Who's the "man" in your house?

[nickchew]

Lurking around the classifieds on this forum, I notice that many of you guys make comments like... "wife is gonna kill me".. "wait till she finds out"... "I'll check with.."
(ME INCLUDED)

So out with it you guys.... who is the man in your house? Who controls the finances? Who okays the purchases?
(In my household, NOT me that's for sure!)

Nick

[emaquiling]

I'm not allowed to say

[FrankS]

As the man in my house, I find it easier to beg for forgiveness later than to ask for permission first.

[Flinor]

I'm most definitely the man in my house. Just the other day, all by myself, I bought an apron to wear while I wash the dishes.

[Kin Lau]

I do control the finances and I don't ask her for permission. _BUT_, there are limits, both to her patience, and to reasonableness itself. Violate either and .... "she'll kill me" :).

[back alley]

i have 4 ex wives.

think about it...

joe

[Krasnaya_Zvezda]

My wife is an accountant; she maintains the financial empire, I see it as my job to spend it. I do not ask prior to purchasing, but I always mention what I intend, and I can gauge her receptiveness... depending on the desirability of the upcoming purchase, her receptiveness, or lack of it, might or might not deter me.
She's really very good about it all, and has not once told me "Don't". But I can tell when it's time to put the brakes on for a while. I don't push it, I really like her and want to keep her.

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Being that I just remarried today I found this to be an interesting thread.

I may be the man of the house, but she is the master. :)

It's a hoot though-- she has her cross stitching and e*ay (where did I learn about it? From her). I have my guitars and cameras and ebay. The guitar thing is way under control though, been doing that for years. But when I lust after camera gear and she comments on it I just point to her highly organized stash of floss (for heaven's sake never ever call it thread). She has about enough stash to account for an M3 with a nice lens.

So- like I said.. she's the boss. But the cooking more than makes up for it. :)

[pradeep1]

I ask, then go ahead with what I had planned.
She at least gets to say no. :)

I always make sure to tell my wife when making large purchases. She does the same with me. We limit ourselves on what we spend most of the time. She has a weakness for clothes and jewellery. I have a weakness for cameras, computers, knives, and books. Sometimes, when I buy something new, I'll sell a lot of my old stuff just to get it out of the house. I am the man of the house, but my wife is an equal partner as well. :)

[phototone]

Well, my wife trusts me and never questions me, or my purchases. She knows that I will take care of the necessary expenses before I spend on cameras, or motorcycles, or other interests.

I guess I am lucky, I married a lady from Zambia in Africa, and the culture is somewhat different than American women. I know, I have been married twice to American women, being American myself.

So, I guess I wear the pants in the family. I make all the key financial decisions, I pay the bills, and I buy what I like. I never question what she does with her money either, yet she shows great financial responsibility and often buys things for the house that will benefit both of us.

She cleans, and washes the clothes and I do the cooking mostly. An equitable division. She never is bothered if I have a drink, however she is somewhat annoyed by my pipe smoking.

[unsharp]

After I make a new camera purchase, I find myself treating my loved one better (the girl, not the camera) for a while. Let me examplify:
Yesterday I even got my calendar out and agreed to do some "meet the familys" planning with her. Thats very rare!

So, deciding to buy a new camera is not necesarily a sign of wheter you are the man or not, it can be an act to improve your relationship!

(I think she suspects something...) ;)

[Stu :)]

My new camera tolerating girlfriend and I had an argument two weeks ago and broke up.

So for me it's back to being Lord of the Mess, rather than domesticated galley slave.

Maybe this is why I can afford a new 21mm???

Stu :)

[Pherdinand]

[QUOTE=Fedzilla_Bob]Being that I just remarried today I found this to be an interesting thread.QUOTE]

Hey...Congrats, man!:)

[Brian Sweeney]

My wife and I have had a fixed monthly "allowance" for the past 22 years. She buys mostly clothes and jewelry out of hers, and I buy mostly cameras with mine. As I work in a lab, new clothes are not much of a requirement. And I can always sell off some cameras. As I have enough money saved out of my allowance for Nikki's college fund, I rarely get an argument in "why do you need another camera" as I can always respond "because I can always sell it for more than I paid for it".

[cbass]

My wife doesn't share my interest in photography but she easily tolerates my purchase of used camera gear. We have a system: before we spend more than $100 on "fun" stuff we have to ask/tell the other person first. Believe it or not the system works. And thanks to *bay I have never spent more than $100 on any single item of camera equipment in my collection.

