Handy excuses to tell the wife...

[netsmithUK]

Just been chatting in the showroom and this topic cropped up. Occurs to me that a lot of us are in the same boat, ie our wife don't share our enthusiasm for the hobby and don't see it as a future investment or money well spent. So for all of us I thought we should start pooling resources and have this general thread, where you post handy excuses, tips and just general underhand practices on how to keep your collection and in particular the costs below the wifes radar.

I'll start the ball rolling with these timeless classics,

- have parcels delivered to work and then claim that a collegue gave you them when they found out your were interested (besure to remove all overseas delivery notes and stamps before trying this one)

- have model deliver to work then dissemble and take home a few parts a day. Gradually rebuild over a period of a week or so. Sometime the wife doesn't even notice the new car growing and if she does you can put it down to 'building it out of a few bits you had left over'

Any others?

[CarterTG]

"Oh, THAT car? One of the neighbor kids wanted me to hold it for him."

[hornetdude]

the one i use at the mo is " i have some parcels comming soon please don't open them as they are for christmas ( my prezzys lol i have to nip into town and buy her things about the same size)

[SJoerD]

You mean that car? I had that one already, mum! []

Sjoerd

[netsmithUK]

'Presents' - like that one HornetDude, not done that one before, should be good for at least a few packages before Christmas.

Is it just me or do you find that if you can get them into the house unnoticed, then they very rarely ever notice one extra one of the shelves?

[hornetdude]

the only time i can get one into the house unnoticed is if home and away is on the tele [}] ..hurray for soaps []

[Shodog]

Oh that car, I have had that one forever. Don't you remember when I got it? Nah! doesn't work. My wife knows how deep I am into it. once she was in the garage trying to sraighten it out. I am very organized about how I keep my spare parts and cars I am not displaying. I have them in bankers boxes labeled with their name. She stated to ask me about each box. She about flipped when she found out that I had several more cars than she thought I had. She said, you going to have to get rid on some of these. So now, every time I sell one, I make a big deal of it. What she doesn't know is that I usually replace them with two others

JIm

[mr_lister999.]

well, i'm single at the moment but live with my mum whos always nagging me about my "mess". Luckily i don't need an excuse as long as i am putting 1/3 of my away in my saving account she says i can buy whatever i want as its my money and if i "waste" it thats up to me. That in real terms means around 400 pounds to spend as i like each month which i can't grumble about!

I did use the excuse that "it was a very good price" "i can split it and sell the parts i don't use" (although i use them all [] ) "thats the part i have been looking for for months now" and many more.

[J3cubfan]

Only had to contend with that issue once. And it was when the MU came just a few weeks ago. Usually I am pretty open, but neglected to her about this MU. My excuses are, the great deals that I've found on Ebay and how hard they are to pass up. Yeah, right.

[TWO STAR]

im fixing it for somebody-then 2,3,4 weeks go by,the ****** still hasnt paid me yet..............

[J3cubfan]

That's good. I'll have to remember that one...[8D]

quote:

Originally posted by TWO STAR

im fixing it for somebody-then 2,3,4 weeks go by,the ****** still hasnt paid me yet..............

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[raemin]

Disonest option :

"I promise if I buy three, I will resell one some day that will cover for the expenses on the other two".

All in all for the time being I have just not solld anything and buy three times more

I do not know how long i will last though...

[raemin]

Another nice disonest excuse :

" I got theese in a trade against some replica parts I made, some avante plastic tree i had in the atic, etc..." The point here is to officially exchange the product against something hardly measurable : so far my wife knows more or less my credit card details, how many cars I have, etc. but has not managed to count the spare parts I have in the atic, I would even say that mentionning the fact that I get rid of some of theese has largely contributed to ease the numerous discussions about this particular issue.

