<p>(sorry if I screwed up the correct use of Money’s above…)</p>
<p>Share an item you bought for your self or your child that has stood the test of time and been worth “every penny” you spent on it. </p>
<p>Mine?
My son’s backpack. An LL Bean backpack that I bought for him for the start of 5th grade - he is a senior and has REFUSED to replace it, vowing to have it finish out high school right along with him! That backpack has been used and abused to the max and STILL is in one piece with no damage!</p>
<p>1994 Toyota Corolla that used to be ours and was later given to a relative. We paid $13K, it had all the bells and whistles imaginable that Toyota offered at the time. It was finally put to rest with close to 300K on the odometer (many parts were still original).</p>
<p>My husband still wears the tuxedo he bought his first year out of grad school and it has also been worn numerous times by our oldest son as well. That tuxedo has probably gotten one to three uses a year every year for over 25 years now and looks great.</p>
<p>H finally got his '91 Lexus (an LS400, but before they had different models available so no logo on the car) in Feb of '92 (?), cost $40,000 which was a reason he waited and debated so long- finally got one before the price increased. Son learned to drive it (after it already had some dings) in '05 or so and it is there when he needs a car as well as being the bad weather good traction car we don’t worry about in winter for H. Eventually it will be donated to Rawhide. It lacks a lot of the luxury feel now but H and S still like it- a lot of memories in that vehicle. Not sure every penny currently spent is worth it, but H still does. We have gone through many other cars during those years, none half as old when we got rid of them.</p>
<p>My daughter: one stuff animal she had for her Xmas and still takes it to college.
My husband: a 1997 Ford Explorer SUV, we’ve been to so many long distance ski trips and still nothing wrong with it, he often calls it an “Old Faithful”.</p>
<p>Leather upolstery in my '02 Honda Odyssey minivan. I haven’t regretted it for a second. The interior still looks nearly-new. Cloth of the same age is stained, worn out and dingy by now. At only 130,000 miles, this van has is holding up and running well.</p>
<p>Our futon. It’s one of the heavy wood (oak maybe) kind with an innerspring mattress and a denim cover. We bought it when our boys(now 20 and 22) were in elem. school. It’s prob. at least twelve years old and still in great shape. It has survived a zillion hours of video game play, lots of TV/movie watching, dozens of boys spending the night over the years, relatives and even DH and I have spent the night on it too. It will def. move with us to our next house. Maybe our grandchildren will sleep on it someday!
We paid $500 for it and it has been worth every penny.</p>
<p>Our oak kitchen table. We got it at Costco almost 19 years ago; it was the first new furniture piece for our family! We paid $200, but it did not come with chairs. I got the chairs at a store called BEST, which is now long gone out of business. The table has lost some of its shine, but it is still standing tall and strong and serves as the dining table, office table, and a place to sort mail. The chairs… are not even worth giving away at a garage sale.</p>
<p>Added: I don’t think anyone will want the chairs even if I pay them and offer delivery service to take the chairs.</p>
<p>BunsenBurner reminded me of my kitchen table. H’s mom gave him 4 old oak kitchen chairs in 1977 for his college apartment. He put an ad in the local paper, saying something like “college student needs kitchen table”. He received a response from an elderly couple, who had a small oak table and he paid them $10. </p>
<p>The table and chairs have been refinished a few times, but we are still using them in our kitchen today and I will never give them up.</p>
<p>Abasket, it is funny but as soon as I read the first part of your post the first thing to pop into my head was “the boys’ LLBean backpacks”. S1 got his in 5th grade and is now a college junior, has traveled all over the world with it as his only luggage, uses it everyday to carry everything from books to tools to his laptop and it is still going strong. S2 got his in 3rd grade and is now a senior in high school. His was run over and dragged almost a mile by the school bus, spent the night in the lake at a camp out, etc., but it still is going strong. I expect he will take it school with him, since neither one of my boys like change.</p>
<p>Our plywood king-sized platform bed - bought used from the guy who made it - including mattress it was about $100. Used the foam mattress for about 10 years, before changing it, but the platform still lives on.</p>
<p>abasket and lololu, I think we’ve got you beat on the LL Bean backpack (dark green). DS got his when he was in second grade. Our new puppy chewed his old one. Dog has since gone to the big kennel in the sky. DS is now a senior in college. Backpack (and son) have done junior year abroad and lots of international traveling. Backpack and son are currently applying to law school. </p>
<p>At one point, I sent the backpack back to LL Bean to get the zipper replaced. I attached a lengthy letter about its sentimental history and had the darn thing insured/tracked like it was the crown jewels.</p>
<p>abasket we must be channeling because as I put on my 19 year old pair of black HUE tights yesterday, I thought, I wonder what CC folks would say was worth every penny. I am sure I winced when I paid $15 or $20 for them in 1990. They are as black as when purchased, don’t have any runs in them, and have a teensy hole in the big toe, that I undoubtedly caused with a JAGGER nail.</p>
<p>We have a sofa we bought in 1989 - it was made by a company I’ve never heard of called Friendship Upholstery in NC, but DH said it was constructed well - 8 way hand tied, hardwood frame, certain type of springs he wanted. It was our first furniture purchase together and it was probably $800, which I remember thinking was a fortune. It remains unchanged since '89, not a dent in a cushion, no upholstery wear, no stains on the fabric. Granted, we don’t have pets that sit on furniture, and we have somewhat dainty daughters. Other sofas have come and gone, but not this one. </p>
<p>We also have a Baker love seat that we bought used from someone in about 1990 for $400 - and I think it was 15 years old THEN…it has been reupholstered - but talk about another war horse. I remember thinking that was a lot to pay for a love seat then.</p>
<p>We kill mattresses in our house…anyone who knows of one that will last more than 5 years, PLEASE HELP.</p>
<p>Recently a friend"s son was starting kindergarten and she talking about all the things she had to buy for him. I told her just to buy him a LLBean backpack now, it would last his whole school career. </p>
<p>Maybe we should do a back to school add for LLBean.</p>
<p>Hanna Andersson organic cotton long johns I live in Minnesota, and I walk my dog outside or cross country ski almost every day in the same pair for 5-6 months of the year (laundered a few times a week, don’t worry!). I have had them for about 10 years.</p>
<p>An Eddie Bauer soft side lunch box…purchased for DS in 1989. DH JUST tossed it into the trash about a month ago!! It was used every weekday since it was purchased. The thing only cost $8.00.</p>
I live in Minnesota, and I walk my dog outside or cross country ski almost every day in the same pair for 5-6 months of the year (laundered a few times a week, don’t worry!). I have had them for about 10 years.</p>