A Place to I Hang My Hat…
. . . and my shoes, and my clothes, and my handbags and . . .
For several years now, I’ve been thinking about buying an apartment. The key word being “thinking. ” Truth be told, I shopped while the housing market burned. And now that the prices have become so absurdly high (I recently looked at a tiny one bedroom, maybe 500 sq. ft., with no light and windows looking out to a brick wall — and an asking price of $420,000), buying an apartment seems less and less urgent.
If that seems like poor financial logic — some might say that I should buy now before prices get even higher — I think it’s actually very good fashion logic. After all, why tighten your belt and scrimp and save for a place that wouldn’t even be big enough to contain my wardrobe? I mean, it is simply ridiculous to pay $420,000 for 500 square feet. In comparison, spending $500 for a pair of shoes seems practically frugal! And while that apartment (and others like it) will still be around months from now, and I still won’t want to live in it, those new Manolos probably won’t still be at Bergdorf’s, and I sure will still want them!
In case you hadn’t noticed, I am the queen of rationalization. A queen with a rented castle, sure, but also with royally fabulous accessories!
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September 21st, 2005 10:47
Gulp. HOW MUCH???????? Yes, I know location is everything, but living in the South lets me afford a 1,200 sf bungalow with lots of money left over for clothes. ESPECIALLY if I shop at the Junior League Thrift Shop — a Betsey Johnson dress for $10 — a Michael Kors suit for $10. Can’t beat that with a stick. OK, I’m not living in New York and you can’t put a price on that. But…..
September 21st, 2005 12:23
Ohh devil Corcoran! So how do the nasties survive on their salary? I mean $24,000 a year won’t even pay for rent in Queens anymore!
September 21st, 2005 18:39
And I thought I had it bad paying $417,500 for a 1362 sq. foot condo in southern California. My monthly outlay for housing costs is three times what I paid when I was renting, so I’m now house poor. I love my place, and my back windows look out onto a greenbelt with shrubs full of butterflies. However, nothing’s perfect: my front windows offer a grim view of a parking lot. My new upstairs neighbors sound like a herd of stampeding elephants peopled with screaming young. And I’ll never, ever be able to afford a free-standing house in this neighborhood.
I can’t afford to splash out on the lovely Manolos anymore, but I can still afford Gucci loafers if I want them. Sigh.
September 22nd, 2005 00:28
When I visit my parents in Texas, they like to drive around and show me the brand-spanking-new McMansions I could buy for the price of a Manhattan studio. Sigh…
Funny that the only apartments I could afford to buy right now would be… what else? Shoe boxes.
October 17th, 2005 14:49
[…] undation!!! [That would be a down payment for an apartment, which as we’ve discussed here, is a lost cause. Funny how my mom makes it sound like a charity!] I’m still shaking in my boot […]
April 8th, 2007 23:47
i have my own hat rack and shoe rack!!!!!!!!!