“oooohhhh nice bag!”

When comments on your latest purchase are as innocent as that, it’s easy to respond with a simple “thank you” and walk away all giddy inside (because it is a gorgeous bag, it really is ).

But what about those other times? You know, when they really just want to know how much you paid for it? When they know you love bags but think you spend way too much on them? When they’re really more interested in judging your spending habits than anything else?

You’ve probably had this problem before if you’re a bag lover and over time I’ve learned how to deal with it.

First, you have to learn not to get offended. I know - it’s totally none of their business how much you spent or how you choose to spend your money. But what I’ve realized is that you’ll never be able to control what other people think or what comes out of their mouths. It’s their nature and you’re probably not the one whose going to help them change. Let go of this battle that you can’t win anyway and don’t let something you have no control over affect or offend you. That’s the first step.

Next, you need to be able to handle their questions. They’ll probably ask things like “is that new?”, “what brand is that?”, and everyone’s favourite, “how much was it?!” The good news is that we have lots of options here.

A lot of women will say it was a gift or something like “oh, my cousin knows I like this brand so she gave it to me because she wasn’t using it.” The trouble with these kinds of responses is that, well, they’re little white lies and will probably come back one day to bite you in the butt. Especially true when you tell them a price way lower than it actually was. Imagine their surprise when they go online and find out how much it really cost you. (you won’t have this problem with a Roots bag though - they’re affordable!)

Another approach goes like this:

nosy co-worker: “Break the bank on a new bag again I see…. How much was it?”
you: “A million dollars”
nosy co-worker: “Oh c’mon”
you: “Ok fine. 5 bucks”
nosy co-worker: “Seriously”
you: “hahaaa… ohhhhkay, 2 bucks”

…and on and on until they get the message. You’ll get what you want (not telling them anything) along with some entertainment at their expense! Now if you don’t have a single sarcastic bone in your body or you just can’t be bothered, you could go with a more polite approach and still get what you want when they ask for the price: “well I won’t tell you how much but I think it was really worth it.” And leave it at that.

I think it’d be silly not to wear your new bag and even sillier to feel bad about it when you do. You liked, you bought it, and it’s your own money. Sadly, some people will always be nosy (or competetive, even jealous) but that’s no reason to let them take away that happy fuzzy feeling.