Stretching a Dollar

We have all had that moment that gave us pause while spending money where we ask ourselves, "WAS THAT TOO MUCH?" I'm not talking about shopping for things like Baluga caviar or champagne, I'm talking about everyday items like tube socks of razors. At the beginning of this summer, I tried to locate the flip flops I had put away at the end of end of last summer but could not. What do we do? Buy new ones, right? I mean, why wouldn't we, it's not really like a major purchase. Well, up until now it wasn't. I headed (without much forethought) to the nearest sporting goods store to buy another pair, but what I stumbled upon confounded me like Bill Clinton on Whitehouse intern appreciation day. The CHEAPEST pair I could find was now $65 dollars. Wow, even I was speechless! Remember in the 80's and 90's when you could buy a five pack of those for $10. If my math skills are still sound that made them $2 per pair. What had changed I wondered. Could it be that some Kardashian had simply glued some fake bling on a pair and started marketing them as "fashion footwear" instead of poor man's beach attire?

And at that moment I had a thought I'd never had before. This was the thought, "NO, I WILL NOT PAY THAT MUCH FOR A PAIR OF FLIPS, IF I CANNOT FIND A BETTER DEAL ON A PAIR THIS YEAR, I'LL SIMPLY GO BARE FOOTED ALL SUMMER." And I meant it! Then this was my second thought, how many times would the American people have this strong reaction and walk away from an intended purchase before the economy would go flat on its ass? How many times would we all have to bypass spending money that was intended to help grow the Gross Domestic Product before we were driven straight into a recession? I suppose the bigger question is this, is the current situation sustainable? My gut tells me it's not.