Well, she told me to do it....

[Bookworm]

Okay, a bit of background first...
My wife shoots. She does - when I can get her to come with me - and she seems to enjoy it. I've taken her dove hunting, and she even got a few with the 3 boxes of 20 gauge she burned up. Great time.

I took her hog-hunting. We didn't score, but she got a shot with her .30-30, and we had a good time.

When we go shoot, she really enjoys the .22's - the Mark II, and the various rifles. She'll shoot the 38, and even has taken a stab at the (downloaded) Super Blackhawk 44 (downloaded).

She has a Ruger LCP for EDC, but usually doesn't. She shoots, but isn't really "into it".

So... the other day I was loading up some 44Mag cartridges. She came wandering in, and watched for a while. Then she asked a few questions. I figured, now's the time to reel her in. I gave a quick primer on reloading - showed her the tools, the powders, the basic components.
I showed her how they all went together, and gave a very quick once-over on burning rates, and some of the theory. I could tell she understood, and was interested. Good Deal !

When I got to the part about assembling the cartridge, she took it all in. Then she looked at everything, and picked up a sleeve of primers.
"Without these," she said, "nothing works. Right?"
"Well, you can say that about most everything here, but yes, without primers nothing else matters." I replied.
She says "Better not run out of those." And she wandered off to do whatever.

Well.... I've been married long enough to recognize instructions when I hear them.

Just finished the order at Powder Valley. 28K various primers.

And, since I'm paying hazmat, I may as well fill out the 48 pound limit. Right?

A keg here, a keg there.... a few pounds of this I've wanted to try....almost out of that...

$1200 later, I'm set.

For now.....

And, she really did tell me to.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

A woman like that is invaluable! Treat her well.

[Hogtamer]

Oooooooh, bookworm, you've been set up biggtime! I promise there is new furniture, car or vacation in your near future. "Well honey, you know you just spent $1200 on that silly reloading stuff!" Give it about 2 weeks at the latest. Now you know how a bass feels when he chomps down on that plug.

[Preacher Jim]

Baited, hooked and just waiting to be reeled in and fried. Your wife took lessons from mine. Want that new lathe go ahead only cost me an envoy.

[Bookworm]

Oooooooh, bookworm, you've been set up biggtime! I promise there is new furniture, car or vacation in your near future. "Well honey, you know you just spent $1200 on that silly reloading stuff!" Give it about 2 weeks at the latest. Now you know how a bass feels when he chomps down on that plug.

Hmmm.. . Now there's something I hadn't considered.

Feeling somewhat less like the cat that ate the canary, and more like a racoon in a trap....

[CWME]

Do what makes you happy, life is too short. As long as the bills are paid and there is food on the table I wouldn't feel bad at all.

[bedbugbilly]

Or perhaps there is an anniversary or birthday coming the . . . and she likes jewelry that glitters? :-)

Regardless . . . sounds like you have a good mate so treat her nice and keep her happy! That's coming from someone who has been married for 44 years . . . just sayin'. :-) LOL

[lightman]

She sounds like a keeper. So what if you have to go on a cruze or something. Ya can shoot a little longer.

[Blackwater]

You are truly a very well blessed man. A rational and understanding wife like that is a true "pearl of great price." Treat her VERY right! You do NOT want to lose such a gem as her! I dearly wish my wife showed any interest and understanding of what I do and why. She has an old single barrel 12 ga. that she insisted was hers, and I sawed off the barrel to @ 20", so it'd be easier to handle, and she's actually deadly with it, but hates to shoot it. She said not long ago that she wanted a .410 to reduce the "kick," but I couldn't find one. Couldn't even find a 20! I'm still looking, and first one I find, or maybe a double, at a decent price will get the barrel sawed off and screw-in chokes installed. She never even thinks about it unless something happens to scare her. Then she's on the gun like a goose on a June bug. She can shoot very well, but just doesn't like it or "see the point," despite all the reasons I give her. It's very trying at times. Oh! And whenever I'd be away overnight, guess what gun she kept by her bedside? My .44 mag. SuperB! I asked her why she chose that one, and she (very intelligently) said, "If I ever have to point it at someone, I want them to know it's a REAL gun!" Made sense to me. She's only shot it once, but it didnt' hurt or scare her, and she hit what she was aiming at so fluidly and casually, that I was indeed impressed! I'll never figure her out!

