What would your reply be?

geordieindevon

Have a look at this reader's question in the money section of today's Guardian.....in the paper there are some great answers but alas they are not show in the online edition.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/20 ... ad-husband

Anonymous

If you love him and he is a good husband then he should get whatever he wants.

mrushton

Can you afford the bike and kitchen? Is money tight? How often does he ride the bike,how often does he use the kitchen? Have you any outstanding debt? Is that his only vice or does he go out on the lash, buy expensive watches/shoes etc. Can he get a slightly cheaper model or last years model?
Maybe if he was getting more at home he'd be less inclined to go out on an expensive bike

shm_uk

"Last year he bought an £800 bike, which he now says is not fast enough, and insists on a £2,000 replacement"

Maybe his current bike would be faster if he was fit enough. All very well buying expensive lightweight kit, but if it's still the same oaf riding it ...

hells

Female perspective

He already bought a bike the year before he should get the kitchen this year and then a new bike the following year. he's being selfish hes already splashed close to 1k on a present for himself and in reality I expect much more for all the clothing and tools and associated gear, and is now wanting to spend another 2k on yet another present for himself when other more important things need buying. If it was my partner requesting this I'd want him to sort the kitchen first and then if he wants the bike he will have to forgo his other luxuries to save up for it e.g stop buying beer and going out on lads nights until you have enough cash for the bike, I'd possibly even give some money towards it if he sorted the kitchen and made the effort to save the cash for the bike and spent more time with me whilst doing so.

I understand his urges though I got my first bike (trek 1.7) for a grand and just under a year later bought my second road bike (scott addict) for 2.6k for racing. But then I dont have a live in partner (yet) and I dont need to buy any household goods or have any dependants.

Bobbinogs

I agree with Hells in that he [edit] shouldn't be spending £2k on a new bike. £400 on a new set of wheels and some new lightweight tyres is definitely the right way to go, oh and some cheaper kitchen cabinets

Elston

Do they really [/i]need a new kitchen? The existing kitchen is probably perfectly functional, but looks shabby and outdated to the wife. He is unlikely to notice the shortcomings of the kitchen that his wife perceives acutely. So it comes down to two competing wants. Bike or kitchen? For the sake of an easy life I'd suggest a new kitchen now, followed by a bike at the earliest subsequent opportunity. I wouldn't be happy though

edhornby

depends on what the £800 bike is ;-)

he should sort the kitchen, and get new wheels if there is any cash left over if he really needs to get bike stuff

irony being that eating and hydrating properly is probably a bigger bonus than the new bike

priory

plump customer ''Is this a fast bike''

Salesman(thinks) ''not with you on it , mate, no.''

(says) '' oh, you will fly on this beauty ,sir, and wonder how you coped on that heavy old TCR2.''

deptfordmarmoset

Sounds like they both want to be somewhere else - him out on his new steed and her in her new kitchen. I want it now versus I want it now. Stalemate being laundered in public.

I've got a cheap bike and it's slow. I'd dearly love to buy a better one but I'm broke. And I have to admit that the slowest thing is me not the bike. So I make do with what I've got.

He can still work on his speed and his fitness on the £800 bike and postpone the upgrade - there's an athlete you can sometimes see in Greenwich Park who ties a lorry tyre to his waist and runs up the hill for training - I bet he really goes fast when the load comes off

Imagine the eventual pleasure when a now-fitter hubby gets his new bike. So it's either reappraise the relationship or let her have the kitchen IMO. But this is going to challenge the ''I want it now'' attitude for him. Probably too old-fashioned to make sense in 2010, though.

shouldbeinbed

Maybe the kitchen could be freshened up by new doors and tops and he could look for a lower spec model or get a 2010 vintage a bit cheper now or look for a good 2nd hander bought by a mid life crisiser thats not really used it or sit down with the bank bok and LBS and see what upgrades he could get onto his existing frame to up the speed and slickness

wonder if he's flogging the £800 bike to help towards the cost. (heresy)

JesseD

WTF?????????? :shock: :shock: :shock:

This is BIKE RADAR, get the effing bike, end of :!: :!: :!:

Jezzzzzzz :roll:

Crapaud

Nature abhors a vaccuum (and kitchens). There's no n+1 law for kitchens. By not buying her hubby a new bike she would be risking the very fabric of the space-time continuum. She might as well just buy a Large Hadron Collider and be done with it. A bike is cheaper and safer than an LHC, ergo buy the bike.

Also, I don't see how you could ever need a new kitchen. Want one, yes, but need? I think not; it's not like a bike.

tlw1

Man up and buy the bike (wife never posts on here, so safe)!

northernneil

dont buy upgrades... ride upgrades.....

Aggieboy

hells wrote:

Female perspective

He already bought a bike the year before he should get the kitchen this year and then a new bike the following year. he's being selfish hes already splashed close to 1k on a present for himself and in reality I expect much more for all the clothing and tools and associated gear, and is now wanting to spend another 2k on yet another present for himself when other more important things need buying. If it was my partner requesting this I'd want him to sort the kitchen first and then if he wants the bike he will have to forgo his other luxuries to save up for it e.g stop buying beer and going out on lads nights until you have enough cash for the bike, I'd possibly even give some money towards it if he sorted the kitchen and made the effort to save the cash for the bike and spent more time with me whilst doing so.

