Because, TaxGuy, finding bargains requires skill and patience. And it’s FUN! It’s so rewarding, almost orgasmic, finding that perfect leather jacket for 20 dollars at an after Christmas Red Tag sale!
Even if I were rich as Midas, I’d still go bargain hunting. It’s the thrill of finding great stuff so cheap!
This reminds of a story I read in Sports Illustrated a while back about former football star Eric Dickerson.
From what I remember, he went to a Mercedes (or other high end car dealership) and was browsing around the showroom wiht workout clothes or something on when a white salesperson sees he and comes up to him and says something like, “This car is $90,000”. Then he just walks away and starts talking to another salesperson. So Dickerson calls over the other salesperson and says to him, “I’ll take this one and that one”.
And it always surprises me how much other people seem to care about what people spend on their stuff.
I bought my new boots. I wore them. People complemented. Those same people asked the price. I told them. They then had the unmitigated gall to act offended that I’d spent that much on boots I didn’t NEED.
Guess what - unless you paid, weather or not I NEED my $750 boots is of no consequence to you whatsoever, and it really isn’t your place to get offended, surprised, or otherwise react at all.
My money. My boots.
Besides - who made you the arbiter of what I (or anyone else) needs?
I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I agree with alice.
I just bought a new car yesterday. It’s a nice car. Very nice. In fact, it is the car I’ve always wanted.
I’m also in law school and otherwise, live the “starving student” lifestyle. I can tell some family members were upset that I didn’t choose a super cheap car that I wouldn’t have been happy with (I drive on average 100+ miles a day, so I need a dependable car that I ENJOY driving) and instead chose a more expensive car (although still “cheap” by most people’s standards) that I am utterly and completely in love with.
My reaction? They’re not paying my tuition or any of my other bills. I am an adult, paying my own way through life in every respect, and so I make the decisions about what I need and what I choose to buy.
As long as people don’t gloat, I say it’s no ones business but the person ponying up the cash. People may be shocked and may dissapprove, but keep the remarks to yourself.
Offended? No. Surprised? I don’t think it’s such a effrontry to act surprised at something, regardless of personal involvement. $750 for boots seems excessive to most people, I’d wager–after all, they’re only boots. That isn’t to say your enjoyment of them is misguided, alice, only that others might not place the same value on them. Given that, to them, it seems excessive to pay so much, it’s understandable that they’d be surprised. They likely wouldn’t voluntarily pay as much for footwear of their own, and that someone does amazes them, even if only initially.
(In the paragraph above, substitute boots and footwear for computers, home entertainment centers, model train sets, or any other interest that involves spending money. Mine’s swords, and believe me, it’s hard to make my family see that $300 is a fair price for a decoration. 
)
People who get offended or otherwise think you’ve done them a disservice by spending your own money don’t really have a place to do so, I agree. But merely being surprised doesn’t seem like something to really get huffy about.
I wasn’t really saying surprise in the “Wow - those must be very good quality boots!” kind of sense.
I was saying surprise in the “Holy Fuck! You’ve got to be shitting me! Jesus Christ! Hey Frank - she payed $750 for a pair of boots! Can you believe that shit! Boots man - $750 for fuckin’ boots! Holy Fuckin’ Crap! etc, etc.”
I trust you can see the difference. 
I just wanted to add that I think $124 for a black pants, a pair of jeans, and a shirt is really good value.
Last time I bought jeans they were €95, Im not quite sure what that is in $, but its not very different, last timei bought a black trousers they were €65 and last time I bought a shirt… it was probably for a school uniform… anyway.
Ok granted the jeans were by Roxy Quiksilver and they are kinda expensive here, but even so a pair of Levi Flares, what I usually where, are about €70 here.
All those disbelieveing men(and some women) in this thread should be thanksful they dont live on this side of the pond, clothes are expensive, even those from the chain stores!
What gets me is the people who say things like “A designer handbag is purely about screaming “Hey, look at me - I have money!” and my focuses in life have changed. I find it all so empty and pointless really.” An actual quote.
Am I oversensitive, or was that not incredibly insulting? I can bargain hunt with the best of them, but sometimes (ok, often) it’s nice to splurge. I like to spend money on clothes, and suddenly my life is empty and pointless? The woman who said that was so smug and holier-than-thou, and I remember thinking at the time that I certainly didn’t have a monopoly on being judgemental and superficial.
Delly, is Roxy an Aussie brand? Because I definitely remember Roxy being much cheaper over here!
Well of course it was incredibly insulting. It was MEANT to be incredibly insulting.
I assume the woman was jealous of your bag, so she slagged you off to make herself feel better.
My response probably would have been. “Well, that’s nice, but I think your children smell bad.”
See, I’ll splurge on something that I like-and I do on occassion.
I just don’t see the point in spending more money on a bag when the only difference is the label-unless it’s higher quality or something.
That’s all.
Couldn’t agree more. I just did the same thing, buying a MINI.
Oh, and I just spent 145 dollars on a 50’s coat :eek:
But, I’ve lost a lot of weight, and have made a vow of no more settleing for anything 
Any way, beleive it or not, I’m the countess of bargining. Case in point-I bought the MINI a state over to avoid paying 1500 dollars over MSRP.
But really- I love buying things for over 90% off. (BTW, Guin, I’ll mail you a site you’ll love)
Oh yes yes yes! Cool! (BTW, love the sig-lol)
Seriously, if you alice, can afford the boots, and you’re happy, more power to ya.
I tell you one area I will splurge is books. I have to have books. I’ll go to Half Price Books, but if I can’t, I’ll order it from Amazon or Borders. There’s a book I’m dying for about the royal family of Montenegro and I’m prepared to spend all of my Christmas money to order it.
Certainly I can. I was actually thinking of something more in the middle, though.
“$750? Holy crap. I didn’t even know there were boots that expensive. If I paid that much for boots, they better be gold-toed.” More amazed than your first example, less obnoxious than the second (I hope, anyway). I definitely agree, people who won’t let it go are irritating as hell. As long as you’re happy with 'em, it’s no business of anyone else’s.
Though, if the reactions are that annoying, might I suggest answering the question ‘How much did they cost?’ with ‘What they were worth’?
$750? Pfft. Some of you havent heard of Hermes.
(it’s aiiiir-mez dahlings ;))
Interesting, when I saw the thread title, my thoughts were of all the times as a cashier that we had people coming in saying “Mymomboughtthistheresasalenowgimmemoney.” Ten times out of ten, it was something that had been shoplifted, so I’m actually not that surprised that the store policy forbids retroactive discounts.
Men don’t spend money on clothes? I guess you’ve never been to a sports store that sells those Mitchell and Ness throwback jerseys. I would love to know what the profit margin is on one of those babies is. I don’t CARE if you use the same fabric or whatever as they did–no way should those things cost $300-$500.
My dad probably spends a lot on clothes-in his line of work he has to have new suits every so often.
Good ones, too, about 200 dollars or so.
Hey Alice:
It’s your money, and I personally think you should spend it on whatever you damn well please.
But you know… you could have bought the whole cow for that much, and had enough leather for 4 or 5 pairs of boots, and a matching purse.