i only spend around $70 tops for my shoes. i always have only one or two pairs, and i replace them every year.
my deal is that shoes are meant to get dirty. i dont want to spend extra money on a pair of shoes because "they look nicer" or whatever when theyre only gonna be worn by me for a year and i'm probably gonna really wear em out by the time to get new shoes anyway. do you have any idea what kind of nasty crap is on the ground that can get on your shoe. its stupid from an economic standpoint to fork over hundreds of dollars for a pair of shoes that, chances are, are going to get ruined by mud, tar, rain, wet sand, dirt, gum, bug guts, dog poop, and a variety of other filthy things. maybe if you live in the inner city somewhere it isnt much of a deal though.