Wine Budgeting and Significant Others

[Mattstolz]

@J. Galang

@Brandon R

…and I know she spends hers on other non-wine things.

Can you spell Lululemon?

Those limited edition shorts/leggings sell for some CRAZY prices.

if she tells you its just the limited edition stuff thats expensive there… yall should have a talk about her non-wine purchases. lol

[Bryan_Price]

@Brandon R

@Bryan Price

I religiously make sure we split every single bottle I buy since it’s a hobby we both share, to varying degrees. The only wine I drink without my wife is when I’m doing “research” at a tasting at Hi Time on a Friday night.

We personally don’t believe in separate bank accounts. We have friends that do that and it always sounds so weird to me when they are talking about who is paying for the next vacation, etc., especially when they make the same level of money. My wife trusts me manage our family’s finances and both of us are 100% compatible with regards to priorities.

Well la-dee-dah for you and your wife!

I don’t think many of us that have combined finances yet also have separate accounts have a lack of trust in our relationships. If I didn’t tell her about it, I could see that, but she fully knows I’ve got a few hundred a month going into mine, as she does hers. She knows I spend mine on wine and I know she spends hers on other non-wine things.

Honestly I did hit the jackpot. She makes more money than me but has no idea how much money we have in the bank!

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

@GregT

…

We don’t have a budget and we don’t ever argue about what we spend on anything. I suppose some couples do that but if she were irrational I wouldn’t have married her. If she thought I was irrational, she wouldn’t have married me. And I was never looking for a mother to set parameters for me.

Thus, we don’t ever negotiate how much one or the other will be “allowed” to spend on anything.

I’m not about to subordinate my desires to someone else’s control but I’m happy if she’s happy. Neither of us is really into “things” so we don’t particularly care about having the coolest car, coolest cell phone, or any of that.

+1. This happens to be a better description of my situation than I probably would have given.

[David_Glasser]

Our money.
No budget.
Don’t ask, don’t tell.

During the cellar’s log growth phase, she didn’t ask about my wine purchases and I didn’t tell. Ditto for her shoe/handbag purchases.

Fortunately, we were never quite profligate enough to eat into our bill-paying or investment money. Otherwise we both would have made adjustments.

[Sean_Malloy]

My theory is that wine buying doesn’t cost anything. You are just moving cash (a liquid asset) into wine (also a liquid asset, which can be sold and turned into a different kind of liquid asset…cash again). Sort of tongue in cheek, but actually if you are buying decent stuff you should be able (if needed) to sell it for some reasonable percentage of what you paid. Say 60-100+% depending on what it is and what you paid. If we assume an average of something like 70%, then your cost is 30% when you buy and the other 70% when you drink it. So always share with your significant other and then they are responsible for half of the majority action that is the actual cost.

In all seriousness, my wife is cool with what I spend on wine and I am cool with what she spends on other things. We just make sure we aren’t stupid about it and we’re compatible about financial goals, so its never been a problem.

[Jason_T]

DINK, relatively similar incomes, we both love wine, I’m the one with the obsession though. Somewhat similar palettes.

In general we have a common budgets, retirement contributions, rules about debt. Anything left over each of us is free to spend as we please.

As for wine, we mostly split everything. If there’s something I want to purchase and I think she’s interested, I run it past her. When we are tasting at a winery or a wine shop, we discuss and agree on purchases. The only purchases we don’t split 50/50 are when there’s wines that the other plainly doesn’t like. So I don’t ask her to pay for my stinky Chinon, and she doesn’t ask me to pay for her high octane Pinots.

[Jason_T]

DINK, relatively similar incomes, we both love wine, I’m the one with the obsession though. Somewhat similar palettes.

In general we have a common budgets, retirement contributions, rules about debt. Anything left over each of us is free to spend as we please.

As for wine, we mostly split everything. If there’s something I want to purchase and I think she’s interested, I run it past her. When we are tasting at a winery or a wine shop, we discuss and agree on purchases. The only purchases we don’t split 50/50 are when there’s wines that the other plainly doesn’t like. So I don’t ask her to pay for my stinky Chinon, and she doesn’t ask me to pay for her high octane Pinots.

[Jim_Erwin]

My wife, who also loves wine, manages our charitable contributions. She sets her annual limit to match what I have spent on wine for the prior year. Win-Win

[dsimmons]

@David Glasser

Our money.
No budget.
Don’t ask, don’t tell.

During the cellar’s log growth phase, she didn’t ask about my wine purchases and I didn’t tell. Ditto for her shoe/handbag purchases.

Fortunately, we were never quite profligate enough to eat into our bill-paying or investment money. Otherwise we both would have made adjustments.

+1
Also when she mumbles about wine spending I remind her that she drinks half of every bottle.

[Rich_K0rz_nk0]

For me its about separate accounts and priorities

Bills, then retirement, then basic upkeep/maintenance things,

After that, she does her own thing, I do mine.

If none of the above are compromised, there’s nothing to talk about.

[Robert.A.Jr]

@John Morris

@Craig G

Don’t ask, don’t tell.

+1

Separate credit card for those purchases.

Bingo, Bingo.

I’ll add two more keys:

Wine fridge in the office, deliveries go there.

From the office, to off-site storage.

In truth, my wife does not care. She’s too busy playing tennis daily.

[G_Keeler]

Dual income, combined accounts and 100% transparency on spending. We both love wine and have similar tastes but I do 95% of the purchasing. We have never had a fight about money.

The key is to develop family goals for savings/retirement and vacations. As long as both are working together to achieve the family goals all the extra is discretionary and there should be nothing to fight about.

[Craig_G]

@Robert Alfert

In truth, my wife does not care. She’s too busy playing tennis daily.

Mine’s too busy darning socks.

[Peter_Hirsch]

Here’s my rule. I suggest others follow.

1. I’m a Man.
2. I do what I want, so I buy what I want, no problems.

Any questions? Go back to #1 and #2.

[CFu]

@Peter Hirsch

Here’s my rule. I suggest others follow.

1. I’m a Man.
2. I do what I want, so I buy what I want, no problems.

Any questions? Go back to #1 and #2.

wife reads this posts and Peter has to tell her he’s just kidding

[Brandon_R]

@Rich K0rz€nk0

For me its about separate accounts and priorities

Bills, then retirement, then basic upkeep/maintenance things,

After that, she does her own thing, I do mine.

If none of the above are compromised, there’s nothing to talk about.

This sums it up perfectly for me/us. (Rich, your “avatar” creeps me out! )

[Robert.A.Jr]

@Craig G

@Robert Alfert

In truth, my wife does not care. She’s too busy playing tennis daily.

Mine’s too busy darning socks.

Mine loses one of my socks per week…

[Corey_N]

@Robert Alfert

@Craig G

@Robert Alfert

In truth, my wife does not care. She’s too busy playing tennis daily.

Mine’s too busy darning socks.

Mine loses one of my socks per week…

The pool boy also wears a size 12.5.

[Rich_K0rz_nk0]

@Brandon R

@Rich K0rz€nk0

For me its about separate accounts and priorities

Bills, then retirement, then basic upkeep/maintenance things,

After that, she does her own thing, I do mine.

If none of the above are compromised, there’s nothing to talk about.

This sums it up perfectly for me/us. (Rich, your “avatar” creeps me out! )

Thank You!

And also I am glad that my avatar is working as designed despite now being a bit of pop culture history yet to be re-written by the Scientology zealots, one can only hope…