Make Your Shoes Last Longerby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 25 Jul 2007 04:46 AM If you want to save money on shoes, you can start with doing things to make them last longer. The less often you have to replace your shoes, the less money you will spend. Me? I'm hardly a shoe fanatic. While I like looking nice, I tend to go "under-board" on shoes. One of the ways I get away with this is by buying shoes in classic styles and then taking very good care of them, so they will last for years. Let's start with sneakers. Sneakers tend to get a lot of abuse. I use mine both for everyday wear when I am running around outside after the kids, and walking for fitness. One of the things I do to keep my sneakers in good shape is to wash them. No one like smelly, dirty sneakers, and the urge to replace them for bright white ones is strong. But with a good washing, your old sneakers will look new. You can use a washing machine or wash your sneakers by hand. Either way, let them have a good amount of soak time. (But don't wash any sneakers that have suede.) Remove the laces, first and wash those separately. To dry, you can hand them up or use your dryer. When placing the sneakers in the dryer, use a dryer attachment wrack that is made specifically to prevent the sneakers from tumbling around. Or, you can simply throw them into a clean pillowcase to protect them and muffle the noise. The best strategy for making shoes last longer, in general, is to wear them less often. While I'm not suggesting that you go out to the movies barefoot, you can reduce your use of your shoes significantly in a couple of ways. Go barefoot in the house, or purchase a pair of inexpensive slippers, tennis shoes or sandals that you use only in the house. Save the more expensive shoes and sneakers for when you do go out. The inexpensive footwear won't suffer the abuse if outdoor wear, and as a bonus, you'll never track in dirt, mud and lead dust from the outside onto your floors. Finally, consider putting new heels on expensive shoes that are in good shape with the exception of a worn down heel. You'll save money if you replace the heel rather than the entire shoe. Mary Ann Romans also writes for the Computing Blog here at Families.com where she shares everything from the latest news on technology to cool downloads and fun websites. Related Articles: Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags frugal, Shoes, sneakers, thrifty Discuss this article
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