I swear to God I will write about real, basic things soon, like budgeting and groceries and alleviating The Crushing Debt I Will Be Under When I Finish School, but right now, whatever, I’m not in the mood.

I want to talk about shoes.

In high school the only shoes I ever wore were cheap, insanely beat-up pumps with 5-inch heels that I never paid more than $20 for. Now I have a job where I spend 5 hours a day outside walking, so I have to wear rainboots and Uggs and other mad expensive shoes that are totally hit-and-miss in terms of quality, but that’s a whole other post.

I still really, really love dirt cheap stilettos, and I fully rock them on my days off. Today I am wearing black Lollipop Slingback Heels that I bought on sale at Forever 21. Completely gratuitous and absurd to wear during the day? Absolutely. But I feel so fancy!

Thing is, pumps under $20 are constructed of manmade materials with narrow toe boxes that can leave you with those gross jellyfish-shaped blisters on your feet and crazy sore ankles.

I get all weird and hardcore when it comes to high heels, but I know they’re not for everyone. If you want the height without all of the pain and you can spare a little more time and money, you can opt for more expensive brands with more comfort and support. Places like Ross Dress for Less and TJ Maxx can be varied and unreliable, but I can usually find kick-ass sparkly Nine West or Jessica Simpson shoes knocked down from $150 to about $40, and those  not only last longer but are super fun and flirty and make me feel like a cool, cinematized, Manic Pixie Dream Girl version of myself.

Mcfuck yeah

Price: $9.99 for the slingbacks at www.forever21.com
Good for: Short girls, girls who like shiny stuff.