Hello Friendos!
I hope you are having a nice holiday weekend. This week I’d like to sing the praises of a boring and often overlooked component of financial strength: maintenance (of your things).
I once had a colleague who was maybe 22 years old at the time, and somehow we got to chatting about shoes. He complained that dress shoes didn’t last very long, he was having to buy another pair too often, and it was expensive. Can’t you get them repaired at a cobbler? He didn’t know about cobblers.
These are my husband’s shoes. I think he’s had them at least 5 years, and he wears them 3 or 4 days a week.
Once a month my phone reminder pops up “shoe care” and I pull out my shoe cleaner and rag. I check which shoes need a little love and clean up the ones that need it. It usually takes about 20 minutes.
If you have a car, does it need the oil changed? Do you wash or change your vacuum filter according to the schedule in the owner’s manual? Same for your HVAC system – clean filters let your system work more efficiently and at lower cost, and helps all the equipment last longer (I am very big on cleaning filters). You worked hard to earn the money to buy those things (or someone worked hard to give you a gift) and you honor that (and the environment, and the people who made those things) by maintaining them properly.
“Paying attention to things — it’s how we show love.” -Frank on The Last of Us
If something in your life could use a tune up, show it some love!
-Stephanie
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