Ya Tu Sabes

My wife, bless her heart, has had to put up with my bike-obsession for many many years, and I expect she is keeping a running tally of all the money I've spent on various projects, which she'll bring up right when we are breaking the bad news to our kids that they have to attend community college. If I propose making some significant new purchase in the bike department, she usually brings up (rightly) that I already own a garage-full of bicycles and bicycle parts, so how can I possible need another?

Well, I figured out the solution. I gathered up the garage full of bike stuff (about 12 frames, including a Worksman front-loading trike, and too much other stuff to list) and put it all in my truck:



I took this to my friend Chris at Daily Rider Bike, Connecticut's only licensed Yuba distributor, and traded it (along with some cash), for this:



So I get a new bike that I've been coveting, my wife gets the garage she's been coveting, and the expenditure of $400 seems like the best investment ever! (And honestly, I wasn't getting around to any of those projects anyway. It's better to have something I can use every day to take my kids to school than a million half-restored bikes that frustrate me because I never have time to finish working on them.)

lucienrau

Plus you get the excuse to work on the new bike to get it dialed in. Me, I cleared out the basement, gave my beater bike to my brother-in-law...Look honey, we've got room and I need a bike to carry the toddler around on. A big dummy is being built as we speak. Itemizing our savings in only having one car helps too.

Ya Tu Sabes

Yeah. We have two cars, but the second one is a beater truck that cost $1200 and gets about 20 miles a month, so it's pretty much a wash. Plus, as I remind my wife, I don't have time in my life to go to the gym, so the only way I'm going to stay healthy is if I ride a bike everywhere.

skijor

Good move, and nice Yuba!

I don't have one of those wife thingees to lay the guilt trip. But I did recently thin the herd to four. I could easily get that to three. But biking is fairly cheap as obsessions go. And I do have room in the garage for just one more

Ya Tu Sabes

It's not a guilt trip she lays on me, it's a common sense trip. I'd be ruined without her, and the fact that she approves of this workshop-for-Yuba trade tells me that it really was a good idea!

wahoonc

As long as I don't go over my allowance...or sell something first I am golden. Working on bikes keeps me at home, out of bars and off of street corners....usually

Aaron

FunkyStickman

For the spouse, it's almost always about time and money. My wife complains I spend too much time on the bike on Saturdays. I told her if her and the kids would come ride with me, it'd be no problem!

I'm currently looking at selling some of my car's performance parts to afford a new bike. Heh.

Jamesw2

N + 1 Rule

https://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6272...boomer-version

vik 

My policy is as long as I buy my bikes with my money my GF doesn't get a say in things. And I don't tell her how many pairs of shoes or purses one person needs! This seems to be working for us!

FunkyStickman

LOL @ married guys having "their" money. Just saying.

vik 

Any relationship including a marriage is an agreement between the two people involved. If you give up control of your money that's your choice, but it's not an essential part of the agreement. I know married couples with separate bank accounts and I know those who share everything including using a single joint email account. I don't think there is a wrong answer. But, if anyone is unhappy with their situation they'd have to ask themselves why did they agree to it in the first place?

Just saying...

FunkyStickman

I can't imagine the kind of relationship that would require that level of individuality... arranged marriages come to mind. In my marriage, I don't "give up control" of my money... my wife and I decide on how to spend it mutually, since it affects both of us, and our kids. That being said, we often make sacrifices for each other.

The only "my money" I have is if I sell something that's mine. She doesn't say anything about how I spend that, as it's basically replacing one posession for another, the money is just a go-between.

Gareth

I just tell Lois that it's desperately needed for research and development.

dcrowell

When I was married to my first wife, what little money we had was in a joint account. She occasionally worked part-time, I supported us. She wasn't into spending, so it worked.

I didn't start cycling until we were divorced. That made buying bikes less stressful.

My new wife and I have our own checking accounts, and a joint one for joint expenses. We pay our own bills. It works well since she has expenditures that I would never approve of if it were my money. She probably views my bike spending the same way.

I want a SON hub soon. I don't have to discuss it with her. That's nice.

vik 

Amen!

ace587

public storage

Footsore Ramble

I don't know if my relationship 'requires' it, but we are very happy keeping separate accounts. We decide who pays which household bills, and otherwise, we are free to spend our own money however we like. We're just both pretty independent people, which is exactly why we have such a fabulous relationship. We've got no need for a joint account, at least at the moment, so why go through the extra hassle and paperwork?

wahoonc

FWIW...seeing how we are comparing accounts

Ours is a joint account and we both have personal accounts. Pay checks go in the joint account then we each get an allowance to spend as we see fit. If we choose to supplement our allowance that is our business. She does wedding planning and directing, I do bicycle repairs and sell parts. Works for us. Large ticket expenditures from the joint account are always discussed and usually planned for well in advance. To us budget is not a dirty word. And we track all household spending.

Aaron

mymojo

As a middle aged cancer survivor, I frame cycling in a health context. Seems to be working so far.

MnHPVA Guy

The fact that I'm having trouble relating to this thread means I must have married the right girl. 43 years ago.

Northwestrider

Get involed in cycling, it's worked for me, it took a while however..

Dean7

I was expecting something more from the title.