autonomy

Same here. She's got better everything and yet she doesn't ride as much as I do. But I'm not complaining, I'm mostly happy with my gear.

By the way, $1000 in January 2008 is worth $1182 now (almost 20% inflation). 10 years doesn't seem like much time...

OBoile

This pretty much describes the setup my wife and I have. Everything is shared, and any purchase over $200 we both have to agree on (under $200, we just buy it). The key is, we're both reasonable and financially responsible people.

I can understand arrangements like jefnvk has. Those also make sense and if it works then great. What I don't get, are the people that think because they are the "breadwinner" that they somehow should be solely in charge of the finances, or people who don't have at least a "main" joint account. Marriage is supposed to be a partnership. I could never live that way.

dennis336

I've been the sole income earner in our marriage since we had kids - except for some part-time work my wife has done occasionally. She does have a checking account although, the way we manage our finances, it hasn't been really necessary. Even though I earn the outside income, I've never thought of it as "my money", rather, it's our money. I do manage the finances in terms of paying bills, thinking about retirement, health insurance options etc. although it's more that it fell naturally to me when we got married and she moved to my home state and then stayed at home to care for home and kids. But by "managing the money" I don't micro-manage or dictate what she does ... that would really be distasteful IMO in a marriage. We're both generally very frugal and have simple tastes (I say "generally" because my cycling is the notable exception). We live below our means, no debt, no designer labels, drive cars to the ground, etc. Heck, I even wear those free T-shirts I get from all the charity bike rides I join - or, if the color is so embarrassing that even I wouldn't wear it, I use them for rags when I lube by bike chain. I work at home so I don't spend much on clothes ... I've actually gotten to the point where my wife has thrown away clothes that she was embarrassed to have me wearing alone working in the basement!

Our philosophy has been, we're in a partnership and we may emphasize different roles in our home but those roles are important in their own way. My role includes the part about earning money and hers is, well, pretty much everything else that's important. We do check in with each other if there's a big expenditure coming up but I can't think of a time where either of us has vetoed a decision on a personal expenditure. Maybe for things like appliances, or improvements to the house, we'll have a back and forth about the approach, how much it makes sense to spend, etc. But we're in a place (35 years of marriage) where we trust each others judgement on personal purchases. I'll let her know I'm thinking of getting a new bike since that's a big expenditure and she may think it's kind of crazy to spend that much on a bike but she knows how much joy it gives and it doesn't cause any sacrifice in any important area of our lives. And, as I always say ... I don't drink, smoke, do drugs, gamble, or run around with other women so, all in all, cycling ends up being a comparatively inexpensive habit

MAK

For those of you who have wives that are equal partners, suggest this to your LBS ��. Mine told me that they have had such requests a few times per year.

1500SLR

If you have to ask your wife permission to buy a bike you need a new wife.

Machka 

When it comes to cycling gear, we buy everything in pairs. Two bicycles, two jerseys, two helmets ...

52telecaster

my long time live-in gf and i buy whatever we want whenever we want, except neither of us has a credit card and our only long term debt is the house(which i waaaay cheaper than the rent we were paying). if we dont have the money, we dont buy it. hence we have way cool vintage stuff.

wphamilton

I'd say "no", never had spousal approval for a "level up"bike budget, but I've never upped my budget. Not like folks mean on this thread anyway. On the other hand I don't recall there being any questions about any bike-related purchases either. I think the key, more than complicated financial strategies, is keeping it reasonable.

Myosmith

What is this "spousal approval" of which you speak?

GuessWhoCycling

My wife rides too so we have about $20,000 worth of bikes having nightly slumber parties in our spare room!

She won't allow me to leave them in the garage. She's thought about setting up the spare room for her mother when she visits but the bikes win!

veganbikes

"I will do anything for love, but I won't do that" - Meatloaf?

WizardOfBoz

I can't comment on why your spouse suddenly isn't giving you a hard time about bike budget.

I just bought a really nice (really nice) superautomatic coffee machine. Put your cup in, press the coffee button, and it grinds the beans, makes the coffee, and dumps the grounds into a little bin. Didn't know if I was going to have an issue, but after my wife tasted the coffee and said "Wow, that's really good coffee!" I know I wasn't sleeping on the couch.