500$ your wife doesn’t know about.

[d.mcfarland]

I'd get:

- flux core Century welder for $200
- Safety equipment for another $50
- Astro Nano 3/8" impact for $100
- Vintage Craftsman sander for $150

 

[Parrothead]

Hypothetically speaking,

You have 500$ your wife doesn’t know about. What tools do you buy?

My,My, My. 9 out of 10 of you go about relationships,a regular bunch of new age types. The OP is talking about TOOLS.

I'm retired on a fixed income so buying tools is a very thoughtful process. Much like it was for our fathers, or for you younger guys , grandfathers. The OP was in the same spirit.

I'm looking at the 20volt DeWalt skilsaw , they got the blade on the correct side for us right handed guys. As if I need another skilsaw.

I’m sure the OP will clear it up, but I do think “the wife doesn’t know about” is relevant. They could have said, that I found, inherited, won, blow on, or whatever. Instead they specifically said that the wife doesn’t know about. That implies that whatever tool they purchase must not be noticeable to his wife.

As I said earlier, a lime green 44” US General doesn’t hide well, nor does a 60 gallon compressor, table saw, drill press, or many other large purchases. I think (and concede I could be wrong), that the OP is looking to purchase something nice that won’t get noticed. If I really wanted to buy tools without the wife noticing, I’d have to be more discreet about it.

I could probably swap out my DeWalt miter saw for a sliding DeWalt version without the wife noticing.

 

[unknownroad]

Yeah, we don't do the whole hiding money/purchases thing... I'd consider that a big red flag.

But a $500 windfall would be easy- I've wanted a Jet "Industrial" variable-speed 8" grinder for a while now, but not badly enough to justify the price, which is right at 5 bills. It would be nice to just smack that ol' "Buy" button.

 

[BuffettFan]

My wife has no idea how much money I have.

She proves it daily by asking me for more.

 

[mrvm]

Need an extra couple of zeroes before it would become an issue.

 

[X1 Mike]

I’m sure the OP will clear it up, but I do think “the wife doesn’t know about” is relevant. They could have said, that I found, inherited, won, blow on, or whatever. Instead they specifically said that the wife doesn’t know about. That implies that whatever tool they purchase must not be noticeable to his wife.

As I said earlier, a lime green 44” US General doesn’t hide well, nor does a 60 gallon compressor, table saw, drill press, or many other large purchases. I think (and concede I could be wrong), that the OP is looking to purchase something nice that won’t get noticed. If I really wanted to buy tools without the wife noticing, I’d have to be more discreet about it.

I could probably swap out my DeWalt miter saw for a sliding DeWalt version without the wife noticing.

Why would you want your wife not to notice? Are you scared of her? Are you one of those beta husbands?

Obviously I'm exaggerating to make a point.

 

[Wyoming09]

I"d have to buy something really huge, like maybe something on wheels, before my wife would notice. She has no idea what tools I have or what I use them for. She just isn't that interested in being in the shop.

 

[nieuport17]

I would give that $500 to my mistress. Hypothetically.

 

[Farmall450]

What a great slush fund!

Kinda ***** to have to hide it though.

 

[mde8965]

I would spend $500 on
1) Storage (on wall cabinets for garage)
or
2) Workbench
or
3) Milwaukee cordless backpack vacuum and more batteries
or
4) Really nice non-gas pressure washer
or
5) Just walk around HD or HF and I'd find lotsa tools I don't need but want.

No marriage advice here.
But my most hated phrase in life is "Happy wife, Happy life".

 

[Rabid Badger]

Amazing how many people can turn what is clearly a joke into a **** measuring contest.

I'd get the 14 inch side drawers for my tool cabinet, a set of Knipex pliers wrenches, a 20 ton hydraulic press and a screwdriver organizer.

 

[measuredtwice]

I feel like I'm Lebowski and you guys are all Walters, everything is a travesty.

Shut up, Donny!

 

[dacan23]

LOL, that is my wifes only complaint is that there is a small tool cabinet mounted in the TV room and some packout boxes. But whats the difference between the bins with kid toys, other toy shelving furniture, those mobile plastic junk drawer things women like, and my packout boxes?

I guess I'm the only one whose wife doesn't care what tools I buy as long as I don't keep em in the house.

