How much did it really cost?

[ThatGingerMojo]

Just bought a Beat Buddy, with the additional foot switch. Came to over $500 Canadian. How much do I tell the wife it really cost?

Have you guys ever done this? Exaggerated the cost of a piece of gear to save the tongue lashing that will ensue? By how much?

 

[Luke19Boarder]

"It cost more than I'd like to admit ... probably more than you'd be happy hearing. But super excited to have it and the cost was totally worth it "

 

[s0c9]

I buy my gear from gig earnings... I just let her know that "there's a package arriving!"

 

[StyleOverShow]

Take your beating like a man, fess up, don't be proud, just honest.

 

[Callused Finger]

I deduct the price of what I sold recently from the price of the item I'm admitting to purchasing.

 

[Luke19Boarder]

Additionally, you are asking for trouble if you lie about the price of a new item, as the purchase price is typically public knowledge.

 

[Bigskybassguy]

I tell my bride I'm selling some other things to afford this thing... then I kind of forget.

 

[shawshank72]

I just tell my wife I'm buying something.
I'm a grown man and I respect my wife enough not to be stupid and she respects me enough to know i wont be stupid.
If you spend money you dont have and then need to lie about it you have bigger problems.

 

[enzodm]

I'm sure my wife asked almost the same question, but about shoes, in some other forum

 

[ThatGingerMojo]

Yeah, if it is a problem of running up debt or taking away from the bills, then absolutely I agree, I probably don't need to but it. I was meaning this post as a bit more light-hearted, oh crap shes going to kill me.

 

[twinjet]

I've heard that divorces cost more.

 

[Skokiaan]

Wife: How much did that cost?
Me: This old thing? I don't remember.

 

[RustyAxe]

That old saying, "I worry that after I die my wife will sell my gear for what I told her I paid for it".

 

[Dack Sambo]

I didn't tell my parents what I bought.

 

[ICM]

Tell the truth? Or upsell it to $750 then say just kidding, it was 500, no big deal right?

 

[Korladis]

Just bought a Beat Buddy, with the additional foot switch. Came to over $500 Canadian. How much do I tell the wife it really cost?

Have you guys ever done this? Exaggerated the cost of a piece of gear to save the tongue lashing that will ensue? By how much?

You tell her what you paid for it.

Will help if you abstained from buying anything expensive in the weeks/months prior.

 

[BroBro]

Tell her it was $2500. After you have picked her off the floor, you can say just kidding it was only $499

 

[Korladis]

Basically just don't be stupid about money.

Budget your household income so that you know how much needs to be allocated to bills, home maintenance (if you own your home), groceries, savings, etc. Then you will know how much "disposable income" you have. Then divide that by two and that's how much you yourself realistically have (because it would be unfair to take up all the disposable income yourself without your spouse getting to occasionally splurge on anything). If you do this, you can then say "I've done the math, and if I don't buy anything major for X amount of time, I can totally buy this thing I've been wanting for a long time now."

I like to think of this as fake money and real money.

Fake money isn't really yours. It appears in your bank account, but it's only being stored there temporarily. Fake money is money that is already spoken for, that you can't actually spend on anything fun because it's needed for bills, groceries, rent/mortgage, other things that are essential. It's best to not even think of yourself as having it, so that you don't spend it. If something bad would happen (the lights being turned off, you being foreclosed/evicted, not being able to buy food, etc.) if you spent money, then that is fake money that you're dealing with.

Real money is what's left over after all expenses of living are accounted for (including savings if you're trying to save for retirement or something). It's yours to spend on something you feel like spending it on, no matter how stupid. Real money is money that if you used it to buy the most stupid thing you could think of, nothing terrible would happen impacting your quality of life (besides having to wait to accrue more real money to spend on something fun but less stupid).

I splurged a bit recently on two basses I didn't technically need. But I had enough real money to do it.

Keep in mind that it's a good idea to set aside more fake money than you think is actually needed in case something unexpected happens (like your car getting totaled or some other emergency occurring).

 

[Gazman]

Team up with some other like minded TB members and get them to "sell" you this stuff at spouse friendly prices. A couple of emails back and forth, and you are good as gold.

Think of it as "GASley Maddison".

 

[wintremute]

Just bought a Beat Buddy, with the additional foot switch. Came to over $500 Canadian. How much do I tell the wife it really cost?

Have you guys ever done this? Exaggerated the cost of a piece of gear to save the tongue lashing that will ensue? By how much?

No. The cost of lying is waaay more than the cost of equipment.