I did it. I broke
down and bought a pair of shoes this week.
I have waited and waited to purchase a pair because in rationing – you are
only allowed to buy one pair of shoes for the year. One Pair.
That’s it. Only one pair – even if
it is a buy one pair – get one pair half off.
Nope – even if you have the money to buy more than one pair… you only
get one ration stamp.
See those wonderful red shoes shining in the window…??? Do you hear them calling your name? Oh, wouldn’t they look great on the dance
floor? Oh and look at those lime green
shoes…. Oh and those beautiful brown ones – they would be great for work…. Hummm , my dress shoes has a heel that is
starting to come loose… Maybe this would be a great use of my ONE ration stamp
for shoes.
One Stamp, One pair of shoes, One… that is it…
Ha Ha- are you starting to feel my pain? I walk slowly by the shoe store on my way
home from work. All those beautiful
shoes are calling out my name. They are shiny,
they are new. Oh they look – and FEEL-
great. Better than my old, smelly work
shoes I have now, that have lost their shine and the heel on the left foot is
loose. I only get to buy one pair of
shoes.
And because of that – they have to be functional and be what I need. Not what I want.
Those shiny red shoes are beautiful… but they will not match
all my outfits that I wear – and …. They … are… not… functional….! Gerrrr!
So today I bought a pair of shoes.
A pair of functional shoes.
Shoes that I needed – not shoes that I wanted.
I did not pick them by their color.
I did not pick them by their price.
I picked them for what they could do for me.
These are the shoes I need for every day-
For walking to work (not driving my car)
For biking to the store (saving gas)
Today – I bought a pair of functional shoes
I was rational – not fashionable
Functional – not fun
Today I bought shoes
Boring
white
athletic
shoes.
I just found your blog while looking for ways to stretch my budget. Thank you so much for both your experiment and sharing its results! Instead of being "deprived" I'm finding great satisfaction in making do -- most of the time. There are the days when I want to whine "but I want something pretty, not practical..."
ReplyDeleteI hear you about the shoes, sigh. I am wearing sensible black sneakers since I take the bus, but there is pair of red leather Mary Janes with little hearts cut out of the tops that keep calling to me. Thank goodness for thrift stores!
My mother grew up during rationing and she commented that bows and fabric roses were a big accessory when she was in school, because they used so little fabric which could be salvaged from other things. They were pinned on a hat, lapel or bag and could be switched around to brighten things up on the plain navy or brown outfit you bought because it would wear well.