A thread about socks? This reminds me of a Monty Python skit that I won't post cause it would probably get me banned for life.

I buy two 12-pair bags of cotton crew socks from Hanes every year, $12/bag. One bag is white socks, the other black. I usually wear the whites while bicycle riding, jogging, etc. Black socks are for work, but may occasionally wear them while riding/jogging. By the end of the year the white ones are usually looking kinda dingy and worn, and I suspect the black ones are in similar shape, so I just 'retire' them to housecleaning duty and get a new bag of each. Works for me.