this morning. First stop - Nordstrom. I mean really, what better store for shoe eye candy than this high end department store well known for it's shoe department? They did not disappoint and I happened in there during the first hour of a shoe sale (thinking, it must be meant to be, right?). As I tried on several right shoes (they only put one shoe out for each pair on the sales racks), I found a pair I absolutely loved. Looked at the 'sale' price. Put them back. Looked through 2 more racks, wandered the department and went back to those shoes again. I just couldn't resist their pull! Via Spiga black patent leather peep toe pumps! They feel good and look great. So when a sales guy asked if I wanted him to get the other shoe for me, of course I said yes. Just to see how they looked on. At least that's what I told myself. Then as I walked around in them, I decided I just had to have them. Had to! Of course, this is where my weakness for shoes gets me in trouble, and the danger of impulse buying raises its ugly head. I mean, $85 as a sales price is great when the shoes were regular $170, right? right! As he started ringing me up, I flipped open my wallet and realized - UH OH! I left my debit card in my bag from yoga last night. crap! So, he promised to hold them for me and I walked to the car, disappointed and annoyed that I'd have to go all the way home and come back. As I'm telling Thad on the phone on the way home - both about the perfect shoes I had to have and the fact that I didn't have my debit card - I started thinking, hmmm, maybe this is a sign I shouldn't be buying those shoes. Will I get enough wear out of them to justify the high price? Could I find something I'd like just as much somewhere else? Perhaps.

So after a quick lunch at home I headed out to DSW. I made my way down the dress shoe aisle trying on shoes, still thinking how much I loved the $85 pair more than ones here for $60, and then I took a shot at their clearance racks in back. Why didn't I come here first to begin with? seriously! I have been all about shopping for good deals on nice quality clothes, shoes should be no different. I walked out of there with TWO pairs of shoes - a black patent leather slingback pump by Me Too and a black leather slingback peeptoe shorter pump by Liz Claiborne - for a total of $45. I saved $130 according to my receipt. And now I have a dressier and more casual pair of nice shoes. WOW, now that is great shopping I can feel good about - and a lesson learned about impulse buying! :)