[MediumCore358]

Lucky dog you! Now that's an order! I keep loading up my shopping cart untill that fateful night...lol.

[akajun]

I hope the UPS man doesn't trip on the way to your doorstep.

[mold maker]

Find someplace like WISH, and buy her a whole box of inexpensive jewelry. It's a good investment for what's to come.
Then make sure to have plenty of reloads for her favorite gun.
Don't wait to be told to book a cruise soon. and some clothes for it.
If you took advantage and didn't show her how much you appreciated it, It would cost a fortune very soon.
Sounds as if ya got a winner with her.

[xs11jack]

I think the point here is that women's pronouncements ALWAYS mean two things, the verbal, which you benefit from, and the future as yet to be disclosed payment! Enjoy your primers but keep your ear tuned to listening for the other shoe to drop. This is from the experience of 47 years of wedded bliss.
Ole Jack

[Bookworm]

Well, boys - OP here. Looks like the other shoe has dropped...
I have an appointment here at the house tomorrow evening.

Seems we're having a skylight installed in the pantry.

Bet I can guess how much this will cost.....

[koehlerrk]

If it costs more than your shopping trip, its only right that you get a round two so you're both even...

That's how my wife and I have always handled our hobbies. Mine is guns and shooting, hers is photography and scrapbooking. After sixteen years we both know enough about each other to make it easy. She spends $100 on her hobby, I get the same. If I go over by $20 she gets a matching $20 for her stuff. We're not keeping score, just keeping it even.

Good luck, hope she likes the remodel!

[rondog]

If I spent $1200 at once on anything gun related - well, let's just say that maybe someday someone here might ask "say, whatever happened to that one guy, Dog-something....."

[DerekP Houston]

If I spent $1200 at once on anything gun related - well, let's just say that maybe someday someone here might ask "say, whatever happened to that one guy, Dog-something....."

indeed, the key is smaller frequent purchases in cash! Post man usually ends up busting me though anyways.

[mold maker]

I guess I was a slow learner. The first 10 years I didn't understand the process. Now I buy her something and while she's admiring/enjoying it, I sashay right past her with my new un-noticed acquisition.
The old saying about "If Mama ain't happy, Nobodys happy" is really true. At least it's worked for the 43 years since I got smarter.

[Bookworm]

The old saying about "If Mama ain't happy, Nobodys happy" is really true.

That saying is indeed true. However, the corollary is not true.
What I mean is this -
If Mama ain't happy, nobody's happy. If Mama IS happy, that doesn't mean you are too. It just means that the CHANCES of you being happy have changed from zero to a number that, while possibly still very small, is no longer zero.

[4719dave]

Oh this was a good read ..I was waiting for the punch line . Your a lucky guy my wife wouldn't even think of that happing ..

[LuckyDog]

My new (to me) FNP-45 Tactical only cost me a room air conditioner.

I got a keeper too. [smilie=w:

[Taylor]

I think the point here is that women's pronouncements ALWAYS mean two things, the verbal, which you benefit from, and the future as yet to be disclosed payment! Enjoy your primers but keep your ear tuned to listening for the other shoe to drop. This is from the experience of 47 years of wedded bliss.
Ole Jack


"I really like that Jeep,but you go ahead and trade it if you want to".Yeah...been there-done that.I still have the jeep.

[OS OK]

I think she'll come in the shop with the bill in hand and ask if you have lost your mind? How could you spend that much money on those tiny things? This reloading thing is way too expensive...
It's time to round up all this mess and get it listed for sale on the computer before everyone else figures this out and does the same thing.

