This is a thrift shopping story

When I talk about my everyday purse, I actually mean the only purse I ever use. When I grab it, I have my cell phone; my keys; my wallet with money, shop cards and ID; a notebook and pencil; three featherweight shopping bags; my thrift store volunteer lanyard; bandaids, lip balm, dental floss and a curl comb; and some cough lozenges. And lest you worry that I'm underequipped, my key ring includes a multipurpose jackknife. Anyway, the point is that my purse isn't about fashion. It's about utility. When I leave the house with my purse, I don't have to think about whether I'm forgetting anything.

Criteria ... My perfect purse needs to be a style and colour that will go with the things I wear. It has to be pleasing to my artist's eye. It must have multiple sections and pockets because the system only works if every single thing is in its assigned place at all times.

Purse One ... Years ago, I found such a purse at The Bay. It was black leather so I thought it would last forever. It cost a lot, even on sale, but I was working full-time, and as a birthday present to myself, it was exactly right. Also, I expected to amortize that $100 purchase over many years, and I did. I cared for that purse as if I was an expert on The Repair Shop.

However, eventually I started the search for a replacement. My everyday purse wasn't a disaster, but it was showing its age. I guestimated it had cost me $10 a year – pretty good value. I was thinking about putting it out to pasture, but after that long relationship, I wasn't ready to say goodbye completely.

By now I was volunteering at the thrift store, so every week before my shift I checked out the purse selection. ( One tip for thrifting is if you find something you might want to buy, carry it around with you to make sure it doesn't get sold while you're deciding. At my thrift store, I can get approval from my department head to take an item home on spec for a few days. )

Purse Two ... Before long, a purse did catch my eye. Although the colour was saddle tan, I could tell it wasn't leather. Still, I liked the way it looked. The lining was new. The price tag was $7. I did product research and discovered the brand was not found, so this was not an overlooked treasure, just a shoulder bag that I warmed to, with all the compartments I could ever want. I bought it. But I confess that it hung it in my closet because I was still hoping to find black leather again.

Purse Three ... Two years and four months ago, it seemed I had exhausted all the possibilities of finding a black leather purse with the necessary organizational features. Again and again, online searches unabashedly gave me "leather" products that were not. Apparently pleather is "the same thing." So I caved and bought a pleather crossbody bag knowing full well that it wouldn't last as long as leather. With free shipping and a $10 off coupon, it cost me $43 before tax. Not great, but not bad. I was pleased enough with it, got myself efficiently organized, and used it every day.,

I gave away the punchline, didn't I? About three months ago, I noticed the pleather had already started to deteriorate. Last week, I suddenly realized that the strap had peeled on both sides to the point that only a thin piece of threadbare fabric was keeping my purse from falling off my shoulder. Basically, my "economical" choice had cost me about $20 a year and could not be repaired.

Return to Purse Two ... I went back into my closet and had a good hard look at the saddle tan shoulder bag. Yes, its time to shine has come. Even if it only lasts me for a year, at $7.00 minus my 25% volunteer discount, it will be the best value yet at $5.25 per annum.

I am exceedingly satisfied with it. And ... I love that it matches my leather wallet, a gift from a very dear person.

The moral of the story

Our consumer culture programs us to meet needs by spending money. Preferably lots of money.

If you are a conserver by choice like me, or you're tightening the belt because money doesn't go so far these days, you've no doubt discovered other options that cost less than the obvious solution of shelling out your thinly stretched cash. The challenge is to take a deep breath and slow down enough to consider all options. Quickly solving a problem by throwing money at it might well turn out to be the most expensive choice of all.

Now that I think about it, my black leather purse might have some good years left in it after all.

Say, Jim, do you think you could refurbish a ten-year-old leather purse?