How do you afford your bags and how many per year? Credit debt or millionare lover?

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#1,936
Oh yeah many brands hold onto their value very well, which is awesome. For me they don't fall under the category of investment, though; they don't make any money while they sit in my closet, for one, and even when I see bags sold at a profit, they seldom reach the returns that other investments do. For example, my stock in a certain credit card company has more than tripled in value since 2011, and my stock in a tech company named for a fruit has more than doubled, which is simply not going to happen with a handbag (naturally, not all stock performs so well, but if you do your research it's not hard to make decent returns.)

I consider a luxury handbag more like a car than like real estate in that respect. Of course, with the way handbag prices keep on rising, certainly you can save money by buying sooner rather than later, and the price increases help the bag retain its value if you plan on selling it down the road. Unfortunately, wearing an item frequently makes it lose its resale value more quickly (because the condition deteriorates with use, and condition is crucial in the second hand market), and as I try to buy only things that I love and thus will use a great deal, I personally will probably not be making any money in reselling my bags, meaning they are terrible investments for me.
 
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#1,937
Last year was my first year buying designer handbags, I turned 25. So I thought why not...I brought my self 5. My plan is to only buy a designer handbag on my birthday I'm looking to buy the prada saffiano lux tote, the one with out the zippers and a Louis Vuitton emillie wallet.
 
#1,939
When I got out of college, I had a pretty good paying job but my spending habits exceeded my income. I didn't buy purses (at least not designer ones) but it was other stuff, going on trips, makeup, clothes and whatever. I got into $30k in debt quickly and then nipped that in the bud and paid it off within a couple years. Since then, I've been very cautious about my spending. I'm in my 30s now and have a very well paying job, my husband and I bought frugally when we bought our house (spent well less than 2x our income on the mortgage). So we are lucky to have quite a bit of disposable income and we have no kids. So the money we spend is on our pets and ourselves. Our retirement plans are fully funded, we are able to go on multiple trips per year and still have money leftover for fun stuff.

If you are young, I'm going to sound like an old fuddy duddy but the best advice I ever got from someone was put your money into retirement, make sure you don't go into debt and then spend leftover money on fun stuff. Save for things that you can't afford now because really they aren't going away.
 
#1,941
I mostly save, then buy. I window shop alot The bag I usually fall for goes out of season before I have saved up for it though and I spend the next two years trying to find it. But I usually get it alot cheaper so there is a silver lining!
 
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#1,943
Arailah said:
Fantastically written...

Honest disclosure, this happened to me last year. I've always been a fan of handbags but never spent more than a few hundred on one. Found this website, became quite enthralled and then became obsessed with Balenciagas. Told myself because I was getting them pre-loved that I was getting a great deal. Felt like I found other people who shared my love for handbags and got caught up in the excitement of the "next find." $500.00 in front of this computer screen and $500.00 out in the real world held significantly different values. I lost all financial sense. One became two, which became three which became four in a span of a few months. I was out of control. Honestly, finances only allow for one expensive handbag purchase a year - planned. I wasn't doing that last year.

I had a handful of Balenciaga's, a heavy conscience and one heck of a credit card balance. My husband was clueless to how I lost control. I quickly sold every one of the bags to recoop as much as I could of the mess I made and thankfully the dust settled.

I'm back now after being gone for almost a year from TPF and openly communicating with my husband about any purchase I make. I've learned the hard way how the slippery slope can work and commit to not fall into it again.

Copying and Pasting your advice to a note on my computer so I can remind myself to not get swept up in the awesome of handbags. :graucho:
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Wow. I'm so glad I run into this thread. I just started tpf about 2 months. I've been obsess with reveals and just bought my first lv last month. I can only afford one bag per year. Even though I just bought a bag last month, I'm now lurking around at the chanel gst and camellia wallet ( total up 4000 that I don't have). It's so dangerous. I almost charge my cc to get them but stop when saw this thread. It really help me to hear that majority of the ppl on here tell me they save up and only pay cash. I will log off the purse forum until I save up enough money to be on here again. Thank you for sharing your experience. I knew I was on a slippery rope but I kept telling myself I can handle it.
 
#1,945
Your subject line is priceless, lol. Unfortunately, it's not a millionaire lover in my case. Damnit. All of my bags were 100% earned and purchased by me. I work a lot, reside in a city with a low cost of living, live in a modest condo, don't have kids, & try not to eat too much, lol. Truth be told, the amount of money I spend on handbags in relation to my income is irresponsible, at least in my opinion; but as long as I'm contributing to my retirement account each year... what the heck, why not.
 
#1,946
consignshopper said:
Your subject line is priceless, lol. Unfortunately, it's not a millionaire lover in my case. Damnit. All of my bags were 100% earned and purchased by me. I work a lot, reside in a city with a low cost of living, live in a modest condo, don't have kids, & try not to eat too much, lol. Truth be told, the amount of money I spend on handbags in relation to my income is irresponsible, at least in my opinion; but as long as I'm contributing to my retirement account each year... what the heck, why not.
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Well you can't necessarily think of just the proportion of bag spending to income. If I thought about it that way, it seems ridiculous. But it's still CHEAPER THAN KIDS!!!! And I don't have any either.

My highest expense every year is taxes.

The next 3, which vary depending how much I spend, are: travel, bags, mortgage. - I have a very low mortgage relative to income, so some years I've spent more on travel or bags than mortgage.
 
#1,948
I've just graduated this year and am lucky enough to still be able to stay in a house that my parents own and don't have to pay rent. I help them with the gardening (HUGE garden), insurance matters and paying the rates on the place. I have a job with a good pay for a fresh grad. And my bf buys me moderately expensive things on special occasions. I definitely spend a hideous amount on bags though... mainly through saving and putting them on lay-away.
 
#1,949
Arailah said:
Fantastically written...

Honest disclosure, this happened to me last year. I've always been a fan of handbags but never spent more than a few hundred on one. Found this website, became quite enthralled and then became obsessed with Balenciagas. Told myself because I was getting them pre-loved that I was getting a great deal. Felt like I found other people who shared my love for handbags and got caught up in the excitement of the "next find." $500.00 in front of this computer screen and $500.00 out in the real world held significantly different values. I lost all financial sense. One became two, which became three which became four in a span of a few months. I was out of control. Honestly, finances only allow for one expensive handbag purchase a year - planned. I wasn't doing that last year.

I had a handful of Balenciaga's, a heavy conscience and one heck of a credit card balance. My husband was clueless to how I lost control. I quickly sold every one of the bags to recoop as much as I could of the mess I made and thankfully the dust settled.

I'm back now after being gone for almost a year from TPF and openly communicating with my husband about any purchase I make. I've learned the hard way how the slippery slope can work and commit to not fall into it again.

Copying and Pasting your advice to a note on my computer so I can remind myself to not get swept up in the awesome of handbags. :graucho:
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your post. I have never seen a post on this forum with more candor or courage than yours.
 
#1,950
I'm going to share a different perspective.

I used to be really thrifty and responsible. I never spent money on handbags or even the more high end department store clothes. I paid for my college education and graduated with no debt. I was a lot like my father who was a provider and thrifty all his life. But when he was betrayed by someone close to us who blew half of his retirement savings, it turned my world view upside down.

Now I believe that money is not permanent. Yes, it is important to save for retirement and to be self-sufficient. But don't count on that money to always be there. If the money you have now affords you luxuries that make your life enjoyable, go for it. Who knows if you get to enjoy life tomorrow?
 
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