[mold maker]

That's when I hand her another pair of earrings and tell her how great she looks.
flattery and a sparkly doodad makes her forget all about the bill she was angry about.

[runfiverun]

C'mon you guy's.
I dunno how it works there, but here it's usually more like.

HER: hey they got some [name a powder you need]
ME: yeah i'll go over in a minute and get a jug.
Her: umm it's already here in the cart, they have 2 you want me to buy the second one?
oh they also have some [name that other powder/primer/brass you use but do/don't need]

it's a lot easier that way.

[smokeywolf]

Mrs. smokeywolf likes that I have hobbies. She says my DIY inclination is justified every time I install a new water heater, dishwasher, lay a new bathroom floor, etc.
Of my love of old firearms and reloading, she says when we're residing in a gun friendly state, she expects my firearms, reloading gear, bows, etc. to put some meat on the table.

Whenever I want something "hobby" related she says, "If you want it, then you must need it".

I keep it fair, whenever she wants something, I move Heaven and earth to see to it she gets it.

[Bookworm]

How could you spend that much money on those tiny things? This reloading thing is way too expensive...

Expensive ? Didn't we all get into reloading to save money ? I know I did, initially....

Heck, I'm saving money hand-over-fist ! I've almost saved enough to purchase that turret press I've had been pining after.

Really though, Mrs. Bookworm does really well. She pretty much leaves it in my hands. Neither of us is particularly extravagant.
Too, it's not like I do anything else.

I quit drinking alcohol 17+ years ago. No bars, no chasing skirts. No pool-halls (kinda miss the pool halls...).
No "street-corner" pharmaceuticals.
I don't smoke - anything.
Our small house is paid for, as are all the vehicles (Dave Ramsey has a plan....).
The bills are paid, and we have some money stashed. We are quite fortunate. We owe money to no one. We are by no means wealthy, but we have simple tastes.

That being said, I do have a good "base inventory", and can re-stock as I use it up. It's easier that way.

And I don't know how many of those "orders" she can stand.

[mold maker]

I cut way back on the amount of shooting and thus reloading sometime after retiring. I loaded off the stash for several years, and now when I go to replace inventory the old powders are gone and there is a whole arsenal of new and unfamiliar names. Not only is my powder magazine out of date, but my manuals don't include any of the new names.
I guess time isn't the only thing that passed me by.
mm

[OS OK]

I'm with you Bookworm…pretty much the same story. With prices escalating like they do each year our simple taste an want for little gets us by quite comfy. This way there is always money pigeonholed for the unexpected or something that comes along we need more than want.
Use my well stocked inventory and replace what I use as I go, add some where I can justify and all is good.

It is by the Grace of God that we want for nothing…KISS is a principal concept.

[woodbutcher]

:D Reminds me of the time that a friends wife asked him why all the rattle guns?Then he put her behind the 1919 Browning.NOW she don`t ask.Now she asks when are we going to the range again?Hehehe.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[runfiverun]

Dave does have a plan.
I don't follow his plan but run along the same lines as his.

[xs11jack]

One of the all time tactical moves that nearly always works is the Diversion. Go back to MoldMakers first post and read a wonderful discription of the Diversion. Since my wife never gets screaming, blood in the eye angry, this tactic is a life saver. Try it, you'll like it.
Ole Jack

[LeadPoisonTX]

I think just about all the good "advice" has been covered. I did $1700 of reloading supplies 2 weeks ago and my girlfriend's son, 11 years old, was with me. As soon as we got back home, my girlfriend says: "So, you boys spent $1700, huh?" Lesson learned here is: Is not about the amount, but make sure no witnesses, LOL. The real good thing is that "girlfriend" is not the same as wife, therefore I only had to take the harassment for a day or two. Thanks for the reminder to get primers ;)

[1989toddm]

If I spent $1200 at once on anything gun related - well, let's just say that maybe someday someone here might ask "say, whatever happened to that one guy, Dog-something....."

So true here! I won't trade my family for any amount of loading, shooting, casting stuff though. They are priority!


