Women

[richg1998]

Truck

No matter how hard I try to hide stuff I buy She still finds out.

 

Your marriage is in trouble if you think you have got to hide your purchases. 'Nuff said. Been there, done that, have the T shirt and divorce papers.

Rich

[lotrain]

I totally agree with you and your wife. Mine also has dolls and teddy bears. She has even asked me at times why I didn't buy something at a train show.  She enjoys the trains too. Got to love her for support.

[Philly Bill]

 I'm afraid to say, after almost 30 years of marriage, we only recently go the kids off to school or work, and the basement cleared out and waterproofed, so thus far my MR budget is in the very economical planning stages!  So no money issues (yet).

But the excellent discussion reminds me of a humorous sign I've seen around some basements:

My Wife Says If I Buy One More Engine, She'll Leave Me --

Gosh, I'm Going to Miss Her!

[PB&J RR]

Wow, what a can of worms...

I don't hide the cost of model railroading from my wife. I don't smoke at all, I don't drink much a six pack lasts a month or more. We talk about everything we spend money on regardless of the cost...

My wife is very encouraging where my hobby is concerned, even encouraging me on a couple of occasions to buy estate collections to retail in order to generate income earmarked for building my own model railroad... Thanks to any of you who might have gotten this or that from my ebay store when it was open....

My wife doesn't nag and only asks that I find the best deal I can find when I buy something for it... I mentioned that I wanted to try makiing my own ground foam to landscape with, and showed her an article online and she suggested we go to goodwill... She found a 5 dollar used blender and a 2 inch foam mattress pad while we were there... Bonus points for me if I get good at it and can hawk some on Ebay... (Buy lots, I need more money for trains)

To me its laughable to hide your expense from your spouse, lest you come home and find your model railroad in the yard next to your suit case....

[Phoebe Vet]

Truck

Do your wives ever nag you about how much you spend on trains?  No matter how hard I try to hide stuff I buy She still finds out.

Nope.

Perhaps the fact that you hide stuff from her explains her anger when she "discovers" it.

Total honesty has kept our marraige strong for 42 years.

[Robby P.]

 For me its one of those.............If we have the money, then I can buy.   She's fine with my hobby, as long as I don't go overboard. 

 I try to get her involved some, but I think she gets worried that she will mess it up.  So she kinda stays back.  I can say she didn't say much about me expanding the layout (She just wanted to make sure you could still get to the bathroom in the basement).   It went from a 8x12 to a 13x12.

[boct8418]

My wife only questioned the size of the layout. She thinks it too big for me but she has always supported me and helps with scenery. Rich

[CSX Robert]

Truck

Its not that I try to hide it,  I make good money, but she is the penny pincher type wants to buy the cheaper stuff, me I like the high perf stuff. and I have to hear HOW MUCH DID THAT COST?  I guess opposites attract.

 

Agree on a budget and stick to it, then it won't matter "How much did that cost?" as long as you remain in budget. If you want something that costs more than a month's budget, save up until you have enough.

[tomikawaTT]

IRONROOSTER

selector

grizlump9

 SHE has HER dolls and i have my trains.  after we finished raising and educating the kids and helping out the grandkids, being of sound mind, we are spending it all. 

 for the poster who mentioned that his wife broke even at the casino, what does she play?  the ATM?  the only way we ever broke even was to stay home or try to eat $200.00 worth of shrimp on the comp buffet.

grizlump

You are right.  The odds are that over time she will lose most of what she "plays" with.  The odd win is usually offset, and then some, by all the much tinier amounts played on either side of the win, and that goes for all but a lucky few.  How else could the casino stay in business unless most people play to lose?  Buddy at least has a toy train to show for his spending habits.

-Crandell

 

As I tell my kids:  The Casino is not gambling only you are.

Enjoy

Paul

Since it's my wife being referred to, here's a quick overview of her methods:

1. Only go to the casino on the days when they are giving away something for showing up: goods (T-shirts and kitchen utensils, mostly) extra points or a free grab at some cash.
2. Play the cheaper slots with the company's money.  Set a maximum that she's willing to lose (usually $20, the approximate cost of a round of golf) and quit cold when that maximum is reached.
3. If a machine pays off big, cash out and pocket the jackpot, then keep playing as if it hadn't happened - but move to a different machine.

