A long, long time ago, in a little burg so very far away, I was married to The Plaintiff, and we were living in conjugal bliss.
No! Really!
I was (and am) an amateur radio operator (“a HAM”), and was relatively new to the hobby. So, this one time, I was perusing QST, which is the magazine published by the national association of amateur radio operators (said association known as the American Radio relay League, a name rich in meaning regarding the early days of radio). Therein I came across an advertisement for a new radio, which, after reflection, I desired.
Now, mat that time, The Plaintiff and I had an agreement, wherein larger expense items would be presented to The Spouse for approval. Therefore, I went to The Plaintiff, and showed her the ad.
“Look at this, Honey! It will do all this neat stuff, and I can use that neat stuff when I do public service events with the HAM club! Remember that one time we all went to that bike-athon, and I couldn’t hardly reach net control? Well, this radio will cross band repeat, so I could have parked the truck a little ways up the hill, reached the truck with my hand held radio, and then been repeated into net control!”
She took the magazine from me, perused the advertisement, and noted, “It even receives weather band! That would be handy, like that time we were camping, and the severe weather alert went out!”
Excitedly, I agreed. “Yep! And, since it is dual band, notice that it can receive VHF on both bands! So, I could monitor both fire department diapatch, as well as the local severe weather net!”
The Woman Who Would Become The Plaintiff looked up at me, and asked, “So, how much does a radio like this cost?”
I thumbed to the back, showing her another ad, from an amateur radio shop. “Look! Right around $700! And, I have nearly that much in my ‘toy fund’!”
She appeared thoughtful, for a moment. “So, it’s what, July, now?”
I was agreeable. “Yep!”
“Hmmm. Ya know, buying the kids’ school clothes will cost us around $600, you know.”
I was surprised by what appeared to be a tangent. “Uh-huh?”
She handed the magazine back to me. “Honey, you do what ever you think is best!”
Well, her head did not start to spin around, and spew out nasty green stuff, so, THAT was nice…..
Musings of A Stretcher Ape 
So, you could cross-band but your kids were naked. At least you had your priorities straight! 🙂 I wanted a Kenwood TM-731 rig and had to go sit in the car in the parking lot until I stopped hyperventilating. Didn’t ask the spousal unit. I’m divorced now.
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Naw, not naked, simply wearing older sibling’s hand-me-downs. The son in line behind my daughter was not so thrilled….
TBH, TDW Mark I bought that radio for me, like 7 months later. And, all the kids got new stuff!
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You have a “Toy Fund” specifically dedicated for toys… No brainer, should have bought what ya wanted, I would have. I always made sure the bills were paid, the house ours for another month and food on the table and essentials provided. She surely had a mad money fund as she was working and only gave me a check from here account to cover her side of the bills.
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