Walking a Mile in Her Manolos: On Personal Finance, Internet ...

I?m a huge fan of DailyWorth. It?s a personal finance newsletter catering to women. It covers the gamut of saving [coupons, trimming your budget, the best retirement accounts and how to take advantage of company matching], earning [negotiate a raise at work, pick up a a side job, sell your old stuff you don't use anymore], and spending [buy the things that matter to you sans guilt]. The writers also cover specific issues related to women and money ? the cost of childcare, the glass ceiling, the way that most women save less than they need for retirement and are less aggressive about negotiating their wages and working conditions ? which I can?t find anywhere else. It?s injected with a healthy dose of Girl Power, to be sure, but the information is 100% gold.

Friday?s edition, though, raised quite the shitstorm. And rather than weigh in on it with a lengthy comment, I?m going to put up my thoughts here.

The premise: the author spent $85 on a new pair of shoes, because they make her feel powerful, sexy, confident. I can relate to that. I think everyone who?s ever bought clothing can. We buy disposable goods like this partly because they make use feel good.

And some of the commenters went berserk. ?Shoes don?t matter,? they chorused. ?The only thing that matters is money in the bank, and knowledge on how to make it work for you.? More than one commenter dismissed buying shoes as a waste of time, and wagged their fingers about ?spending on something that matters.?

And to those I say: Bullshit. Get down off your high[-heeled?] horse.You?re all missing the point.

Yeah, I know, it?s jarring when a personal finance blog advocates spending on something you don?t think is important. It?s completely fatuous, though, to assume that just because it?s not important to you, it shouldn?t be important to anyone. Step back, look at it in the abstract, and figure out how the principle works for you.

The article isn?t just about shoes. It?s about buying things that make us feel good. It?s about anything we?ve ever spent money on in an attempt to make us feel better, more powerful, more in control, more authoritative:

• The iPad I?m saving for that?ll let me do my work on the train without killing my back lugging my enormous MacBook around
• The Roomba that solves my dog hair problem, and allows me to feel like a housekeeping goddess without lifting a finger
• The smart new dress someone buys for an in-person job interview?or fancy-delancey business cards you order pass out at networking events

Or anything we ever buy thinking it?s going to transform us into something we want to be:

• A set of drawer organizers so we can impose order on chaos
• A new notebook that we?re going to use for writing our novels
• A gorgeous dish set that we plan to use in our bid to become Hostess of the Year.
• Tons of yarn and knitting needles so we can finally start the Etsy shop we?ve been wanting to run since high school.

The whole purpose of personal finance is to figure out what matters to you, and how you can use your money to make that happen. There?s no point in having money at all if you can?t [or don't] use it to make your life better.

I?d like to imagine that because this was a personal finance writer, she weighed the costs and benefits of the purchase before she bought them. What?s the cost per wear? Is she going to take good care of her feet while she wears them?And, most importantly ? is the rest of her financial situation in order ? regular expenses, saving, little to no debt, charitable contributions, and a workable budget she?s sticking to that allows her to buy what?s important to her?

If she?s got all that sorted out, guess what? It?s none of our damn business. These shoes ? though they?re not ones I?d ever buy myself ? are making her life better. Which is something you can never say about finger-wagging, judging others, or self-importance.

What are some important things for you to spend money on? How do you deal with others who have different priorities?

Do you like what you see? Tell someone!

Related posts:

1. Full Disclosure #001: In Which Amanda Lee Begins Speaking Her Mind About Fashion, Finance, and Writer?s Block
2. Conscious Spending on Fashion
3. Things I?d Like to Tell Myself at Ages 11, 14, 18, and 22
4. Full Disclosure on My Ex and The Internet
5. Avoiding Fashion Impulse Buys

Source: http://www.amandalee.org/2011/06/walking-a-mile-in-her-manolos-on-personal-finance-internet-commenting-and-judgy-mcjudgertons/

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