Keeping the Peace - How does your significant other handle your car habit?

[Gumball]

A tounge-in-cheek comment from someone about the "broomstick test" in another thread got me thinking about the things I do to keep the peace at home when it comes to my car habit and the seemingly endless parade of UPS, FedEx, and Priority Mail packages.

Let's use this as a means of sharing peacekeeping efforts, ways to compromise, get around the issue, justify, and outright psy-ops we employ when buying stuff for our cars. The relationship you save may just be your own.

I'll start with a short list of things I've done:

1) Have other hobbies that require the occasional on-line purchase... "oh, what, that little box? That's just something for one of my guitars."
2) The people in receiving at work are your friend.
3) Car-guy buddies will often let you ship something to their house or shop.
4) Buy local whenever possible; even better if you pay cash - no evidence if it goes right into the garage.
5) Marry a car-gal and buy her something of her own. In my case, the wife has a '67 Camaro SS 396 convertible with a 4 speed. I can always just brush off questions about some new package as being a part for her car - at least when it really is.
6) If none of the above work - keep a steady supply of jewelery on-hand to surprise her when she doesn't buy any of the above excuses.

[MPTech]

I look the other way when she walks in the door with shopping bags full of shoes and purses.


Reminds me: I work in an office building of IT developers and managers (I'm a Project Manager myself). Folks at work are completely amazed that I'm actually building something of steel, aluminum, and rubber! The closest some of these nerds ever get to creating something tangible is a hardcopy of their code! :cool:
Anyways, I'm standing on a bridge inside the building on the second floor overlooking the front-door waiting for a friend to go out to lunch. The UPS driver pulls up and starts unloading a bunch of small boxes from the truck, as he does every day, I'm sure. I'm not paying a lot on attention to him, then I see him walk in the doors with a dolly and 4 brand new racing tires stacked on it to deliver to someone in our building. I chuckled (but I wanted to see who he was delivering them to and go talk to them!! :p)

[Jeff Collins]

In our house $1.00 on cars = $2.00 on furniture. Maintain this ratio and I get to use the furniture too.

[Martin]

That's the same rule in our house. If I spend £1 on the car, the wife gets to spend £2 on herself.

She thinks the cost of the car is basically the cost of the kit though + an engine "which can't be that much". I haven't corrected her on those minor points yet.


In our house $1.00 on cars = $2.00 on furniture. Maintain this ratio and I get to use the furniture too.

[AJ Roadster NJ]

This was an issue for me, not gargantuan, but an issue, and I did a couple things.

First, plan carefully and buy exactly what you want the first time, no upgrades later. So when I bought a $1500 pair of aluminum Dart Pro1 heads, I didn't say "Well, I'm replacing those other ones that aren't quite as good." What I said was, "The car can not and will not run without these installed" and I made no mention of less pricey options.

Second, for the really hard punches, I did huge orders all at once and just took one beating. I had one Summit order that ran well over $7k, that was engine parts. Rather than bring them in at $700 a month for 10 months, I just did the one shot.

All that said, it is also true that I had the financial ducks huddled before buying anything. The household and the family always came first. Sure, there were weeks when everyone ate used cardboard but, hey, they were first in line...:cool:

AJ

[Ray]

It's kinda like this....

8333

Ray

[myjones]

In our house $1.00 on cars = $2.00 on furniture. Maintain this ratio and I get to use the furniture too.

My wife's first husband was a deadbeat, that she supported so we still after 20 years keep separate accounts and never fight over money.
We share basics but beyond that mine is mine no questions asked, no arguments
DB

[mrmustang]

I married a women who is just as excited about a convertible as I am.


Bill S.

[mikiec]

I second what Bill said.

Mike FFR2290K