Today’s post is from our regular Wednesday contributor, Cat.
Things are a bit hectic in my home right now. Not only do I have two newborns, but I am also moving clear across the country from Louisiana to New Jersey tomorrow.
I knew the move was coming (I just didn’t know exactly when), but I still had a lot of packing and sorting to do to get ready for it. Turns out, we were only given two weeks to find a place and get ourselves moved in so we’ve been working like crazy to try to get everything packed and ready.
Of course, even though I’ve moved tons of places over the last five years, one thing remains: I have too many shoes.
Granted, I didn’t bring a lot of them with me when I moved to Grenada, but now I am left with the task of going through them to see what will fit in the next tiny, overpriced apartment that I will call mine (can you see how excited I am about this next journey?)
As I put pair after pair in donate boxes, I really started to wonder: How many shoes does one girl need?
I mean seriously, why did I have five pairs of red heels, as if I was going to have one thrilling night out on the town after another? I’ve come to realize as I kept putting them in the donate box that I really wasted a lot of money on them.
I know some women out there will say you can never have too many shoes, but now that I’m working from home, I just don’t see a need for an excessive number of heels. In fact, I’m kind of tired of having too many things. It’s exhausting to move it all from place to place, and I all of a sudden crave even more minimalism that I’ve already implemented on my family.
So, when it comes to shoes, here’s what I’ve decided: Every closet should have a little variety, both for the ladies and the gents. When it comes to shoes, you need a nice pair or two for going places like work and church. You need a pair or two of casual shoes for going grocery shopping or running quick errands. Then, you need a pair or two of sneakers for running or working outside or dirty work in general. I’ve decided to kill lots of birds with one stone by buying neutral shoes that will go with everything. I seriously use to have shoes in every color. Now I just have a pair of nude colored heels and nude colored flats along with some boots and special occasion shoes.
I don’t have a final number for you as far as how many pairs are left in my closet because I still keep finding shoes as I go through my things (seriously, it’s ridiculous). However, I’m hoping that I can keep the number around 10 or less, and given that there’s tons of people in the world who don’t even have one pair, I’d say I might still have some work to do.
How many shoes do you have? Do you feel like you waste a lot of money on them or do you think it’s worth it to have a lot of variety?
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I always used to roll my eyes at people with tons of shoes, but I find myself so often looking through my closet and finding I don’t have what I need for the occasion or the weather. It’s kind of crazy how much variety you need for your feet. I just don’t have room for it in an NYC apartment.
I don’t have a ton of shoes but I do feel like I have too many for how often I don’t wear them. I have two sets of casual shoes that I wear every day – great for work and walking. The rest doesn’t get worn much…like my indoor-only tennis shoes, my strictly animal shelter volunteer shoes that hang out in my car, two pairs of flats, two sets of heels, two pairs of jazz/dance shoes, and 3 or 4 pairs of dressy-ish sandals. Unless it’s casual shoes that I wear every day, I don’t spend money on shoes. I think I have a pretty good variety with what I have and shoe shopping for my tiny feet is never fun.
As we were packing and moving I had the same thoughts. It was exhausting, and we had so much useless stuff! I have three pairs of boots, one pair of running sneakers, one pair of flats, two pairs of heels, and another pair of “dirty work” sneakers. Flip flops are another story. I’ve never been a shoe person, and I really could make do with less; the heels are only for special occasions and flats were for work.
I was just looking at some of my shoes last night, putting away our new sandals that we took on vacation. I want to change out some of the ones I have for higher quality ones. Even though I rarely use some of my shoes, having some for weddings, very formal events and Christmas parties.
A huge gutting of my closet is on the horizon!
Truth be told I could probably use MORE shoes! Mine are beaten down and weathered, but I don’t justify new ones that much based on my situation (casual living by the beach and working from home). I have one pair of black heels for special occasions, and flip flops are the one type of shoe I buy most often. I wear them so much I rip through the toe thingy so I have to buy new ones all the time. I really could use some new dressier sandals. I almost always wear open-toe shoes.
Interesting article. I purged my shoes in January and went from around 80 pairs of shoes down to around 60. I know I still have too many, but this was just round one of de-cluttering my shoes!