Sent from my mobile device

 

[X1 Mike]

Amazing how many people can turn what is clearly a joke into a **** measuring contest.

I'd get the 14 inch side drawers for my tool cabinet, a set of Knipex pliers wrenches, a 20 ton hydraulic press and a screwdriver organizer.

Guy makes a **** measuring contest reference then tries to throw a subliminal 14 inch comment in on us.

I'm calling bs on this one.

Not that I want proof...…….

 

[OccupantRJ]

When I was younger I had no money and wanted everything. Now I have money and don’t really want anything. Old machines to restore are pretty cheap and keep me busy for months at a time. $500 would just go into my shop account with the rest of it to draw interest. I don’t need any more tools that I can think of at the moment.

 

[hotrod1968]

Hypothetically speaking, if having $500 and not letting the wife know about it to buy tools is a thing, I’m taking that money to a divorce attorney. I won’t live that way. Period.

Divorce over 500? That's pocket change.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Parrothead]

Hypothetically speaking, if having $500 and not letting the wife know about it to buy tools is a thing, I’m taking that money to a divorce attorney. I won’t live that way. Period.

I could probably swap out my DeWalt miter saw for a sliding DeWalt version without the wife noticing.

Why would you want your wife not to notice? Are you scared of her? Are you one of those beta husbands?

Obviously I'm exaggerating to make a point.

I tell my wife almost everything, not because I have to, because I want to. I don’t need to get into specifics, but we have our own money. We pay the bills/investments/retirement jointly, and the rest is split up how we see fit. Somethings together, some things separately. Think roommates who are married. I have my own bank account, she has hers and we have one joint account. Works for us.

 

[bert1913]

i married my wife, not my mommy

 

[toddmorr]

well my wife thinks you guys are really funny.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

This is a great forum ,not only do you get tool advice, you can get marriage advice as well.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd either put it towards a plasma cutter or TIG welder.

 

[couch67]

Bought a Migpak 180 on sale in the spring. Told my wife and kids that they must really love me for the gift they bought for Fathers Day! They didnt ask what it cost and I didnt tell. But that wouldn't have mattered, its been on the list for long time and was a great deal at crappy tire.

Still got some nice cards from the kids and a great bbq dinner to boot!

 

[ScottsGT]

Funny, I can drop $200 here, $350 there, nothing. But I’m not discussing dropping the $700 on the planer or the $600 on the jointer or the $1000 I’m about to drop on a silencer for my MP5 I just bought. Yeah, that was fun when she saw $1900 on the CC, but I told her to look closer and she will see the payment I made to cover it.
Sometimes its not worth the discussion trying to justify my needs/wants because they are never as her important trips we take on 4 or 5 vacations a year.

 

[jdewitt]

I'd spend the $500 on a tool cabinet to get organized.

 

[Indexmill]

This whole question is absurd. It should not have included the "your wife doesn't know about" part. There is absolutely no correct answer to the wife part. We are all different. Not everybody's wife works outside of the home/family. Not everybody has plenty of money. Man and women don't always agree on priorities. For some of us, our shop is therapy and a hell of a lot cheaper than other hobbies men have.

A better question would have been: If you can't spend money in your shop without arguing with your wife about it, AND you want to do it anyway without arguing with her, then what are good ways to slush small money?

The gift card with grocery shopping is a good one. $20 cash-back on a debit purchase is another good one. Paying for **** with a credit card for friends and neighbors and then getting paid back in cash. Selling **** you don't need and putting that cash into the slush fund. Selling **** to buy new **** is a really good one as it is net zero.

 

[PugetDude]

This is a great forum ,not only do you get tool advice, you can get marriage advice as well.

Platitudes, sarcasm, skepticism, cynicism, denial, incredulity, derision, hostility, dubiety, scorn, discontent and dissentientality are also dispensed free of charge. Welcome to the GJ.

 

[dkmc]

My Wife's a unicorn. No need to hide anything or do anything behind her back.

She supports me and my decisions (and iron addictions) 100%. Never says 'NO you can't buy that', but sometimes she applies some common sense observations that put me in touch with reality. And I appreciate that. Oh, and she goes with me on CL purchase road trips, helps a bit in the shop, listens to my ideas and aspirations with interest.
Yup, she's an amazing woman. I am SO lucky. So go ahead and be jealous of me, you should be!



