Backpack, backpack.
I struggled to find a non character backpack for Philip for school. The difficult rating was that I refused to have it be stupidly expensive ($50? for a backpack?!), and that I didn't want him having to carry a backpack that was far too large for him. So, I was looking for a little kid backpack.
All the ones that weren't characters in that sizing were too cutesy wootsy. Something he'd grow out of mighty quick, IOW. I did eventually find one. Cheap, too. Less than $10 if I recall. It was on clearance, and just plain blue and black in a dragon scale/triangle design. That may look overly fussy, but the wings and hood are only held on with velcro, so it was easy to take them off.
Basically perfect.
Of course, Jilly was unhappy about Philip having a backpack, and I had gotten used to them having tiny backpacks that carried her Epi-pen, a change of clothes rolled up, and a juice box or crackers or something. So, I found a backpack for her. I didn't luck out as I had with Philip, though, and hers had a cute animal on it. It was pretty much overly cutesy. I was annoyed.
Whatever. Except then it was December, only two months into Philip using the backpack on a regular basis and it was already getting holes in it. Jill's had a weird defect on the straps (that weren't even cushioned like Philip's) where one of them was turned wrong. I hadn't noticed when I bought it, or for a few months, even. I don't even know how.
So I was annoyed. I was not only going to have to buy new backpacks, but probably going to have to buy new backpacks every damn year, it looked like.
Bullshit.
So, I gave in. I started looking for better quality. I found these. LL Bean carries a damn lifetime guarantee on their products, too. Most of the reviews were saying that wasn't even needed, though. That they had the same one from Kinder to College. This seemed like the Holy Grail. I had skipped over LL Bean products when I was initially searching because it just seemed too damn expensive when there were ones much cheaper available.
This is totally a case of cheaper being more expensive, though.
Philip chose the Royal Blue, Jilly chose the Carnation (the pink one). I'm a bit eh about her picking pink, but it was one of the four choices she was offered, so whatever. I got them monogrammed so they don't lose track of them too easily.
They just came in today. They are awesome. Totally worth it.
Think about it, though. This is an outlay of $52 (not including the monogramming). As opposed to the outlay of, let's average the two and say it's about $8 a piece - so $16. Heck, let's go full price at $12 a piece and you have $24 together.
If we were living paycheck to paycheck, I would have a heck of a time saving $52 on the side as opposed to $24 on the side. I've been dirt poor. The difference between $20 and $50 is like... well, once it's over $30, you just don't think about it, because you can't afford it. At dirt poor, I was above the poverty guideline, too. I was making 150% of the FPG. This is all part of the nickel and dimed to death thing. You can't afford the good quality, so you afford what you can afford. Then you have to re buy it every single year. Buy the quality and have it last many years. Let's just say we only use these 5 years, and I decide to upgrade them to bigger backpacks. Five years of two $8-12 backpacks is $80-$120. As opposed to $52. That's $28-$68 of savings.
I tell you, I thought hard about that bigger backpack thing, though. The bigger ones cost between $29 for a basic original backpack to $69 for their most all frills included book pack (includes a laptop sleeve and all that). I probably wouldn't have been looking at those, but the truth is they last for, well, your whole life. That's a whole life for a backpack. Buy two of them and I've spent $140.
It's not hard to see why people who can't afford to put their head up to afford anything more than they have to have right now are hurting.
I hate thinking about this shit. It's just painful. I hate that anyone is hurting. I am thankful, though. I'm thankful that we're okay for now. That I could afford to not have to live hand to mouth. It's hard to break out of the habit.
All the ones that weren't characters in that sizing were too cutesy wootsy. Something he'd grow out of mighty quick, IOW. I did eventually find one. Cheap, too. Less than $10 if I recall. It was on clearance, and just plain blue and black in a dragon scale/triangle design. That may look overly fussy, but the wings and hood are only held on with velcro, so it was easy to take them off.
Basically perfect.
Of course, Jilly was unhappy about Philip having a backpack, and I had gotten used to them having tiny backpacks that carried her Epi-pen, a change of clothes rolled up, and a juice box or crackers or something. So, I found a backpack for her. I didn't luck out as I had with Philip, though, and hers had a cute animal on it. It was pretty much overly cutesy. I was annoyed.
Whatever. Except then it was December, only two months into Philip using the backpack on a regular basis and it was already getting holes in it. Jill's had a weird defect on the straps (that weren't even cushioned like Philip's) where one of them was turned wrong. I hadn't noticed when I bought it, or for a few months, even. I don't even know how.
So I was annoyed. I was not only going to have to buy new backpacks, but probably going to have to buy new backpacks every damn year, it looked like.
Bullshit.
So, I gave in. I started looking for better quality. I found these. LL Bean carries a damn lifetime guarantee on their products, too. Most of the reviews were saying that wasn't even needed, though. That they had the same one from Kinder to College. This seemed like the Holy Grail. I had skipped over LL Bean products when I was initially searching because it just seemed too damn expensive when there were ones much cheaper available.
This is totally a case of cheaper being more expensive, though.
Philip chose the Royal Blue, Jilly chose the Carnation (the pink one). I'm a bit eh about her picking pink, but it was one of the four choices she was offered, so whatever. I got them monogrammed so they don't lose track of them too easily.
They just came in today. They are awesome. Totally worth it.
Think about it, though. This is an outlay of $52 (not including the monogramming). As opposed to the outlay of, let's average the two and say it's about $8 a piece - so $16. Heck, let's go full price at $12 a piece and you have $24 together.
If we were living paycheck to paycheck, I would have a heck of a time saving $52 on the side as opposed to $24 on the side. I've been dirt poor. The difference between $20 and $50 is like... well, once it's over $30, you just don't think about it, because you can't afford it. At dirt poor, I was above the poverty guideline, too. I was making 150% of the FPG. This is all part of the nickel and dimed to death thing. You can't afford the good quality, so you afford what you can afford. Then you have to re buy it every single year. Buy the quality and have it last many years. Let's just say we only use these 5 years, and I decide to upgrade them to bigger backpacks. Five years of two $8-12 backpacks is $80-$120. As opposed to $52. That's $28-$68 of savings.
I tell you, I thought hard about that bigger backpack thing, though. The bigger ones cost between $29 for a basic original backpack to $69 for their most all frills included book pack (includes a laptop sleeve and all that). I probably wouldn't have been looking at those, but the truth is they last for, well, your whole life. That's a whole life for a backpack. Buy two of them and I've spent $140.
It's not hard to see why people who can't afford to put their head up to afford anything more than they have to have right now are hurting.
I hate thinking about this shit. It's just painful. I hate that anyone is hurting. I am thankful, though. I'm thankful that we're okay for now. That I could afford to not have to live hand to mouth. It's hard to break out of the habit.