Gail, I have a bone to pick with you. How come you’re always picking on girls who like to buy shoes? On the one hand you say you don’t care what people spend their money on as long as they’re not using credit. And then you keep referring to people who spend a lot of their money on shoes as if this is the dumbest thing you can imagine. What’s up with that?

It was signed “Carrie”, which I imagine is the pseudonym this chick chose because of Carrie Bradshaw’s  (of Sex in the City fame) love affair with shoes.

Hey, you’re right “Carrie”, I don’t much care what people spend their money on as long as it is their money and if it seems like I pick on shoe shoppers it’s because they are such easy targets.

Let me quote Carrie Bradshaw from the show: “I’ve spent $40,000 on shoes, and I have no place to live. I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes!”

It’s a funny line. What’s not so funny is that this is the reality for a lot of dolls out there.  While I’ve been a big shoe pig myself from time to time, I have never, ever spent money on shoes like these:

• Burberry pumps $475
• Burberry flats $425
• Pierre Hardy heels $725
• Gucci heels $665
• Gucci runners $565
• Louboutin pumps $590
• Giuseppe Zanotti $698
• Sigerson Morrison pumps $495
• Roger Vivier pumps $975
• Prada Sport boots $835
• Loefler Randall booties $550
• Dior flats $455

This is a partial shoe list of someone I’ve met. And she’s not the only person I know who has dropped thousands and thousands of dollars to clad her feet in name-brand shoes.

So what’s wrong with this? Nothing, if the money you’re spending represents a reasonable percentage of your income. After all, if you’re Katy Perry or Gwyneth Paltrow and you’re pulling down five or six million a year, dropping $1,200 on a pair of Louboutins is no biggie. But if you’re making  $100,000, $50,000 or $35,000 a year, and you’ve got a mortgage to pay, retirement to save for, and a couple of kids to educate, what the hell are you thinking blowing that kind of money on something as insignificant as a pair of shoes?

Carrie Bradshaw may be a fictional character, but she’s reflected in thousands of people who put the thrill of a big purchase ahead of the satisfaction of a slow but steady commitment to building financial stability.

Blowing money on stuff that has no real value beyond the impression it may create, assuming you hang around with dopes who are that easily impressed, likely means you don’t have the good sense God gave a goose. Nothing I say is likely to change your mind. And, like Carrie, it may occasionally occur to you that your behaviour has long term consequences. But like Carrie you’ll probably blow off such a deep thought and head on out to the stores for some more shopping. Happy hunting!