I understand his urges though I got my first bike (trek 1.7) for a grand and just under a year later bought my second road bike (scott addict) for 2.6k for racing. But then I dont have a live in partner (yet) and I dont need to buy any household goods or have any dependants.

Male perspective.

Your perspective doesn't count.

Ands

Aggieboy wrote:

Male perspective.

Your perspective doesn't count.

She has the power to make your life hell, remember.

rf6

3rd option. Upgrade the wife.

downfader

Makes me laugh when people go on about "we need a new kitchen". You go around their house and its spotless, looks new, whats the problem kinda thing.

Now we NEED a new freezer in our house. The thing is rattling and wont keep anything even chilled. Its just gone this week. Something I've noticed with women (and this is no disrespect to them) is how if a hinge goes they think you need a new cabinet. Just change the hinge, dammit!

As for the blokie's bike conundrum. If he's only been doing it for a year change the wheels, wait a couple of years and buy some custom parts and spec up your dream bike that way.

pottssteve

1. Sell the house.
2. Buy a cheaper house with a nicer kitchen.
3. Spend the money you made on the house sale on a new bike.

See - everyone's happy.

fast as fupp

ditch the whinging be-atch

pottssteve

fast as fupp wrote:

ditch the whinging be-atch

You're not married, are you?!

sloboy

Did this guy flunk cyclist school ?

Where was he on the day of the lesson of the "least worst alternative" ?

I've always cultivated the dark, brooding, shadow of the far-too-powerful-motorcycle. The implication being if I wasn't buying bikes, I'd be buying MOTORbikes and they're REALLY expensive. And I'd be dead, probably. And that would be bad. Wouldn't it ?

hells

Aggieboy wrote:

hells wrote:

Female perspective

He already bought a bike the year before he should get the kitchen this year and then a new bike the following year. he's being selfish hes already splashed close to 1k on a present for himself and in reality I expect much more for all the clothing and tools and associated gear, and is now wanting to spend another 2k on yet another present for himself when other more important things need buying. If it was my partner requesting this I'd want him to sort the kitchen first and then if he wants the bike he will have to forgo his other luxuries to save up for it e.g stop buying beer and going out on lads nights until you have enough cash for the bike, I'd possibly even give some money towards it if he sorted the kitchen and made the effort to save the cash for the bike and spent more time with me whilst doing so.

I understand his urges though I got my first bike (trek 1.7) for a grand and just under a year later bought my second road bike (scott addict) for 2.6k for racing. But then I dont have a live in partner (yet) and I dont need to buy any household goods or have any dependants.

Male perspective.

Your perspective doesn't count.

You must be really well acquanited with your hand as you are clearly not able to get anything besides self love with that view point.

solsurf

I didn't realise my wife had been writing into the Guardian, just ordered a new kitchen, I could have had 10 new bikes :shock:

arthur_scrimshaw

FFS

My wife could at least have told me she read the Guardian. She's been on at me for six months about our kitchen and we've been down to Cheltenham & Gloucester three times. Now I keep getting phone calls from them asking me to send the paperwork back for the loan.

However my new Cannondale Six is lovely and proudly sits in our dining room, conversely the kitchen is still looking a bit tired.

Maybe next year.

arthur_scrimshaw

BTW

All of the above is absolutely true (apart from my wife reading the Guardian)








At least I don't think she does.

Aggieboy

hells wrote:

Aggieboy wrote:

hells wrote:

Female perspective

He already bought a bike the year before he should get the kitchen this year and then a new bike the following year. he's being selfish hes already splashed close to 1k on a present for himself and in reality I expect much more for all the clothing and tools and associated gear, and is now wanting to spend another 2k on yet another present for himself when other more important things need buying. If it was my partner requesting this I'd want him to sort the kitchen first and then if he wants the bike he will have to forgo his other luxuries to save up for it e.g stop buying beer and going out on lads nights until you have enough cash for the bike, I'd possibly even give some money towards it if he sorted the kitchen and made the effort to save the cash for the bike and spent more time with me whilst doing so.

I understand his urges though I got my first bike (trek 1.7) for a grand and just under a year later bought my second road bike (scott addict) for 2.6k for racing. But then I dont have a live in partner (yet) and I dont need to buy any household goods or have any dependants.

Male perspective.

Your perspective doesn't count.

You must be really well acquanited with your hand as you are clearly not able to get anything besides self love with that view point.

As you're the one without a live in partner, presumably due to the lack of a sense of humour, I assume your talking from experience.

STEFANOS4784

Aggieboy

, how rude.

Honestly though "need a new kitchen" is the same as "need a new bike" however a new kitchen will not help you improve your fitness/life expectancy.
Does she care nothing for watching the grand-kids grow up?