How to infuriate your wife: Lesson 1

[Hal H]

[Hal H]

It never ceases to amaze me, the number of men afraid of their wives! Just remember the last time she spent money on something she wanted..........did she whine and whimper about you being upset about the money she spent. It's your money, dammit! Wear your damn pants. Beat your chest. Grunt alot!

The secret of how to avoid gett>...as much as I expect flack and such, it had to be said...and as much as I

[Greg O]

A new Low Rider runs in the $16k neighborhood. A new 883 sporster will run around $7k. A Electra Glide with all the whistles and bells can go over $20K. Those are dealer list prices. Some dealers in metopolitan areas have been know to get $5K or more OVER list price! No negotiating on price at the local dealers, they don't need to. List price, plus frieght and set up. If you don't like the price, don't buy it, they will just sell it to the next person throught the door! The RUB's, (rich urban bikers), with money have kept the prices up. Harley has not been able to keep up with the demand, although I belive they are starting to catch up. Used bikes in good condition sell for what they were bought for years before. I am afraird this may turn around as the baby boomers are looking at retirement, and the bell curve is on the downward slope. I am not buying as an investment so I am not really concerned. Greg

[Silvan]

Get her one of those SWMBO thongs. :)

[Greg O]

I don't want a dresser. I don't plan on taking any long trips, just day cruises so a Low Rider is more my liking. I may get a set of bags that you can just toss on, but I don't see the need for heavy duty luggage! I have a couple or frinds that ride 'wings. Yes they are nice bikes, I have put a couple miles on one, but really not what I want. I have looked at Honda Shadow and VTX lines but they still run over $12k! Then a jap bike just drops in value from the day you buy it, where a HD will stay close to it's original price as long as it is maintained. Greg

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It works for some people. The problem is that you can enjoy a hobby and walk out of the shop any time you want. You make what you want and finish it the way you want. If you can sell it, that is a bonus.

Where you can get into trouble is having people order what THEY want. Ugly stuff with ugly finishes and I need it by Saturday as it is for a birthday party I'm going to. When that happens, you no longer have a hobby, but a job.

People hint that they'd like to have something just like it after seeing what I made. Most of the time I tell them what the material cost and they stop hinting. That's OK with me. Ed [e-mail]

[Silvan]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[Wes Stewart]

|Swingman wrote: | |> |> I balance my checkbook(s) every time I log onto my accounts and know exactly |> how much money I have, to the penny, at ALL times. She, on the other hand, |> thinks that if she has checks she's rich, "dipsticks" her account about once |> every three or four years, or whenever she realizes that she has more |> overdraft protection charges than she thought. |> |> |> | | I used to keep meticulous records of how much was in my checking |and savings accounts but for the last 8 plus years haven't written a |single entry into the check register. The only time I open my bank |statement is at the end of the year to see how much interest I earned to |claim it on my tax returns. I go to the bank every two weeks to deposit |most of my paycheck and I look at the receipt to see that I have "X" |amount to play with minus the $100.00 minimum to avoid a monthly charge. | I know, I know. That's just not the way I am supposed to be doing |that, I could be 'taken', etc, etc. but that's my way, for right now. | | Comments?

Yes. I used to be pretty lax with finances. It cost me money. Now I reconcile every account to the penny every time a statement comes in. What I find is things like the occasion when SWMBO bought gas at the country store. The card reader at the pump wasn't working and she had to leave her credit card with the clerk and the clerk ran another $20 charge and pocketed the dough.

Or the time that First USA Bank was charging late fees when the payments weren't late. People who carry balances and don't watch this stuff are getting screwed. BTW, there was a class action lawsuit over this one. There were documentated cases of people making on-time payments by registered mail and still getting late fees.

What else is amazing is the number of times that we charge something and the charge never makes it on the statement. (No, I don't make it a point to notify them.) I keep up my books, if they fail to do so then they can pay like I used to.

SWMBO has her own checking account but when the statements come in I reconcile her account and tell her how much she has. She is one who likes "different pockets" for different things. Fine by me; she's been putting a bit away each month in a different account and when I mention new table saw, she offered up the dough. I got the Leigh video on the dovetail jig and she watched it with me. She asked, "Do you have one of those?"

I replied, "No they're too much money."

She asks, "How much?"

Me, "Four hundred bucks."

She, "Oh, that's not too bad, why don't you get one?"

Me, "Oh."

I still think they're too much money.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I use Quicken. Takes about two minutes to reconcile the statement. I've been using it for years now and find it simple and fast. It is hand to be able access your bank on line also. While I only use checks for the monthly bills, I use a debit card a lot and it makes it easy to peek if you think you forgot to note a transaction. Ed

[Wes Stewart]

|I use Quicken.

