Designer handbag or building a school? You choose

Last night I had a dream that I was gifted a Louis Vuitton bag worth 10,000 USD. I vividly remember the bag: plum flap and the bottom was gold and it had a golden chain. Gorgeous bag. I thought I was buying the bag myself, but the sales rep said this bag was already chosen for me and the person has already paid for it. When I realized that the currency was not in dirhams (AED), I was stunned. I took the bag and went to the person who gifted it to me and negotiated that I would accept another bag instead, something that is a lot more reasonable. The person insisted that they are happy to spend this amount and would not budge. I then negotiated that I would refund the bag and would buy a normal priced designer bag for 1500 USD and the rest of the money would be donated to build a mosque.

Then I woke up.

I sat up thinking about the dream over and over. I consider myself extremely blessed to live the way I do, have the job, the education, the upbringing, and the family I have. I don't worry about having to pay the bills, but at the same time I am frugal with my money and value buying assets and saving for a rainy day. I like "things" but I hate shopping, and I go to malls only when I really have to, but I digress.

The point is: Limited edition designer bags used to cost 1500 USD, but nowadays, every willy nilly "designer" is coming up with ridiculously expensive bags. Bags that retail for 12,000 USD have a waitlist of 2 years. When will we look at a price tag and say "WTF".

Of course all this is relative, a 1500 USD bag is a fantasy to some people, and really affordable to others. However, if we go back to economics 101 class and remember the concept of "opportunity cost" how else can we spend the same amount of money? How about saving the money for a rainy day, investing in a T-bill, or donating to a worthy cause. The latter reminds me of the "You Choose" campaign Dubai Cares did in 2007: "100 dirhams can buy you a ball. It can also pay for a child’s vaccination. You choose". The one that hit home to me personally was "2,000 dirhams can buy you designer shoes. It can also buy supplies for schools. You choose" The shoe that was pictured was a Louboutin shoe - my weakness at the time and I was about to buy that exact pair!

One thing that I have learnt over the years is to dress for men, not for women. By no means do I mean wearing a red bra and a school girl skirt in public, but rather, wear something nice that fits well rather than top-to-bottom brands straight guys have no clue about. I end up buying much fewer designer pieces and focus on cut, fabric, and style at any price point. Whenever I'm out with my male friends and spot a Hermes Birkin or Kelly bag, I always enjoy asking them what they think of it. Typical response from my straight male friends range between "nice briefcase" to "good for work or laptop". I LOVE seeing their jaws drop when I tell them how much it retails for. This follows a string of cursing...always. On the flip side, it's amazing to me the number of compliments I get on some pieces that are affordable high-street items, much more than some of my designer pieces.

We don't have to penny pinch all the time, a splurge once in a while is fun. I just question the level we sometimes take when we "splurge" on something astronomically expensive, and what the opportunity cost could be.