PS
I also support her interests, hobbies, and aspirations, and treat her with utmost respect. As I should...
We also manage to have a good laugh about something every day, even if we're laughing at ourselves. Humor can be great medicine.

 

[Jason280]

LOL, hiding money from your spouse and having to sneak around to buy things...

 

[ScottsGT]

LOL, hiding money from your spouse and having to sneak around to buy things...

Yep, and when we go to Vegas you should see the looks I get when I ask her how much she brought to give to the casinos.

I told her I'm a polar opposite in regards to "fun money" She would rather "Buy memories" with either vacations, trips, gambling at a casino or taking the family out to dinner and I would rather buy trinkets that provide me/us pleasure and fun long term. New tools I can craft things with, a model that I can spend weeks or months building, a gun or accessory that I can use for the rest of my life out on the range, etc.
If I get to the point where trinket is no longer providing fun, I can get rid of it and move on.

 

[bwringer]

Motorcycle tires, new chain & sprockets, and brake pads.

At least, that's what I just dropped nearly five Benjamins on.

I didn't tell my wife, nor did I need to, nor is she the least bit interested or judgemental about it.


I have three bikes in active, vigorous use, so we have had the following conversation more than once:

"Didn't you just buy motorcycle tires a few weeks ago?"

"Yes. Yes I did."

"That's nice."

 

[ScottsGT]

I will say, she was pissed when I removed a brand new exhaust system from my new car and installed an aftermarket system to the tune of $900. "What the hell was wrong with the brand new system on the car?? Why didn't you wait until it needed to be replaced??!!"

I just laughed and explained to her two reasons.
1) New factory exhaust systems never wear out. They will out last the car
2) A 2015 Mustang GT should not be as quiet as a golf cart.

And I told her this will be an advantage to her. She can now hear me coming down the road as I come home and she will have ample warning to run off her boyfriend.

 

[KBigg]

Id put it towards building my garage to hide tools in

 

[Pontiac787]

When does the name of this site get changed to “Market Research Forum”?

 

[dledinger]

About a year back I upgraded my punches and chisels. Probably still short of $500, but worth every penny. I had mismatched good and bad tools prior to the upgrade.

I bought Mayhew rolling head pry bars, alignment punches, pin punches, center punches, pilot punches, brass punches, and chisels. All USA made full sets in tool rolls. This was an easy to neglect area that the upgrade paid off in spades.

 

[Houe]

How about buy a few session of marriage counselling.

 

[DrkMtnDew]

2 HF side lockers to hold all the rest of my junk.

 

[Robinson1]

I must be in the minority but I dont hide anything.

It probably helps that I make a living with my tools and my wife knows this. When we first got married I think she was a little shocked at just how many consumables you go through running a construction business. Now I'm running a full wood shop on the side as well. Most people don't buy sandpaper by the case or multiple gallons of glue at a time. Haha

There's never a week that goes by that I don't text my wife an item number and say order this from Amazon. Sometimes it's a $5 widget and other times it's a $200-$300 speciality tool.

Hell I called her last week and asked her to move my tractor from in front of the shop because I had found a deal too good to pass up and was bringing (another) 7x16 enclosed trailer home and needed a place to park it. All she said was where are the tractor keys.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I'd spend it the same as if she did know about it. My tools make money and save us money, so there is never any issue with reasonable tool spending as long as our bills are paid and we're living comfortably and eating well. If anyone (and it's never my wife) comments on my spending, I tell them there's worse ways to be spending it.

Anyway, if I had $500 to spend on anything right now it'd be a Kegland Cannular can seamer for canning my homebrew beer and mead. Not something I need, but it's a damn cool toy for a homebrewer to have.

If it had to be spent strictly on tools, I'd get an inexpensive thickness planer ($250-300), a dual flowmeter for backpurging to TIG weld stainless, and a CK SuperFlex 9 Series TIG torch package.

 

[stev0n]

Blow it on the icon tool drop at the end of the month

 

[dledinger]

These guys crack me up with the marriage comments. Funny to me how so many people I work with DO CARE what their wife thinks about a $500 purchase.

My wife and I both have the luxury of buying pretty much whatever we choose. The fact is our life wasn’t always that way!