Cost Per Wear

I am big proponent of Cost Per Wear (CPW). You may have heard me talk about it before. Basically, if a pair of jeans at a thrift store cost you $10, and you wear them 2 times a week for 5 years before you look down and say to yourself "Oops! These are a little out of style now", then their CPW is just a little over 7.5 cents. If you buy a pair of jeans at the Gap for $50 and wear them once a month for 2 years before you just realize you dont' wear them enough to keep them, then their CPW is about $2.08. Not the greatest, right? Cost you a couple bucks each time. If you buy a pair of Paige Premium Denim jeans at Nordstrom for $150 and wear them 3 times a week for 5 years, your cost per wear is about 19 cents. Not quite a good as the great find at the thrift store, but much better than those Gap jeans. Even better if you can find them after they get sent to the Rack and then only spend $69.99 on them.

What I'm saying is, don't buy stuff just because it's a good deal. That sweater I found for $20 was a good find, but then I wore it once all winter and once again the next. CPW is $10. Not so great. That sweater that I found for $50 and hated spending so much on had a great CPW because I wore it ALL the time. Get it?

I was reminded of this concept because I was reading The Simple Dollar's blog and he was using the same concept on leisure activities. You can see it here:
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/07/06/making-your-time-less-money-dense/

Interesting. I washed my car last night with Peyton and then we walked to the grocery store instead of driving. I love sunshine and the late hour it stays until, during the summer. I got some exercise, the dog got some exercise, I didn't need to entertain P because he was looking at everything (until he decided I needed to sing the "Wheels on the Bus" song). We didn't use gas, we spent time together, we got our groceries. I didn't overspend because only so much fits in the stroller. Perfect!! Barely cost us anything.