My wife used to be ok with it but not so much anymore. I use side job money or scrap collection money so she cant complain too much about the money side of it.
I don't agree with that type of behavior. It's wrong on many levels. There must be an epidemic, something in the water, or chem-trails that seems to rendering testicles ineffective. Shame on you sneeking around behind your wife..
My wife has no issue with me building cars-we have been married 35 years and she is the financial guru having been a Bank officer for many years. She is very knowledgable about the car game and always goes to look at projects with me-has a good eye for looking at projects/cars. She is also the only one who I allow the help me hang freshly painted sheet metal and install trim. She knows how much it costs to build a nice car and has no issue with the costs and builds a folder for each project with all receipts/costs. We are retired so we have to be somewhat careful on expenditures but still have 3 finished cars-life is good.
Since I met the lady I am married to, she has not paid for anything on her cars except wheel alignment. I do all the upkeep and light repairs at home, saving a bundle. We dont even know the cost of an oil change. Never paid for what is so easy to do in my garage.
wifes not into the hobby, but she supports my love of all things mechanical. She also knows that if its broke, theres a good chance i can fix it, or get the parts to do so. She has a mind set that is on the "dont be wasteful" side of thinking..if it can be fixed and I can do it, shes good with that. I dont spend survival money on hobbies..and she has more shoes, purses and outfits than I have projects , so the argument is moot I take good care of her, she takes good care of me..honesty isnt an issue
Luck has nothing to do with it and you are not giving yourselves enough credit. A good marriage is hard work and when you have one that works, it because you both understand the commitment you made and you're willing to work on it. Obviously it helps to really know who you're marrying, but I've seen marriages that happened too fast end up lasting a lifetime. It the attitude that counts.
Over the 30 years we have been married, my wife has come to like old cars. Not as much as me, but still appreciates them. I have an ongoing list of parts I need / want. We do have a great relationship. I buy her clothes & jewelry, she buys me truck parts & tools.
My wife if very supportive of my addiction with these damn cars enough so that she even takes her vacation around what ever carshow I want to go to. I am a lucky man to have such a wonderful woman in my life much like many of you others posting.
I might joke around a bit about "sliding it by the ol' dragon", and I suspect what you are saying is pretty much "tongue in cheek" as well. If its NOT, and you are really serious, I would take Larry W's advice, because when she catches up to you, and she WILL, it is NOT gonna be pretty...
My wife's horses are her addiction, We share the barn ,old iron and equines. When we were raising our kids both of us had to put the expensive part of our hobbies on hold for a while. Oh, And momma always had a decent car to drive, I could drive car-guy junk, but mom needed to make sure she could get where she was go'in. It's sweet now, Indy
I've got a phenominal wife, and we've been together 25 years. She knew I was into cars before she met me, so she has never used it as a negotiating tool. I made it clear years ago, that my hot rods are the last things to get money. House payment, utilities, groceries, home stuff always comes first. As a hobby, I buy and sell parts, and the profit from that is what I use to build my stuff. That's why it takes forever for me to finish anything. My wife works in retail, and manages a Coach store. I always make a joke about her love for purses. I tell everyone that having her work at Coach is like having a pothead that works in a marijuana dispensary.
My costs so far to buy what i want when i want. $60,000 remodel on a 17 yr old home... Bought her a 2010 g8-gt loaded. She is still way ahead. But i will come out on top by the time the next 2 projects are done. Cant live with-em cant live without-em !!!
My wife never complains obout the $$ side of the hobby and I don't complain about the grand or so she just "invested" in a dog and all of the fine accessories a dog must have. I do sell extra parts and flip a car once in while. That money is 100% mine and I spend it foolishly on tools I coudn't otherwise afford. She has a casual job and spends her earnings from that in a similar way. When we travel to hot rod events, I always pick a little better hotel and find some nice places to eat. She is fine with spending the extra cash to make these events more enjoyable to her.
We are retired but I still work occasionally as an electrical contractor . My wife likes old machinery and often helps me work on the trucks.She does the seats,small details and nasty shit like scrapping tar off the underneath.She's pretty happy always having her own old truck to drive.When I build an engine or some other bucks project the money comes from electrical contractor business.
It is my wife is GREAT ! I was just trying to see what was going on with othere guys and it sounds for the most prat the wifes are very cool with it I have 3 girls and they come first the truck would be gone in a heart beat if I had to choose between family and steel !
my wife is so great, she supports me so much she decied to get a second job just to help me by hotrod parts. when we were married i was planning on taking here on a trip to hawaii,but instead she suggested we use the money to by a set of Halibrands, and just this past christmas she found out i was getting her a ring and she refused saying "we could use that money for more hotrod parts"..she doesnt mind that i missed her parents 50th aniversary for a car show, in fact she encouraged me,. in the summer she mows the yard for me on the weekends so i have more time to wrench and when i get home tonight, she will have the shop warmed up and a warm plate of food on the table..she usually comes out to the shop to check and see if i need a beer too! .....oh wait...that didnt happen to me,,i was just daydreaming,,,haha
Wife supports me and knows i'm pretty responsible when it comes to spending $$$. I don't hide what I spend/acquire, but I don't advertise it either. That said, the funds for my projects are primarily what ever I get from selling parts or projects for.
My wife isn't really interested in the cars or the hobby but she has never once bitched about the money I spend on my cars or parts. She supports me like that and I am the same way with her hobbies, works very well for us.
my wife digs the hobby but doesnt have a clue what it costs. i try to pay for my car stuff thru side work but thats hard when my side work is 99.9% the same as my daily work. the few times she caught wind how much things cost (a good paint job or motor build) life got really fun for a few days.
The only thing I can figure from all the "supportive wife" posts is that a lot of guys must have the little lady standing behind them while they are on the computer. Bet if just we guys were sitting around having a few cold beers a slightly different story might come out. Don
The ex threatened to take a sledge to one of my projects once,til I told her that car was named Christine. Now that I'm single again,my house is slowly turning into something similar to the garage pictured in Worlds Fastest Indian. No engines in the living room...yet... Not burning the lawn,but I do piss outside now and then.. Might even finish something someday since I avoid women now,as they avoid me.
Mine knows I have no money to spend on anything these days. I am a fantasy rodder at best, living thru my bro's rods, and the other real rodders on here. Hey, better than nuthin. And Rusty the Ranch Wagon makes me feel good just driving an old car. So I just keep on keepin on! ~sololobo~
my wife is super supportive. she always has my back. at times i feel real bad for all the time i spend in the garage and shop. i try to do as much as i can with here .my hobby is my job so that means we have to have health insurance . i wife works for our health benifits. now she does have here limits . i could burn her out if i took here on one of my trips out to bonneville in an open car all the way. we have an agreement, if i really want her to go to a show shes there . most of the time that will be when i have a new built to have out the first time.otherwise it totaly open .she can go any time and she goes about every other show.it also helps she likes vintage things and she is a photographer. she likes letting young kids at the show set in our cars. it is neat to let kids set in your car that might never get a chance to set in an old car. here my wifey at the local indoor car show this weekend.
The Jalopy Journal