Me too.

|Takes about two minutes to reconcile the statement.

Unless you're looking for that 10 cent typo [g]

|I've |been using it for years now and find it simple and fast. It is hand to be |able access your bank on line also. While I only use checks for the monthly |bills, I use a debit card a lot and it makes it easy to peek if you think |you forgot to note a transaction.

I charge everything and get travel mileage, although the bastards (Capital One) just changed the terms which had the effect of lowering the rebate from 2% to 1%. GM Card screwed me too. As a GM retiree I get employee pricing on cars. The GM card "paid" 5% to be used against new car purchases. Last year they pulled the offer for employee purchases. Thus GM did not sell me a new Corvette or Silverado PU.

I essentially write one check a month to pay the credit card bill. Everything else is automatic.

Wes

[Tom Kohlman]

I'll send you my wife's e-mail address (her car is getting old and she could use the cash)...

[Dan]

On Sat 21 Feb 2004 02:33:09a, Silvan wrote in news: [e-mail]:

SWMBO sat down while I was watching "Woodturning Basics" on DIY, then I noticed she was coming in to watch every time it was on. Third time she saw it she says "Y'know that doesn't seem all that hard and it looks like fun. You planning on getting one of those?"

So, now I've got my eye out. :-)

Dan

[Dan]

On Sat 21 Feb 2004 11:41:34p, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in news:iiXZb.43991$ [e-mail]:

No argument there. But I think, if I spend a lot of time thinking about it while I'm watching that retirement date get closer, I can keep that to a minimum. I've already got some experience telling people "This job can't be done by then, at any price", and I can afford to eat my estimating mistakes at first. I'll keep in mind that old Blacksmith's saying: "There's two ways for a Smith to go out of business; the first is working cold iron and the second's not charging enough."

And I'm watching the specialty shops around here. Already got two possibilities for things that seem to be selling well and wouldn't take too long to set up for batch production runs every now and then. I wouldn't mind working a week or so every month to get the money to play around for the rest of it. :-)

Dan

[Howard]

I got the opposite circumstance. My wife is a CPA. Our exchance would go something like:

Me: Looky! is only at

She: Why so much?

Me: But it regularly sells for over !

She: So? Do you really need it? Is it something that you can make money with?

Me: Well, no, but...

She: Then if you really want it all that bad, use your personal allowance. That's what I let you have your $10/week for...

Me: [e-mail]

[Howard]

With wife #1, that would have been my reaction. Which is why we are no longer married (she has since passed away). Wife #2 -- well, I just let her run *all* of the finances. She's a CPA, and she has done wonders for our savings & overall financial condition.

[e-mail]

[Howard]

Hmmm... one of my wife's best customers is named "Bruce". That wouldn't be *you*, would it???

-- Howard

[Mapdude]

I identify with you. My wife ran the books for several years early in the marrage. It was after a month in which we had to pay over $300 in bounced check charges that I took over the books and put them into Quicken.

We too are in the stage of our lives that the income is always more than the output from the accounts over the long haul (married 24 years). There is a more than ample reserve in the bank, etc. to handle month to month fluctuations in revenue. I don't need to balance the books. I just monitor the balance to the nearest $1000 and go about life.

Any large purchases are discussed in advance to make sure that,if needed, the proper funds are transfered at the correct time. Between the HD Bessey close out and PennState Industries, I just added $600 worth of clamps to the shop. It was my birthday this month!!!!

Now I do still keep meticulous records of where it all goes >

[Mapdude]

Wrong. MY wife and I agree that there are limits to spending each month. She has funds to spend or not spend on anything she likes. I have the same. We agreed that I would draw $200 a week "pocket money" and she could draw $400 "pocket money" since she usually paid for stuff for the kids during the month (hamburgers, books, underware, what ever). This is blind money that can go for anything we want, no reciepts required, no questions, no complaints, no nothing. Her's to do with as she pleases. I got no controll over where it goes, just a mutual agreement about how much will be involved.

Monthly, as different needs arise (tuition, house repairs, car repairs, etc.) arise, we both make adjustments as needed to keep things from getting to skewed off budjet.

It's not about c>

[Mapdude]

So true. I also insisted that my wife buy her new car in her own name with out mine on the title. That way she has her own credit history with very stong entries.

Then we paid it off six months later with home equity, and she has a really strong credit profile to fall back on if she needs it.

Yeah, she has her own Amex too. We cut up all the Visa / Mastercard / Discover cards a l> "Dave Balderstone"

[Bruce]

Hey, keep it quiet or I'll shop somewhere else Howard.