Since she's a frequent player, Texas Station and The Cannery keep her well informed about those freebies and extra point days.  We live in Las Vegas, so she can nibble away.  Only tourists think they can take it all in one fell swoop.  (As a matter of fact, she just left to play today's free slot offer at Texas Station.)  We keep track of her wins and losses for tax purposes - gambling losses may be deducted up to the amount of gambling winnings.

The street side of Palace Station, the flagship of the Stations casinos, is decorated with what look like the front views of nineteenth century toy steam locomotives.  From across the street it looks like the Central Pacific's roundhouse.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[IRONROOSTER]

selector

grizlump9

 SHE has HER dolls and i have my trains.  after we finished raising and educating the kids and helping out the grandkids, being of sound mind, we are spending it all. 

 for the poster who mentioned that his wife broke even at the casino, what does she play?  the ATM?  the only way we ever broke even was to stay home or try to eat $200.00 worth of shrimp on the comp buffet.

grizlump

You are right.  The odds are that over time she will lose most of what she "plays" with.  The odd win is usually offset, and then some, by all the much tinier amounts played on either side of the win, and that goes for all but a lucky few.  How else could the casino stay in business unless most people play to lose?  Buddy at least has a toy train to show for his spending habits.

-Crandell

 

As I tell my kids:  The Casino is not gambling only you are.

Enjoy

Paul

[selector]

grizlump9

 SHE has HER dolls and i have my trains.  after we finished raising and educating the kids and helping out the grandkids, being of sound mind, we are spending it all. 

 for the poster who mentioned that his wife broke even at the casino, what does she play?  the ATM?  the only way we ever broke even was to stay home or try to eat $200.00 worth of shrimp on the comp buffet.

grizlump

You are right.  The odds are that over time she will lose most of what she "plays" with.  The odd win is usually offset, and then some, by all the much tinier amounts played on either side of the win, and that goes for all but a lucky few.  How else could the casino stay in business unless most people play to lose?  Buddy at least has a toy train to show for his spending habits.

-Crandell

[Icefoot]

Packer

Same here, except my mother works at my bank. She doesn't have to snoop my mail for bank statements, she just looks them up while at work.

 

 I think I would change banks.  

[Edit]   My wife has been pretty good about my hobby expenditures.  She has even spent more that I would getting me items from a wish list for my birthday...  The trick is don't go overboard (defined differently for everybody) and there should be no problems.  If there are, then the trains are a symptom of a larger problem that needs fixing one way or the other...

 

[Geared Steam]

SilverSpike

My wife supports every aspect of my modeling hobby,

 

Same as Ryan, my wife completely supports my hobby. In the 25 years of marriage, we have always lived inside of our means and my wife has no reason to ever "investigate" my purchases. As in many things in life, you get what you pay for, if you spend good money on train set quality locos that may last 10-20 hours, what money have you saved?  Spending money on quality equipment that runs like a dream will give you many years of pleasure. Cheap stuff will give you frustration and anxiety, possibly to the point where you drop the hobby completely.

My feeling?  I work my rear end off to have what I have, buying something nice for myself occasionally is a reward.

MHO

GS

[wm3798]

 We'll be married 25 years in November, so I'd say we've arrived at a truce.  She knows the hobby is an important part of who I am, and I know that the current economic times are tight, so I know when to reign myself in.

I also do decoder installations, and occasionally sell off some surplus stuff to keep a bit of a hobby budget I can use.

I'm also a terrible liar, so hiding things just isn't an option.  Although, being an N scaler has its advantages, in that most 4 axle diesels will fit in your pocket!

Lee

[SilverSpike]

My wife supports every aspect of my modeling hobby, in fact, she keeps wanting me to build a shelf layout in the living space too. Recently I've been progressing on some trackwork loops for the current layout that traverse over the stairway which leads up to the train room and recenly she commented on how she liked seeing them when she had to pass through there on her way to the attic.

 

[steamage]

First wife once said  "It's ether me or the trains!"    
Second wife knows not to ask that question.

[jguess733]

 Being in the Navy, we live on a very limited income. That being said my hobby budget is only $30 a month. That includes buying trains, magazines, ammo/tags for hunting season, etc. There's been times when I've been saving up for a nice new loco, that I had to divert the funds to something more important. It's just a fact of life we live with. I don't have to get her okay, every time I purchase something, and she doesn't need mine. We both budget our money, the bills get paid, and that's that. She will from time to time jokingly refer to the price of something to be the equivalent of our credit card bill.

Point is, if you budget for it, and are open about, she will probably be a bit more understanding.