Raoul

[spice]

I tell my wife that they are for Sean (age 2) when he gets older and might as well buy them now when they are "cheap" She pointed to the Mountaineer NIB and asked me how much I paid for it and I said about $100 and she wasn't happy that I spend so much on toys. I wonder what she would say or do if I told her the real price I paid for it, I shutter to think about it.[:0]

New kits I get sent to the office and make it a habit of bringing them into the house late at night or when she is taking a bath or something. []

[WillyChang]

1) buy multiples of the same car, and never display more than 1 at the same time/place. (Although think she's starting to be suspicious why we've got enough Willys to have 1 in each room.[])

2) never ever finish anything... thus everything remains "work in progress" [:I]

3) TOP TIP --> if there's something you're sure you'll never be selling, get her involved with that. eg ask her to buy it for you as a present, and/or involve it in one's Engagement, Wedding, whatever (yeah, an *expensive* [:0] drastic option).

Thereafter, she won't have the heart to complain when you (a) buy spares for it, ( buy other similar 'better' models to keep it company or © start searching for NIBs of same to complete the holy trinity. [}]

[J3cubfan]

quote:

Originally posted by WillyChang

1) buy multiples of the same car, and never display more than 1 at the same time/place. (Although think she's starting to be suspicious why we've got enough Willys to have 1 in each room.[

])

2) never ever finish anything... thus everything remains "work in progress" [:I]

3)

TOP TIP

--> if there's something you're sure you'll never be selling, get her involved with that. eg ask her to buy it for you as a present, and/or involve it in one's Engagement, Wedding, whatever (yeah, an *expensive* [:0] drastic option).

Thereafter, she won't have the heart to complain when you (a) buy spares for it, (

buy other similar 'better' models to keep it company or © start searching for NIBs of same to complete the holy trinity. [}

]

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I like you way of thinking.[] Keeping everyone happy while getting what you want out of the deal.[^] What a balancing act we must contend with to fulfill our hobby...

John

[flyby]

I'm single at the mo again, but if you never tell them how much you really earn then you can spend the rest on the cars[], and when they say how much, tell them a fiver and show them on ebay the going prices, then say in another 10 years they will have tripled in value, they will love you getting more then, used to work for me [] problem is what to do in 10 years time ? [][] hehe! but i never had a relationship last that long , so i am allright[8D], sorry guys , hehe.[:I]

[jacolouw]

[]

I just hope the "Pearly Gates" have a special entrance marked "R/C (Tamiya Club) Members" for all of us!!!!

They all sound soooooooo verrrryyyyyy familiar. I think I used tham all so far!!!

Another trick I saw that works well. Line a REAL good deal up. Make sure you have buyers for the stuff you dont want lined up and take the "other half" along when going to do the deal. Pay the price openly - (let her count the money to the seller). When you start selling the stuff make sure she see that you recover most/all of the money you have spend. Then show her what you have left!!! (she ought to be ompressed by your dealing skills)

In future deals and if quiried - just refer to this deal - Its tha same as that deal honey!!!!

Jakes

[Incredible_Serious]

You guys are all missing on the obvious one....

You see, there's this nice smelling stuff called Chanel....

Works for me!!

But if my missus ever saw my E-Bay details........

*shudder*...

Alex

[Scorchio]

single at the moment never married, but when co habiting always kept a shoe box full of junk parts as a prop for the "just bought this $10 bit which enabled me to build this whole car out of my spares!" (car previously smuggled onto premises).

But then this may have something to do with me being single right now [8)]

[Beetlejuice]

This must be one of the most helpful topics ever.

I heard of some guys that were into RC-planes. They made a deal with the LHS. When the misses came into the store just before christmas,the shop lined up a real bargain for a gift. When christmas was over the guys went to the store and payed the original prize. That way there were no questions on where they got the stuff.

Only problem must be the number of occasions in one year.

[mr_pushrod]

Normally I try the 'It was so cheap I couldn't say no' excuse to fool my parents. This combined with showing prices on Ebay normally works. If they still complain I tell them that they are an investment and that if I get too far into debt at university I'll sell cars for a profit (made the King Hauler exceptable even though it it fills my room almost). Saying that though, I'd probably sell internal organs before parting with those cars [:I]

[dave.t1]

I use the line that the bits I buy are for the lads in the office. I sneak kits from work or my parents home and then stash them in my loft.

[snollan]

A Wife?id="red">id="size6">

I heard that's tamiya least popular kit.

[gunpowder17]

My one is

"that will be worth a fortune once its done up!" Give it a week and theyve forgotten about it

Andrew