#49 | a mid-range bag recommendation
I'm telling myself it's all about cost-per-wear with this one
A few years ago I went looking for a new therapist but instead found myself in a very strange customer funnel that landed me in front of a life coach instead of a licensed mental health professional.1
I wasn’t in crisis or anything so I figured, why not, let’s see what she has to say.
Turns out, it was not a lot! I only saw her for a few sessions & don’t remember much of what she said, except for one thing: celebrate my wins.
I was newly self-employed & struggling with my productivity — it’s very easy to not work all day when no one is forcing you! — and while her suggestion of “time blocking” rang hollow, she did encourage me to mark my achievements in a tangible way.
I use the Profit First method for my business accounts, allocating anywhere from 10-20% of each paid invoice to my Profit bucket. From there, I earmarked 1% to use for a celebration of some sort. My first purchase2 was the Moyen Messenger bag in natural woven check from Clare V.
Some of you may flinch at the cost ($485) while others may think it’s incredibly affordable compared to luxury designer bags. I fall somewhere in the middle — I think high quality leather is always a good idea, but this is also the most expensive bag I own at the moment.
By now, the cost-per-wear is down to about 75 cents per day — it immediately became my daily workhorse and I’ve carried it nearly every day in the 18 months since I bought it. It’s big enough to fit a book or a kindle, but not so big that it weighs me down when carrying it all day. It comes with two straps so it can be a shoulder bag or a crossbody, and Clare V. even sells interchangeable straps if you wanted to switch up the look.
I’m not saying you should run out & buy it, but I am saying that if you wanted to keep an eye on sales3 or put it on your Christmas wish list, it has my seal of approval!
There are a couple affiliate links in this post, feel free to just go to clarev.com if you don’t want to use them!
This is not the first time I’ve found myself in the wrong sales funnel. I recently emailed an interior design / furniture / construction company for help with some kitchen updates. Despite my email subject being “Interior design inquiry” and sending it to “design@[companyname].com” and repeatedly discussing the design help I needed, I still ended up in an email thread with the head of the construction division where they eventually, after several back & forths, told me I should start with their design team (!!!) and they’d be happy to charge me $1,100 (!!!!!!!!) for the service. (I did not need to write this much in a footnote, clearly I am still extremely angry about the entire exchange!)
It was actually my only purchase because I stopped doing it SORRY LIFE COACH LADY but I would rather put that money in my Salary bucket!!!!
Turns out Shopbop has this thing on sale for 25% off until December 2 so this is your sign!!! (Use code HOLIDAY at checkout)