[Packer]

jeffrey-wimberly

 No wife but my mother sure can get on my nerves about it. She hasn't gone snooping in the mail for my bank statements but I'm sure that's only a matter of time.

Same here, except my mother works at my bank. She doesn't have to snoop my mail for bank statements, she just looks them up while at work.

I've had a few girls dump me over them too. So I learned, never bid on on ebay using HER computer while she is looking. One of my first ones got mad because a P2K GP30 cost more than I spent on her in 6 months....

[TMarsh]

Nope, no problems with the wife. She never has said a word about the cost. I have, but she hasn't. When we married she had no idea of my hidden hobby. ( I had a small layout in my early teens the cars, girls, jobs etc. came along). The only clue she had was when we put up walls in the basement about ten years ago, I made a comment about one smaller room that someday this is where I would want to put up a Model Railroad. That finally happened a little over a year and a half ago when I unearthed my old 4 X 8 layout as we were moving my mother from the family home. After a few months and mentioning once or twice about the space, she, not I , suggested removing a wall and expanding into the old office that isn't used now that the kids are up and gone. She has purchase RR items for Christmas, track, a couple DPM buildings and some cars with road names that I really shouldn't use but I am because she bought them and was happy to see me use them. Besides it's a made up world anyway and I can make up a reason. I think I'll keep her. 

[Allegheny2-6-6-6]

Truck

Its not that I try to hide it,  I make good money, but she is the penny pincher type wants to buy the cheaper stuff, me I like the high perf stuff. and I have to hear HOW MUCH DID THAT COST?  I guess opposites attract.

 

 

 

Well I'm gonna guess you haven't been married all that long or your just not paying attention. The line most women use is "It was on sale so I saved money dear"

I used to have a long time live in girlfriend years back who questioned my model railroad spending saying I was frivolous because much of it just sat there and did nothing. I got up from the table where I was assembling a kit, walked into the bedroom and opened up the BIG closet. I carried out several armful of shoes most of which had never been worn some even with the tags still on them. I kept dropping them into a pile on the floor, when I was done I said don't ever question what I spend on my hobby, there were still a lot more shoes in the closet and I never heard another peep on the subject.

[IRONROOSTER]

Since I'm the frugal one, she never says anything.  She has her hobbies and I have mine, but discretionary spending for both of us is after the necessities.  Also, I have reached the point where I have more than enough stuff for the current layout and won't really need more until retirement and the "big" one.

Enjoy

Paul

[BRAKIE]

Truck

Do your wives ever nag you about how much you spend on trains?  No matter how hard I try to hide stuff I buy She still finds out.

No.My late wife didn't complain..In fact once she became involved in the hobby she spent more in the hobby shop then I did. She was one of a kind.

I have also learn I have no time or need for a brawling *** woman...I been a bachelor way to long for that. 

[lvanhen]

When my wife mentions my trains, I ask her how much she's spent on "collectables".  Ususlly shuts her up!!

[blownout cylinder]

Audrey and I have a good arrangement. Because she sells her own paintings and craft items her money is her money. Me? My work money pays the housebills and food etc and my side job then gives me my hobby money. There are no arguments therefore over who spends what and how much and etc------

[Robt. Livingston]

My wife thinks I don't spend enough on my hobbies.  She cheers when I buy a locomotive.  I've been given a few by her at birthdays or Christmas (of course I had to tell her which exact one to order).  In general, she spends more than I, more easily, but she stays within the family budget. 

[dehusman]

I have a budget and pretty well stay in it, so its not a problem.  After 25 years she knows I'm not going to go wild and buy $500 of engines every week.

[grizlump9]

 SHE has HER dolls and i have my trains.  after we finished raising and educating the kids and helping out the grandkids, being of sound mind, we are spending it all. 

 for the poster who mentioned that his wife broke even at the casino, what does she play?  the ATM?  the only way we ever broke even was to stay home or try to eat $200.00 worth of shrimp on the comp buffet.

grizlump

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 No wife but my mother sure can get on my nerves about it. She hasn't gone snooping in the mail for my bank statements but I'm sure that's only a matter of time.

[Midnight Railroader]

Truck

Its not that I try to hide it,

 

 But you actually said ,"  No matter how hard I try to hide stuff I buy She still finds out" in your first psot.

[Truck]

Its not that I try to hide it,  I make good money, but she is the penny pincher type wants to buy the cheaper stuff, me I like the high perf stuff. and I have to hear HOW MUCH DID THAT COST?  I guess opposites attract.