I think I have 6-8 pairs of shoes, but then again I hate shoes for some reason and am much more comfortable in sandals any day. I believe it’s important to have variety and if you like them and can afford them then do what you like so I think the waste of money is sort of dependent on the person/situation. That said, hopefully I never have to buy another pair of “work” type shoes again. :)
I have an agreement with my hubby that when a new pair of shoes comes in, another one has to be given away, and this has worked well. It’s funny because I have a bunch of shoes and I probably wear the same 3 or 4 all time time.
I have way too many shoes now but when my husband first met me I had about 5 and it was pretty sad because I would get dressed and have no shoes that looked right with what I was wearing constantly! I have swung the other way now though. Too many! And I’m really over it.
That’s a good question. I think I have about 12 pairs. I would be nice to live somewhere where you’d be able to wear sandals and flip flops all year. I bet I have 4 pairs of boots, one just for getting around in snow. If I lived in Phoenix, I’d only need 3 pairs probably.
So true. Closet size does help to keep it down!
That sounds just perfect actually!
I definitely feel like I have too many heels especially now that I work from home.
That’s a good point to exchange for higher quality ones that will last years!
I actually started buying rainbow flip flops when I moved to Grenada. They last so long!
Ha I love it! Awesome blog name to go with it!
Exactly! Let the work shoes go to goodwill!
Oh me too. Same with clothes!
Girl I feel ya! Decluttering feels so good though!
That’s how it was in Grenada- flip flops even to work!
I’m not sure how many shoes I have. I’m sure my husband would say too many. :) I would say that I have just enough! I do actually go through my closets once a year and it helps me from going overboard when you realize that you tend to wear the same things over and over and it’s really a waste of money to buy things that you never wear, which of course happens to every woman! Good luck with your move tomorrow!
Hmm – 1 high boots, 1 ankle boot, 1 wedge, 3 fancy heels (probably only need 2 of them), 1 peep toe flat, two ballet flats and 2 sneakers.
I think I have a lot of shoes already, but I could use more nice shoes! I could really use a pair or two of comfy ballet flats. I have: a pair of rainboots, 1 pair of snow boots, 2 pairs of running shoes, one pair of Birkenstocks (which I live in during the summer), 1 pair of hiking sandals, 1 pair of hiking shoes,2 pairs of mid-calf dressy boots, 2 pairs of peep toe heels 1 pair of boat shoes and 1 pair of black heels. Judging my list, I actually think I have quite the variety! :)
I’d say I have 10 or so, but really use 3, and flip flops 80% of the time. I like classic looks that go with everything and will last long so don’t mind spending a little more since it is so few of them.
If you have more than 10 pairs, and that includes some shoes to get dirty when you are working, that is too many. Of course saving a few old ones for really dirty work, ones that should have been tossed out, might be OK.
But if you don’t work in the mud, or paint houses, 10 pairs would do for all situations.
My boyfriend has way more shoes than I do. Mine are mostly black and can go with any outfit.
That is awesome!
Ha I’m trying to get it under 10!
I totally wore flip flops every day in Grenada!
I used to work at a shoe store in my first and second year of college, so I have a crap ton of shoes. I had a VERY good discount, and had no problem opening my wallet every pay day to buy a new pair. Unfortunately, I wear very few of those pairs still though I have quite a few. I have 3 pairs of boots I regularly wear in the fall and winter, 2 pairs of heels, a pair of running shoes and a pair of flats that I wear year round. Plus my wellies.
Thanks Shannon!!
That’s pretty good!!!
Quite a variety and not too many!
I would spend my paycheck at the shoe store for sure if I worked there!
I have three pairs of flats, two boots, one tennis shoe, three heels. I feel like I have a lot, but I’m fairly minimalist and can’t stand a lot of things. I have intense urges to purge from time to time. My shoes last forever and I don’t really buy new ones, so I don’t feel like it’s a waste.
I’m down to 10 pairs of shoes now, although that doesn’t include the 10+ pairs of dance shoes – tell you what, salsa dancing is an expensive hobby!
Both my wife and I have too many shoes, for sure. But just to play devil’s advocate, the money you spent on them is a sunk cost. We end up keeping most of them because we figure we’d get very little in a sale, and only so much free space opened up from donating them. Their ‘use value’ never diminishes though. Even if you wear them only 12 times over the next 12 years, that’s still something, you know?
I used to be OBSESSED with shoes! Now, whenever I look at my shoe closet, I see all the money I wasted. By the end of the year, I hope to consolidate my shoe collection to the absolute essentials.