Given that, would any forum members care to help me "explain" my (hopefully) soon-to-be-aquired Bessa R? I'm planning on using the old "your haircuts cost $125 and they only last three months" defense. Think it'll work?

[24x30]

In other photographic forums they are called 'swmbo'. Just an really exact description :-).

I didn't care about finances for a lot of years, it's her job ... From time to time I ask for some money. :-)

/rudi

[24x30]

i have 4 ex wives.
Huh ... hope you got a discount ... sounds expensive.

/rudi

[JOE1951]

Hi

I'm new here!

I'm single so I only wear pants when I feel like it!

[FrankS]

Huh ... hope you got a discount ... sounds expensive.

/rudi


They're cheaper by the dozen.

[JOE1951]

I should have said!!!!

I'm single, I wear the pants in my house...only when I feel like it!

Did that make any more sense....

[BJ Bignell]

Luckily, we've managed so far to keep our money separate; no joint accounts! If I want to buy something, I'm responsible for making sure it fits my budget, which it always does (with a little Enron-style accounting ;) ). I'll usually ask for advice first, 'cause it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of a GAS attack.

Joe, your current avatar looks a LOT like my neighbourhood. You didn't follow me home on Saturday, did you? :eek:

[vladhed]

Compared to what she spends on books, pottery and art supplies, and the fact that none of my cameras cost more than 50$ (Canadian, including the shipping), she has nothing to complain about.

I never ask, and when a "new" camera, lens or other gizmo shows up at the door, I think it must lift her guilt about her hobby spending. It's kind of funny because she'll be in a good mood and all curious about "our" new acquisition for about 5 minutes, but then will never ask about it again!

How come we haven't heard of Nathalia or any of the other women on this forum :-)

[back alley]

that shot is maybe 20+ years old.

howse the lens?

joe

[JOE1951]

Mr BJ

You didn't follow me home on Saturday, did you? :eek:

If your anything like your avatar, no, your a little too butch for my tastes!

;)




Think i should whittle this sig down a bit?

[BJ Bignell]

Joe (back alley): Remarkable. It really looks just like 84th ave does today, around 106th or so. The lens is beautiful (thanks again), but this weather sucks. As soon as the snow stops and we get some sun, I'll get out and use it.

Joe1951: Well, I wasn't originally speaking at you, but since you seem interested: There's even more man here than my avatar would suggest! Sorry to disappoint!
;)

[back alley]

bj,
i'm sure it was from the south side.
i have lived in the area several times over the years.

i 'discovered' the neg when looking for something to practice scanning on.

i still mostly shoot in that area.

joe

[Fedzilla_Bob]

[QUOTE=Fedzilla_Bob]Being that I just remarried today I found this to be an interesting thread.QUOTE]

Hey...Congrats, man!:)

I just got back online... Thanks!! Also start a new job Monday. Lots of stuff all at once!

[JOE1951]

Hello


Joe1951: Well, I wasn't originally speaking at you, but since you seem interested: There's even more man here than my avatar would suggest! Sorry to disappoint!
;)

:bang: DOH!

Just ignore this confused newbie!


...sigh...

[SolaresLarrave]

Another one with separate checking accounts and financial worries of his own. My better half simply doesn't worry... anymore. See, as a woman, she's very practical and thrifty. I'm not a woman, a bit practical but not quite thrifty.

Now... you shoulda seen her face when I told her what I paid for my first Leica.... It was already too late. By then I already had two.

So far, she's taken it in stride. Of course, if I get something for myself, I also get something for her.

[Natalia]

I'm most definitely the man in my house. Just the other day, all by myself, I bought an apron to wear while I wash the dishes.

:D :D :D :D :D :D

[Wayne R. Scott]

When ever I purchase a new (new to me) camera and I don't want my wife to find it, I just put it in the oven. In 32 years she has never found one yet.

Wayne

[back alley]

oh that's bad!

i once gave my ex a map to the kitchen!
i thought it was time for a dusting...

joe

[SolaresLarrave]

This evening my in-laws invited us for dinner. I stayed home (gotta work to bring in the film! :p ). My wife came back to tell me her mother had admired the little rubi (with small diamonds) she got from me for Valentine's Day. Not just admired it: she just envied it!

That's the strategy that keeps this household together... I feed my wife's habit. :)

[DougK]

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, there's no one here to argue with my photography habit.

My closest female friend teases me quite a bit and wonders why I spend so much on cameras and not enough on trying to acquire a decent car. My solution: for her birthday I gave her two 11x14 prints of photos she mentioned once that she loved. After she stopped crying and hugging me, I haven't heard a discouraging word since. :)