As an engineering student and being married only 2-1/2 years, I have come across a few wonderful words of wisdom: "Happy wife = Happy Life"!! And she still let me get the 59!!

 

ok, i dont have a wife im only 19, but my mom on the other hand, is almost as big on tools as my dad. she buys him tools for xmas/birthday, and she gets just as much use out of them as my dad does. she also does a lot of the household repairs and stuff since my dad owns his own business and works a lot

 

I use a mixture of all these ideas. When it's just a tool that I want because.....I want it..LOL. Then I just kind of sneak it in. If I'm working on the house or one of the trucks I tell her we'll have to take it to the shop because I don't have the right tools. That quickly gets me, " well...how much are the tools?"...ahhhh..got her.

Big stuff normally comes from her. I'll mention that I would like to have something. If I mention it long enough she knows it's not a passing trend and she'll go buy it for me.

I wanted a compressor I bought one at Harbor freight and it was crap. I took it back and told the wife I'll just save the money until we can afford the one I really want. She tries to be sly and find out the one I want. Well....I just happened to save that web page in my favorites....LOL. She went "shopping" and came back with my 30 gallon, 6hp Craftsman compressor.

We know each other well...LOL.

Jon

 

FordGurl, it's not that something is wrong with our wives. It's that you Ladies attribute our tool buying as 'For Us' and not where the purchase should be properly placed, which is 'For The Family'.

You know, just like you Ladies do.

"We need new living room furniture For The Family."

Personally, I would always hide my (not required for the repair job) tool purchases.

"Uh, needed to replace the o-ring in the leaking faucet Sweetheart; this new Table Saw will help me do it."

 

took the words right out of my mouth,i pay the mortgage and vehicle payments with my snap-on tools,they aren't cheap but nothing else even comes close to the warranty with all the abuse they get.
it would probably scare her though if she knew that i have more invested in tools than that new chevy car truck sitting in drive!

 

Fordgurl, I know where you're coming from! Being a girl hearing guys complain about their wives limiting their spending habits etc. gets old and makes me kind of mad... if/when I get married, I don't want my husband to be dissatisfied with me to the point of gossip! (How unmanly!) Guys love tools, guns, cars, etc... and everyone needs their hobbies. The only problem I see with it all is when you A.) Can't afford it, but buy it anyway. -or- B.) Buy repeats of the same tool because you misplaced the one you got six months ago. My dad does both of these. With tools *and* guns, however... Swears that if he had a good toolbox and decent gun rack he'd be able to stop buying them...

On the female purchasing subject...
Honestly, as a woman, I've noticed how easy it is for me to go shopping because I'm bored and ten minutes later I'll have fifty things in a dressing room! Or I'll be at the Dior counter again looking at the new fall shades (even though I don't wear eyeshadow) and thinking it might be fun to try a new look. (Tried it this weekend and I looked *terrible!*) Sadly, most of the stuff I've gotten "on sale" that I didn't really consider first has either ended up taking up useless space in my closet or taken back. (You should see my roommate's closet... it's a virtual "bargain wasteland"!) I've done the clothing and makeup justification a million times and when it all boils down, I think tools are far more useful than most items women generally buy on a whim. Unless you're female and buying tools on a whim.
I don't want you to take any personal criticism or anything... by no means! I'd like to join the race for the most tools too! After I pay off my 100K education, anyway...

 

I'm not complaining about my wife what so ever. She's awesome. She buys more stuff for me than I do. I have a heck of a time getting her to buy stuff for herself. I think some of this subject is guilt driven..LOL.

But...when your walking thru Sears and see a new tool that would make your life so much easier, that's how I justify the expense to myself, you just have to have it.

I couldn't have married a better match. She knows what I like and she'll buy it on a whim. I literally have to buy her gift cards to clothing shops to get her to buy stuff for herself.

Jon

 

Yup. Yup. See. That's what I mean.

 

D, you also wrote:

Now, why would you have change the venitian blinds just because of a change in the season? Heck, why not do what I do? Tape aluminum foil to the windows to cover them. At Christmas I paint them green. At Halloween I paint them orange again.

 

Ha ha ha!!! They don't have Dior home furnishings! In fact... I don't think they have seasons for home furnishings really... I meant makeup, silly... hence the reference to me looking stupid in eyeshadow, even if it's a nice color... I just look better when nobody knows I'm wearing it!

I think it's funny how guys don't buy their own "cosmetic" products... I stayed at a friend's house one weekend and ended up leaving my face wash (with micro-scrubbers!) because he liked it (and I think he needed it a little more than I do!). I guess it has a lot to do with the low maintenance thing...

 

My husband buys tools that he needs.
I don't mind a bit, cause I use them too.
Cindy

88 F150 4x4
54 Ford Glass Top Skyliner
59 Ford Retracable Hardtop

 

I miss having female friends like you. In fact the last one that spent the weekend at my place is still here 6 years later.

 

Words of wisdom....
Don't share with spouse how you fix things. Now you have job security.

 

As long as I keep our 3 vehicles in good condition, I never catch any grief about buying the tools I need to fix them.

By the same token, I never give her any grief about buying good cookware that's just a little more expensive, as those are the tools she needs to do the things in the kitchen she likes to do.

She likes to cook, I like to tinker on cars and computers, it's a good balance.