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[DerekP Houston]

Dave does have a plan.
I don't follow his plan but run along the same lines as his.

Same here, he is great at getting people out of debt though. I did notice murphy hit me after I bought a bunch of toys :D. Thanks to the emergency fund not a hiccup.

[1989toddm]

Expensive ? Didn't we all get into reloading to save money ? I know I did, initially....

Heck, I'm saving money hand-over-fist ! I've almost saved enough to purchase that turret press I've had been pining after.

Really though, Mrs. Bookworm does really well. She pretty much leaves it in my hands. Neither of us is particularly extravagant.
Too, it's not like I do anything else.

I quit drinking alcohol 17+ years ago. No bars, no chasing skirts. No pool-halls (kinda miss the pool halls...).
No "street-corner" pharmaceuticals.
I don't smoke - anything.
Our small house is paid for, as are all the vehicles (Dave Ramsey has a plan....).
The bills are paid, and we have some money stashed. We are quite fortunate. We owe money to no one. We are by no means wealthy, but we have simple tastes.

That being said, I do have a good "base inventory", and can re-stock as I use it up. It's easier that way.

And I don't know how many of those "orders" she can stand.


Dave does have a plan.
I don't follow his plan but run along the same lines as his.

Sounds like I need to hear Dave's plan.


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[mold maker]

No one here asks me why or for what. Family needs are first and toys last. My wife of 53 years just sighs and smiles at me. I might have done better but none I had to choose from had their angels wings.

[DerekP Houston]

Sounds like I need to hear Dave's plan.


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I sent you the basics via PM most of the "gurus" on tv suggest similar actions just differ in the order of completion. I found it easy to remember and follow and it just so happens he was always on the AM station I listened to on my old sales route.


No one here asks me why or for what. Family needs are first and toys last. My wife of 53 years just sighs and smiles at me. I might have done better but none I had to choose from had their angels wings.

Indeed, bills and savings are taken straight off the top. Anything left over we allocate what we plan and then enjoy the rest. It really saved my bacon when I got laid off.

[Bookworm]

Indeed, bills and savings are taken straight off the top. Anything left over we allocate what we plan and then enjoy the rest. It really saved my bacon when I got laid off.

I don't follow Daves' plan to the letter - never had to, because I was never drowning in debt. When I found him (accidentally) on the radio, I discovered he was speaking of things I had followed most of my adult life.

That being said, when my (much) better half - Mrs. Bookworm - got "downsized & off-shored" from her job of 14 years, we had no need to panic. We had the emergency fund, and a well-stocked larder.
She started a new job within 2 months, and as often happens, is happier at the new place. Money is not quite as good, but the stress level is lower.

And I can get back to buying primers....

Also - the new skylight in the pantry looks great !

[rancher1913]

we kind of follow daves plan but his no credit card rule is to much a blanket statement. we use a cabela's card for pretty much everything all month then pay it off every month. been several times we were shopping in cabela's and had a grand of goodies in our shopping cart and told them to use our points, walked out free of charge. the way I see it they are paying us to use their money and as long as you can control yourself it works. I realize not everybody has the impulse controls for a credit card. the other area we don't follow to close is retirement accounts, we do not trust them to be there we need them so we purchase grass land, we can rent it or sell it as needed and you can not hurt dirt as the saying goes. the last pasture we bought has doubled in value already.

[LuckyDog]

... I realize not everybody has the impulse controls for a credit card...

I think that is why he makes it a blanket rule. Most of the people with large credit card debt have already shown they don't have the control. (Me and the bride do the same as you though.)


... the other area we don't follow to close is retirement accounts, ...

Me too. I had a heart attack at 33 due to thrombocytosis. (Too many platelets) My blood was just clotting up inside my body. That taught me to not sacrifice too much now for the future cause it isn't guaranteed. I'm 52 now and am on track to retire in 4 years though, so we have sacrificed for that goal.

I have always believed... Sacrifice now, or sacrifice the future.