Cost per use is a concept I hold near and dear to my heart only because it helps me make very quick decisions about whether or not I purchase the item today, tomorrow, or have to sleep on it for a couple of months.
Let’s take purses for example.
The basic idea of cost per use or wear, is if you are to spend $30 or $80 on a nice purse, you are planning on using that purse day in, day out.
Case in point. I bought a soft, faux leather, bronze metallic purse for $30 about 4 years ago. That is now the purse I bring with me on all of my travelling trips because it is elegant enough to be a work purse, soft enough to squish into my suitcase and not worry about it being damaged, and big (but not too much bag) enough to hold my items when I go sightseeing. Plus, I paid only $30 for it.
After 4 years, that purse has cost about $12.50/year so far. That’s 0.034 cents a day. And every year I take care of it, and use it, the cost per use goes down until it approaches zero.
This is the same principle that can be used for clothing.
I bought a cheap shirt for $5 on sale a month ago, took care of it, and now just looks dull, faded, frayed, ugly and stretched.
In contrast, I purchased a $50 shirt about a year ago, took the same care with it, but it still looks sharp, and it has kept its dye and colour well over the years. The quality was just simply better.
And just the other day, I bought the most amazing looking sapphire blue top that fit me like a glove, felt amazing, and cost about $74 after all the taxes were in. This was a great buy because the quality is clearly there, the colour looks great, and the fit is fabulous. If I take care of it, it won’t pill, rip, or be stained. It also helps that the fact that I spent more money makes me want to be more careful with it as well.
(Oh that, and I barely.. rarely.. shop, compared to what I used to buy back in the day :P).
I am not saying that EVERYTHING that costs more money is worth it, or you should blow money on something JUST to make you take care of your things better, but I’m just saying pick and choose what you want to pay more for, and what you won’t.
The only time I ever spent $80 on a purse, was 2 years ago for this Friis & Co. gorgeous black-lace gathered overlay on a faux white leather purse, with a silk black lining. I love it, and I carry it whenever I’m out on the town. Sure, the cost per use is a lot higher for that purse, but I plan on keeping that purse well into the future, and by that time, that purse will still be worth every penny I had paid for it.
But I can guarantee you would NEVER have seen that purse in a thrift store, and if I had waited and missed out on my chance to buy it on the cheap for $80 CAD and still be able to love it after all this time.
In short, I’d much rather have ONE $30-$80 purse I love and like to carry, than buying $4-$10, or a $20 purse and end up throwing the purses away, donating it, or shoving it into the back of my closet, untouched and unused, saved for the firs day I bought it. That cost per use for that “thrifty” bag that I never really loved in the first place was $4-$20, instead of $7.50-$12.50.
Sure, I could just use my laptop bag, or maybe a free plastic grocery bag to carry around my items, but as most women can attest to, it just isn’t the same. And besides, how cheap are you going to get? There has to be a limit somewhere. I’d treat this free plastic grocery bag cheapness akin to stealing ketchup packets from McDonald’s and squeezing it into your ketchup jar to save $3 per in addition to spending 6 hours of your time squeezing each packet in.
Being too frugal can be a bad thing for your karma. Trust me, I know! You tend to feel resentful of your debt and the bad feelings just pile up.
With that being said, I’d never cross the threshold of $100 for a bag, because it’s just a bag. But some people will buy $400 – $2000 It Bags for the season, use it for a season (about 4 months, maybe 6 months), and discard the former It Bag into the back of their closet, or sell it at a fraction (albeit still over $100) of its original retail cost.
Now, which one seems more economical to you?
You can even apply this to buying cars, or really, buying anything in general. If you’re going to buy a new car because buying a used one just doesn’t appeal to you, that’s fine. But if you buy a new car once every 3 years to upgrade, that’s not being as economical as if you bought that new car, took super good care of it, and made it last 15 – 20 years. The cost per use goes down, and in the end, you are still thrilled with your purchase.
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
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I must confess that I do (sometimes) spend $400 on a bag, or $1000 on shoes. However, always only timeless pieces that I can use (and am using) for years. At this moment, I have two +- $400 bags and 3 pairs of $500-1000 shoes, which I think is not at all much if you consider I wear these throughout the year, and years in a row. It's also practical: I don't often see things I really like, and if I do, they're often expensive. In that case, I'd rather only go shopping once or twice a year, and spend much on a few things, than going out every month and buying $5-$50 things that never seem to last the entire year, let alone years.
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I don\’t think you have a lot either. I think women who buy 10 bags at $500 each and 200 pairs of shoes at $800 each when they can\’t afford it, are just fooling themselves.
Personally, I still can\’t breach those limits. My max seems to be $100, perhaps $150.
wow i really like this concept! I TOTALLY agree with you regarding now buying expensive purses!
This is the logic behind my Coach bags. 🙂 I used my $150 bag for six months, which averaged $25 a month, and it’s still perfect for dressier occasions. My larger one, which was twice as much, is something I’m hoping to use for at least a year and some, so the end cost of use won’t be very much at all… I just need to learn how to apply this to the rest of my wardrobe and not just bags. 😉
That’s a beautiful top. I, of course, am all in favor of quality over quantity.
A couple of years ago, I splurged on a Dooney croc tote in a lovely chocolate brown. I had been coveting it for a long time. I finally caved and bought it, but even at a 20% off discount, it was still over US$250. But I do not regret it at all. I still use it everyday as my work tote, it’s in great shape, and I get compliments on it all the time. In this case, I spent wisely on a timeless piece that I still love…and use.
Great post! I think sometimes I forget to think about that cost per use thing, so this is a fantastic reminder.
The black and white bag – ooohhhhh damn, that’s gorgeous. When I buy things like that I definitely have to sleep on it – If I’m still thinking about it in a day or two, it means I would most likely use it more than just once.
This is a great way for me to justify spending insane amounts on clothing and accessories. Over the past years, I have spent more and more money replacing cheap crap that I have bought. For example, items from Forever 21 are the worst. I know that I will only get about 2 or 3 wears out of anything from there but when I buy items from Arden B, Banana Republic, or small boutiques in Chicago, I never become disappointed about my purchase because it last.