The $2 Challenge: Cute Slippers

This challenge grew out of a couple of experiences I had this weekend that opened my eyes to exactly how bad the economy is. The first was when a well-dressed man with a nice car came up to me at a gas station and begged me for money. His car was almost out of gas and he wasn't reaching anyone on his cell to help him, but he had not a dollar in his wallet or any card that worked where he could get money from an ATM.

I am a well-dressed woman who drives a nice car but I had exactly $2 in my pocket, and no way of getting money from an ATM. I gave him the $2 and hoped he'd find four more people to help him and be able to drive home, and thought about how the face of poverty is sometimes well-hidden by the mask of affluence-- ie, all those things we bought that we couldn't afford. Poor isn't just the guy who's shuffling down the street in a robe and slippers with his hand out anymore.

Yesterday I went to the mall to hang out while waiting to pick up my daughter from religious school. Once again I found myself with exactly $2 in my pocket. Since I needed the exercise and the mall is large, I gave myself a challenge...find something fashionable or attractive for $2.00 and under. That gave me a reason to pop into stores all over the mall (it's about 1 1/2 miles from end to end) and, since I was feeling down and out in Short Hills, if I found something for $2.00 that cheered me up, I was going to buy it.

I failed, but I'm extending the challenge here. I'm on the hunt for a fashionable item for under $2.00, and Hieu's extending the challenge to find something that's useful and well-designed. I ALMOST hit pay dirt today-- cute slippers for $.79!-- until I realized that's a wholesale price and this is a site who supplies to dollar stores. Nevertheless, the slippers are cute, and you could buy hundreds of them and sell them for $2.00.

Readers, if you come up with cute, fashionable, functional or creative $2.00 items, please post in the comments and we'll feature your pick in a future post.