How much $ am I saving my wife?

[paulb]

Originally posted by drembo
Can anyone give me an educated guess what a system like this would cost if I walked in to a store and bought similar components at retail price( not kits, but finished products). Help me convince my wife I am doing a good thing here.

Oh yeah. Just walk into a high-end store and find the big tube amp in the dominant soundroom and price it out. If you look hard enough, you should be able to find something in the $10K+ range without too much trouble.
People pay crazy amounts of money for this stuff. I guess if you have money left after the Hummer and the big plasma TV, you may as well spend it on filaments.

[EC8010]

Can't you just say it's a "bloke thing", and a bit like shopping for clothes or shoes? On second thoughts, that might be too accurate. We accuse them of having loads of clothes/shoes they never wear - she might spot that you don't use every single component you buy...

It's a tricky one. I believe you chaps have a thing called the "5th Amendment". Perhaps you'd better stick to that and stay schtum for fear of incriminating yourself.

[Saurav]

I think my wife's given up trying to find some rationale to my hobby. She keeps starting sentences with "But why do you need another..." or "Didn't you just build a...", but now she usually ends them with "Oh, right, we already discussed that, never mind". I think one approach that might work is to point out one of her irrational streaks (I'm sure she has at least one), and then tell her that your hobby is like that, it's your irrational streak.

Of course, if your wife's irrationalities don't involve spending money (which is the case with me), then you have a second hurdle to cross - after you've justified the time you spend on your hobby, you need to justify the money it takes. What we did is set a budget - I put a certain amount from every paycheck into a "toys" account, and I get to do what I want with that money, my wife does not protest. (I do cheat a little, of course). This helps keep the peace a little, and since it forces me to save up for things, it helps me plan my stuff better too. There have been several instances where I was saving up to buy/build something, and by the time I had the money, I'd changed my mind about what I wanted to do.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

I think my wife's given up trying to find some rationale to my hobby.

Have you ever found a rationale to her spending needs?

Cheers,

[Saurav]

Actually, she's very non-typical (basing my idea of a "typical" woman on stuff I read on boards like this ) when it comes to spending. I spend more money on frivolous things than she does.

[faustian bargin]

your wife has irrationalities?

mine doesn't.

and if she did, i don't think i'd be brave enough to point them out seriously, much less compare them to mine...

[fdegrove]

Hi,

I spend more money on frivolous things than she does.

I'll shut up then...that's a rather atypical situation as most men would agree...

Lucky you,

[Morse]

Hello drembo;

>>>...Help me convince my wife I am doing a good thing here...<<<

Why not just tell her you're learning a trade? What with all the outsourcing going on in the US these days, it'll seem like you're responsibly looking out for the family, learning how to make custom hifis to sell to the monied, rather than dumping money down a rat-hole. "Of course this one's just for practice. Honest, hon!"

Who knows? If the tech jobs keep leaving, you might have to actually follow through on that.

Good luck on your system and all the best,
Morse

[Variac]

I think I have my wife convinced that doing this hobby is something that makes me happy, and that's good enough for her.

Yeah, the honest, direct approach is always the last thing I think of also, but it's true- if you just tell her that this is your "thing" and really important to you miracles can happen. Hell, I've still got my Basszillas in my living room. Sounds like you might have a DIY addiction though. Watch out for an "intervention"

I'm beginning to think we in the US are starting to benefit from the hard working liberated woman. IN FACT I'm beginning to suspect that the "man the worker" role was invented by society to get us out the door to a job. I mean let's face it, if you are a hunter in a "primitive" society, you get dressed up and have a party for good luck on the hunt- get high and dance all night. Then take off with the guys for a week long hunting trip. I'll bet a lot of the time they just hung out shooting the sh*t. Then they bag an animal and drag it home. Meanwhile the women are scraping hides, cooking, raising the children, etc.

I know about 5 guys whose wives make a lot more money than they did so they basically gave up and putter around fixing the house, doing their hobbies, playing in bands, painting landscapes, etc. Having a great time and their wives LOOVE them because they are so happy and fulfilled and not cranky like their friends husbands.

I'm not that lucky though, but I usually like my job

OK Frank, we don't get ironing, I have to cook, but she still does some cleaning and directs the housecleaner and pulls in a decent income.

[Brett]

I think I have my wife convinced that doing this hobby is something that makes me happy, and that's good enough for her.

Yeah, the honest, direct approach is always the last thing I think of also, but it's true- if you just tell her that this is your "thing" and really important to you

That should be more than enough in any healthy relationship. If it's not, providing the spending on the hobby is not excessive, then you are in relationship with the wrong person. Or you've given too much of yourself away.

I am sooooo glad I'm single.

Brett
/ who's going to bring his Hemi into the living room to work on it in front of the stereo.