Hi!
I am in the same boat as you! I have been vegetarian for most of my life and a vegan also for 2 months. I am feeling the same things you are feeling.
I can't really give you advice, but wanted to let you know you are not alone.
Megan

Thanks Megan. Hugs to you.

What made you decide to go vegan? For me it was learning about the treatment of the animals. It's really a whole new world once you know the truth.

I'm a new vegan as well, and have the same problem. I have a very expensive leather jacket that I wear in the spring, and a down coat I wear in the winter, and a wool coat I wear in the fall. I wear leather shoes. I would be wasting tons of money if I got rid of these items. So, I will give you my very un-vegan, yet common sense answer. The animals that were killed to make your shoes and car seats are already dead. You can't prevent them from being killed, and continuing to wear clothes that are already paid for does not help support the leather industry. They're not making any money off of your 20 year old UGGs. Throwing away your things will not bring the animals back, and would truly be a waste of the cow's lives as the thing they were killed for would have been wasted. Continue wearing your shoes and driving your car. Just don't add to your collection of leather products. When they wear out, replace them with vegan options.

If you feel incredibly guilty about it, then I'd say budget to start replacing your clothes. Your conscience will give you the right answer.

Once the shoes, clothes, etc get worn out then you can buy need vegan stuff, Buy seat covers for car seats like animal print!

http://www.totallycovers.com/ebay/images/animal_print_car_seat_covers/tan-leopard-car-seat-covers-front.jpg

There is no need to feel guilty. Take your time with buying new vegan things. I threw away makeup products that were tested on animals and started from there. Slowly work your way there because this is an overwhelming process and I promise once you see yourself progress you will feel so much better. You already became vegan for everything u believe in now it takes time to change your whole lifestyle around it. Dont rush yourself. Rushing can really affect your decisions and sometimes for the worst. I'm happy you have feelings and are taking these things into consideration. That already makes you a wonderful human!

To feel guilty or to suppress the feeling seems beside the point to me.

When I turned vegan 23 years ago then I went radical and I gave away to the local Thrift store all of my leather products, and mine included a beautiful and expensive suede jacket, plus my wallet and belt and I had a nice western Stetson hat, plus my shoes, and mine was drastic, and the person collecting the stuff at the Thrift store gave me that funny look as if I was a lunatic - but we spoke nothing. Got rid of feather (down) filled coat too.

The car seats are hard to reconcile but I agree with putting seat covers over top because that is showing our proper regard to the animal.

My own conscience (my guilt) would not allow me to wait on any of it.

The belt was the hardest to replace so I went to a hardware store and bought a vinyl strap and the small plastic connectors and made my own belt, and I still do that today. Then I completely stopped carrying a wallet, and I wear a lot of man made sandals as shoes.

Car seats are not always leather even when they look and feel leather.

One thing that I did discover is that anything made from an animal is always marked accordingly, as like any leather product has somewhere stamped or written on it as "leather" even if it just some small piece like it will say - "Leather bands" or whatever. I think that legally the product must be marked but they also do it to brag and to get people to buy it so if it does not say leather then it is not.

Since you already purchased these things I think it is totally ok for you to keep them because you are not creating any new demand. I have leather shoes and a leather belt that from the past that I use and don't feel guilty about it because they're old. What's done is done. We can do better moving forward. I commend you for your choices and for caring about the animals!!!