Who's fault??

[Grant Pearson]

I'm at the point right now that, to the other half, I have "too many rods," so when I bring home another one, she doesn't notice. My response to her when she says that is, "honey, I need all these rods so that you can go fishing with me and catch fish too!." it usually works.

[Iambjm]

I was selling really neat men's caps at a craft sale recently and a guy was very interested in one, but his wife said "but you have so many hats, do you really need another one?" His response "how many pairs of shoes do you have".......end of discussion he bought the hat

[CrappieAttitude]

 Originally Posted By: cliffy

You gotta get smart about this stuff. Many years ago, I set up a savings account at a separate bank. My secret toy account is what I like to call it. 250.00 dollars a month gets transferred from my check prior to get it going into the main bank account. My wife never even sees it and to this day, she does not even know about it. Its a perfect little account to dip into for fishing, hunting or whatever. I would recommend it to anyone....helps keep the marriage smooth.

You must have set this up before you got married. The way my wife pinches her pennies, she would know in a second if $250 a month was missing from my checks. It may for the time being keep the marriage smooth, but what happens when she finds out about it?

My wife and I have a little aggreement that works ok in our situation. I get my "fun money" as I like to call it every month. Basically this is a grown-ups form of allowence. I get X amount of dollars a week to cover any "outside expenses" From lunches to ice fishing stuff, to my favorite beverages. Basically everything except gas money comes out of this. At the end of the month, the "extra" money goes into one of my retired wallets and only gets dipped into when I see something that I need/want. Then I start off the next month with the same amount. It is amazing how quickly the "extras" add up.

This is my money to use at my discretion. I don't need to justify my purchases with her and she doesn't need to justify hers with me as well. If I want to make a big purchase in the near future, guess what I save just like I needed to do as a kid.

I sometimes complain about this form of money managing, but because of it, I can still get the things I want, however I have money saved to pay for them right on the spot. This has kept us free from credit card debt as well.

For me, this is what has kept our marriage running smooth.

CA

[icehousebob]

For years, I've told my bride that fish are part of our diet, so all fishing eqipment should be part of the food budget. I didn't marry an one-who-thinks-I-am-silly so it didn't fly. Last fall, I let her buy her dream retirement house in the country, quarter mil. so from now on, I think I can slip in some fun stuff.

[theicehooker]

You guys are hilarious. I agree with all of you but for the most part keeping your money separate is an easy way to get what you want. Also keeping her out of the fishing hobby has alot to do with her noticing what you have already and what you dont have. The ladies that do love to fish will let you get the stuff you want anyway. Unless of coarse your wife makes way more money than you then you probably want to share accounts. But I also like the side account for play time. My wife never even notices when I buy something new. She has no idea what I have now?? Separate bank accounts get all the credit there. You have to be realistic however.....if you cant pay cash for something that is considered a hobby then you shouldnt be buying it quite yet.

[Sandmannd]

We have seperate accounts. I also have a "fishing" jar. I sell stuff on craig's list a lot, old stuff I don't use and that get's put in that jar. When I have enough to buy what I want I buy it.

[CNCMike]

 Originally Posted By: mltjanderson

My wife and I have a very nice agreement. What ever she epends on her hobbies(scrapbooking stamping etc.) I can spend on mine. We don't keep real close track or argue about it.

Same deal here. Works out really well. Then there is a sense of fairness and give/take that is healthy.

[papabear]

my wife spends more money at the big red dot than i can imagine. I do not mind the money it is the space it takes up, example: her garage (used to be mine) is full of patio furniture for a patio I have not built yet.

All i got to do is say i bought it on sale and no complaints, unless i didnt buy enough. Infact I still get heck for only buying $30 dollars of lures at sheels when they were on sale. BTW my daughter bought $50 worth and she did just fine.

[Grainbelter]

A 2yr old and a 4yr old and a stay at home wife keeps our arrangement simple, there isn't any extra to worry about!!! If I didn't have all the gear I bought 9-10yrs ago, I wouldn't be ice fishing, this includes the boat I purchased @ 19 yrs old. I imagine my day will come someday when I can spurlge on gear but it's gonna be awhile. Besides I get more satisfaction seeing the kids when I buy them a new toy than I get from buying myself a new toy.

[fishinJohn]

I'm a big fan of selling old stuff on c list and using that for my fishing gear. Once in a while I still make my wife mad but usually it is from not writing down what I spend so we loose track. I still wonder how I will manage to get a boat though. At least I have some waders.

[Grant Pearson]

one thing that helps me is the fact that my 3 month old is truely amazed at my fishing gear (great sign I think). With his intrest already sparked, and her interest in fishing just taking off, I tell her that it will help her catch more (and bigger) fish and keep putting smiles on the little ones face. Now, we just have to wait for open water to try this new equipment!