The $40 socks
A few years ago, I was in Olympia to visit a friend. I had to um, go to the bathroom, so I pulled off of I-5 and the first place I found was the Olympia co-op. I did my business, and feeling guilty about how I had punished their bowl, I decided to buy something.
What I found was a really nice pair of organic socks. They were $6 ish.
They were the freaking best socks I have ever bought. Those socks are the first ones I grab from the drawer, and are always in the wash since I wear them so often. They are a few years old now, and look and feel brand new. I’ve always been on the lookout for more since then.
On Saturday, Jack and I were shopping at a fancy grocery store, and I found the exact same socks in their health and beauty section. It was sock destiny. It was meant to be. It was sockendipity.
Thinking nothing of it, I threw a three pack of long ones, and a three pack of short ones in my basket, and went on my merry way.
You can imagine how tightly my butthole clenched when they all rang up at $40.
For six pairs of socks.
I also puked in my mouth just a little bit.
But you know what…I didn’t tell the cashier to take them off my tab. I didn’t protest the price. I put them in my cloth bag, and went home. I also texted a friend about it, and let’s just say she was a bit surprised at my expensive sock purchase.
Why oh why would someone pay $40 for socks? SOCKS????
Well, because they are worth it. I could easily go to Target and get a 10 pack of socks for about $9. And those damn things will last less than one year and then be in the garbage. My super socks on the other hand, last forever. By the time I had used up about $40 worth of Target socks, my fancy pants socks will be middle-aged, and will still be keeping my feet nice and toasty.
The pricey socks are made with organic cotton (pesticides applied to cotton crops are one of the biggest polluters in the US), and made in the USA. They may not be cheap, but their value will pay for itself in the end. At face value, spending $40 on socks is idiotic, but my new socks are keeping tons of socks out of the landfills, supporting a US company, and preventing additional applications of chemicals from affecting of our waterways.
I later found them on Azure Standard for about $7 cheaper, but hey, in seven years when these ones have wore out, I know where to get replacements!
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| Anatomy of a non-staged photo: cords everywhere, too much stuff on my sweet garage sale TV stand that later turned out to be worth $1k, and a broken 43 year old mini blind. |
I’m a knitter, and I have to admit that I laughed at this. I have sock yarn in my stash that cost about $30/ball (one ball makes 1-2 pairs of socks for me, depending on the pattern). Yarn’s one of my habits (though currently I’m not buying any more and just knitting from stash). So is loose-leaf tea, although every time we go buy some, my husband comments on how cheap it ends up being overall.
I WISH I had the skills to knit socks. I can only make scarves, and really big scarves, AKA baby blankets.
I spent $269 on sheets. They are lovely, soft, Egyptian cotton, and make me smile when I get into bed at night!
Ohhhh they sound amazing!
If you are in a cold climate, I highly recommend fleece sheets for the winter. It’s like sleeping on a fuzzy cloud.
We are also sock snobs. When we lived in Iowa, we went a bit crazy at the Fox River sock sale and spent like $150 on socks for the whole family. My only regret is that we didn’t get to the sale sooner as most of the socks I wanted were gone in the sizes I needed.
I splurge on kitchen appliances. I am currently living with one decent pot and one thrift store pot with a missing handle, 3 cast iron skillets so that I could splurge on a higher end toaster oven, blender, and pressure cooker/caner. I really wanted an Excalibur dehydrator, but settled for a Nesco, which is still a good quality dehydrator (from what I have read).
My hubby splurges on bicycles. It’s his only passion (and stress reliever), so I am happy to indulge him. But yeah, people look at us oddly when we tell them we live in a 530 sq ft rental then they see some of the things we buy. Oh well, we stopped caring what other people think a long time ago :0)
Oh man, I have so many kitchen gadgets, that it isn’t even funny. I think we would have a great time in the kitchen Tina. A great time!
We are only about a 24 hour train ride away…
Yes, but what brand are the socks? If they are so amazing, YOU MUST SHARE!!! 🙂
Our splurge is high-speed internet and two smart phones. My personal splurge is the occasional soy chai latte from Starbucks. MMMMMM.
They’re linked above, but here it is again: http://maggiesorganics.com/
Free shipping on orders over $75! If you have access to Azure Standard, their prices are cheaper.
My splurge would be my phone… even though now it’s cheaper ($50 vs 86), it’s a smartphone (ahem, Blackberry, mind you), and it doesn’t get used all that much. But it is my only “bill” outside of debt. And my other only entertainment outside of my computer. So there’s that…
Troy and I both have smart phones as well. Expensive yes, but the best part about them is that Troy and Jack can face time when Troy is gone so much. Both phones were free, but the monthly data plans suck.
I like the way Sara thinks! Totally logical. They weren’t as expensive as it appears when you look at it that way! It just seems like it because you put the cash all out at once. Enjoy your toasty toes. I HATE having cold feet.
I was being “cheap” last week and refused to buy myself some of my favourite tea, which I haven’t had in forever. Normally, I pay $5.99 for 216 Store-Brand Orange Pekoe bags so I just couldn’t justify paying $8.99 for 50 of my favourite. The day after I refused to purchase the tea, stating that I will wait for a sale, my husband “forced” me to get myself some. (His logic was similar to Sara’s in that it is 18 cents per tea bag, wayyyyyyy cheaper than Tim Horton’s (and better)! I have been enjoying it every day. Mmmmmmmm….
Our splurge is Xbox. We don’t have cable or satellite and an antenna won’t work in our area. That Xbox is our family entertainment center. We play games, watch Hulu & Netflix etc all through Xbox Live. People scratch their heads over it all the time. Why would be pay for live, netflix and hulu when we could just have basic cable. My answer: it’s still cheaper! not counting the cost for internet (because seriously, 90 % of my house is wireless so we would have that bill anyway) a one year subscription for Xbox(paid annually) and the basic subscriptions Hulu & Netflix are cheaper than the $360/year we would pay for cable.
I like to call those “big picture purchases”. 🙂
Plus, Xbox Live cards go on sale from time to time, so if you watch, you can save a teeny bit more on your Live subscription! We are getting rid of cable too, probably in the summer ($50/month!). But I don’t think we get things like Hulu here in Canada. And apparently our Netflix is different, not as good I’m told. My kids manage to find what ever they want to watch online.
I added it up a few weeks ago, and having internet, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, and Netflix streaming saves us $708 a year vs. cable.
If you paid $6 for the first pair of socks, it’s really only a $4 markup since the 6 pairs would have come up to $36 anyway.
I would give yourself a pat on the back for bolstering the local economy and wiggle those toes with glee, sister.
I’m just excited my title made the post!!
You should feel honored.
You deserve them!!