Spouse management. Or time to fess up.

O

Omega Leather Works

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Jun 13, 2007
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So I see people make comments every now and then about how they buy knives behind their wives/significant others backs, and I'm wondering if any of you are willing to admit to actually doing this.

Have any of you ever been caught? What did you say if you were?

I'll go on record as admitting to buying things like sharpening stones and plenty of odds and ends that are directly related to knives, but never an actual knife.

If I'm totally honest the thought has crossed my mind, but it's fleeting. I could see it becoming a problem and I just don't need that. :o

Anyone care to admit to anything shady when it comes to our great hobby?
 
Shoot, I've met the mail man many times at the gate. A little nudge, nudge, wink-wink. I have bought many without "consulting" :-)
 
Honesty is the best policy. Just be ready to buy some shoes and or purses for her! I guess I'm lucky, My woman has purses that cost more than my most expensive knives. I don't complain, And neither does she.

Hiding it shows guilt and that you feel like you are wrong.
 
Spouse Management - love the phrase. The technique I use with mine is to narrow my choices (for my next knife) down to 4 or 5. I let her look at them and weigh in on the aesthetics. She has a good eye. This makes her part of the process. The rest is assuring her it will be my last for a while (not further specified).

What she hates is when I get stressed about waiting for a knife to arrive, mailing a knife in a hurry to a buyer, that sort of thing.

And every once in a while I encourage her to buy some more shoes or earrings.
 
I don't even have a wife, but once my girlfriend of 5 years got on my case about how much I spent on knives. I sat down with her and told her how much I spend on her every month. Now she encourages me to buy nicer knives ;)
 
Let me put it this way ... if she knew the amounts involved ... I'd be out of the house, quickly! So yeah, there's a lot of maneuvering (or management) involved. The hardest thing is sneaking the incoming boxes into the house and waiting for the right time to open them ... talk about anxiety! She has a very clear idea of what I am up to anyway ... and she is not too bothered with it. She likes them! It's kinda like "I know that you know that I know" ...
 
I never got guys doing that - a few I know even have a PO box they have their knives sent to. I didn't marry my mother.
 
I say be honest. If she finds out in the future, which she likely will, and finds out you were keeping these things from her, that can really cause some problems. She would feel lied to. That's never a good thing.
Chances are, she's married to you because she loves you, and because she loves you, she will accept and support you in your hobby, even if she doesn't understand it. As long as there's money for your hobby, and for some things she likes, and it's not getting in the way of your bills and other responsibilities, I don't see why there would be an issue.
Be honest and responsible with your choices, and make sure there's money available for her things too, you should be good to go.
 
No. Never behind her back. I acquired one expensive knife through a trade and she was surprised I went through with the trade. She thought I would be ripped off. but it was a well known maker, witk tons of good feedback. I sent my end of the trade first (ar pistol)
 
My wife and I have a system where each of us get a portion of our checks to use on whatever we want. So, low priced items like SAKs I can buy whenever I want. Anything of a significant dollar amount we talk about before making the purchase. The money we make goes to securing our shared future so I think it's important to have that discussion. Retiring with the woman I love is more important then the latest wiz bang knife. YMMV
 
I don't lie or hide them from her, but I don't always tell her. Not because I don't want her to know, but because she really just doesn't care.
 
Lot of spouse management theories out there - NONE of them work.

Best.
 
I have bought knives without my wife's approval, but let her know about it before it shows up on the door step. Likewise, she has bought Jewelry, purses, etc without my approval or input. Of course she always "brags" about how much she "saved" by it being on sale. Maybe I should try the "on sale" excuse.

In all seriousness though, we have an understanding about how much we should spend on things before we consult or seek approval from each other before any large purchases. We are both pretty tight fisted with our expendable income, since there ain't much of it. :D I long ago got fancy car's, boats, more guns, motorcycles, etc out of my system, and enjoy less expensive hobbies now. (damm, I guess I'm gettin old!)

Blessings,

Omar
 
Me and mine have an agreement...anything less than 500.00 does not require collaboration...but yeah, she is not in the loop for the Hinderer I bought at a retail site... No big deal for us though... She works, I work...we mind our own lanes mostly...
 
My wife has over 200k worth of scrapbooking, painting, knitting and sewing supplies. She has 4 knitting machines worth about $1500 each. She has 5 sewing machines with her 2 most expensive ones at about
3,000 each. If I bought a Sebenza a week for 5 years I still wouldn't catch up. Therefore, I buy whatever and whenever I want.
 
Like a lot of the other gents, I don't tell her about my purchases, but I also don't hide them from her. I'll talk to her about particularly large purchases to get her opinion, but it's more of a sanity check than a permissions check.

'sides, half the time the knives I buy are for her anyway these days.
 
We stick to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in our family. My wife knows that I buy knives now and then, but most of the time she prefers not to ask. When she asks: I tell.
 
You can't buy what you want? I buy things. End of story. If she asks I tell her but as long as we aren't starving and in debt, if I have the money in my pocket, I buy what I want as does she. To a point, as I'm not out buying bass boats. But both of us are fairly responsible with finances so its not really an issue.
 
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