I have three pairs of shoes: a pair of sneakers, a pair of moccasins and a shiny girly pair of loafers that I wear to interviews. I wear the sneakers for errands, when riding my bike and when I go to places where sneaker wearers are not frowned upon. I wear my moccasins to work (its black) and to places where sneakers aren’t allowed. I buy shoes only for comfort not for their looks. Apparently the gene that makes a woman go crazy over shoes isn’t present in me. I have zero interest in shoes. The only time I buy shoes is when my current pair is falling apart.

My current pair of sneakers is now 4 years old. And while I can still wear them in the summer and run errands while wearing them, they are not good to wear in wet and cold weather any more. There are too many holes and much of it has just been worn away. I originally purchased them from the discount store Ross Dress for Less for under $20. At the time my philosophy was to purchase shoes that cost less than $20. Most of the time I used to buy shoes from Payless, and they even last a few years. I have a pair of slippers (beach slippers) that I wear all the time indoors in the summer and they are almost nine years old. I originally purchased them at a dollar store.

Anyway, its time to buy new sneakers, and I just got a pair from LL Bean. They were made in Italy and cost over $100. But I expect them to last 10 years or more. The soles looked very thick and since they are made for hiking, I expect the sole to not wear away very quickly. There was another reason that hastened the purchase which I will discuss in a future post.