Yep, That's Me
Let's say a man needs to buy a new pair of shoes. Left to his own devices, he would simply buy shoes in bulk, stuffing his closet with fifty identical pairs of sneakers that will last until he dies.
Since I got plantar fasciitis a number of years ago, about the only shoes I can wear without pain are ASICs running shoes. Since I work for myself, I can get away with wearing whatever the hell I want to work. Anyway, every few years, I look up the model number of the shoes I like (it changes a bit each year) and order 2 of each color ASICs has, usually 6-8 pair in all. This tends to last me about 3 years.
Similarly, when I start running low on shirts, every few years I go to a Lacoste or Polo outlet (whichever I find first) and buy about 10 shirts, one of each color I can find. This usually keeps me out of the stores for years. For going out, my wife buys me a new Robert Graham shirt for each birthday and Christmas (much more fun than getting a tie) and this satisfies my need for dressier stuff. Not sure how I buy jeans -- I have a whole pile of identical pairs I bought some time in the distant past that still seem to do the job.
CB:
obviously a man thing.
November 17, 2010, 8:51 amDanny:
I'm someone who loves fashion and is willing to pay a lot for it...but when it comes to jeans, I found out long ago that I like the fit of Levi's 514s, and have never bought anything but those since then. In fact, if my size hasn't changed, I just go and grab them and take them to the counter without even trying them on.
November 17, 2010, 10:14 amagesilaus:
Try some Superfeet shoe liners for your plantar fasciitis . My wife has it and nothing seemed to help, the podiatrist even gave her a brace. But I've been using Superfeet for a couple of years and we got her a set of the green ones and within a month she says she has no problems except when she wears formal shoes that the SF won't go in. These are hard foot liner supports and the color denotes how stiff they are.
November 17, 2010, 4:29 pmepobirs:
Seems eminently logical to me. If a bulk purchase gives a price break and you have the storage space, why not secure a good long-term supply of a valued item? Isn't this what put Costco on the map, taking them beyond supplying the then normal customers for bulk items?
I do something similar with luxury items like video games. I'm not especially compelled to own the latest thing, mainly because I've no interest in online competition. So I pick up games by the dozen when they're marked down to $10 or less. Just yesterday, I found Devil May Cry 4 (Xbox 360) and Uncharted (PS3) at Toys R Us for a combined cost of $17 after tax and promotional discounts. (Plus some points contributed to a loyalty club thing TRU started recently, plus the further bonus of a credit card that returns 4% on TRU purchases.) Both of these sold quite well for $60 and $50 respectively when released a few years ago. They're old but new to me. I may not get around to playing them until well into next year but I will never lack for new games to play at a price I can afford.
November 19, 2010, 1:11 pm