Once upon a time, a brilliant author who wrote humor fantasy in a made up world created a character. This character, Sam Vines, was a watchman (the police of this fantasy world), and he patrolled the city on foot. Once, as he was patrolling, he mused upon how cheap boots cost less up front but, since they wear out quickly, end up costing more than a good pair of boots. So, if you’re too poor to afford good boots, you will end up spending more on cheaper boots. And that is Sam Vimes's 'Boots' Theory of Socio-economic Unfairness.
A lot of people like to quit quote it, even though it‘s not a novel idea. Also, most people don’t realize that there are more nuggets of economic wisdom where that came from.
After reading all of Terry Pratchett’s books, I realized that Vimes does a lot of reflecting on socioeconomics. Vimes is from the lower classes, but he ends up marrying one of the richest women of the city, and he observes the disparities up front.
One of my favorite observations is when he realizes that his wife barely buys anything, and he poses that the rich get richer because they have heirlooms to turn to when they need something. They have homes full of spare rooms with spare articles of high-quality furniture or clothing or tableware or whatever.
So the boots theory has to be complemented with: once you buy those high quality boots, you hold on to them. You don’t “declutter” them because they go out of style. You don’t throw them away if you can repair them. You keep them and you store them forever, and then you leave them to your descendants.
And while most of us don’t have the space to keep our parents’ (and their parents’) stuff, I do believe that holding on to the things that we can (high-waisted jeans now that low-rise are back in style, or the fancy china your parents never used) is better than throwing them away.
Of course, you need to have the space to keep stuff, and the staff to look after it, and the butler to organize it for you…otherwise it can become hoarding.
what people get wrong about the boots theory
byu/mrs_rabbit_0 inFrugal
Posted by mrs_rabbit_0
5 Comments
That’s all fine and dandy, but we have things like planned obsolescence and 3d printers. Much of our world is now disposable and usable only once or limited amounts of times. Everything is just so cheaply made nowdays.
Good point. I always follow my father’s advice of: Not expensive but not the cheapest.
My favorite example of this in a real life context are hotels. You don’t need to book The Ritz but if you get the absolute “best price” thinking you can handle no/low frills, you wind up with teenagers and junkies partying in the rooms.
So don’t book the ritz, don’t book Motel 6. Book a reasonable 3 star chain and use Priceline.
Same with boots: Don’t buy Minnetonka, don’t buy Walmart. $40ish on Amazon is reasonable.
Excellent insight, you were able to word something I noticed lately but couldn’t put my finger on.
My mom was out of my life for a moment due to disagreements. During this time I had to deal with buying a lot of things I was used to being able to source from home. I only had the few things in the apartment I was living in. If I had to buy something it was typically going to be a small quantity or value brand because I didn’t want to spend too much.
Now that our relationship has gotten better I’m profiting immensely from it. I need a dehumidifier in the apartment? She has an unused one at home. I need sheets for an extended work training? She has spares. I need bug spray? There’s some extra in her medicine cabinet.
There is more to wealth than money. Holding on to things that no longer serve you in case they might be worth something someday is how we ended up sending 2 dump trucks worth of “pretties” from my grandma’s house to the landfill via an estate sale company. There is a non-monetary wealth in having what you need, a bit to spare in an emergency, and nothing that you don’t want.
Storage space isn’t free. It’s a bedroom your family can’t stay in when they visit or need a leg up for a month or two. Listing your vintage 90s jeans is a hair pulling exercise is frustration with selling platforms. If you aren’t already selling vintage clothing, you’re not going to be doing so in 20 years when it’s back in style either. Alter nice quality clothing to fit modern silhouettes, sell on consignment, or trade them out for things you will actually wear at a clothing swap.
It essentially becomes a snowball effect, and touches upon many socioeconomic facets beyond just material goods.
Take banking for example – if you’re wealthy, a bank will offer you much better terms on loans or financial products even though you need those benefits less than an impoverished person.
And on the point of clothing, beyond the durability or lifespan of the item, there’s also the status aspect of more expensive items. I don’t specifically mean brand, but for example my workplace changed to an open office environment just before covid. With the change, HR formally relaxed the dress code from business suits for men and sheath dresses/pant suits for women to smart casual. But those who continued with the formal attire are generally treated with more respect and authority, and have better promotion opportunities than someone who goes in casual clothes. It does hit on the economic side because there are costs to upkeeping the extra wardrobe. A few of my coworkers who had expressed relief with not having to spend ~$500-1,000 extra per year for the suiting & dry cleaning, converted over to casual wear for work but were recently demoted even.