Hunting funds?

...maybe get her interested in hunting, start talking about all the 'fashionable' camo, etc. Tell her that 6.5 Creedmore's are the 'trendy' thing, that spandex camo makes her look thin...she'll bite!
 
Thanks guys great advice, it's not like we are the brink of divorce or anything like that. I do love my my wife, just wanted to hear how some if you other guys are able to finance your adventures.

So what was the outcome?

No expert in the OP 's topic but in our house, 30 years married...All funds go into one pot and we both max out retirement, work to get the house paid for in chosen time frame, and have a budget that sees checking account balance growing regularly so funds for extras are there for both of us and we pile more of that extra into savings, house projects, the occasional car and other big purchases, vacations etc, and of course hunting since that is my priority recreational activity. WE have general agreement on what we are working towards and how we use our income. If things are tight, or we simply have a BIG ticket expense to cover (house project or whatever) the hunting does not disappear but the way I go about it shifts year to year to ensure cost-wise and time-wise it is balanced in the greater scheme of things. I have never felt pressured to not hunt but I have chosen to skip some hunts I would like to have done in a given year to keep a good life/family balance. That said I hunt a lot, often they are various multiday hunts that take me out of state or across the state somewhere.

I suggest your stated view of that extra day of work as funding hunting was off base just a little bit. Those funds ARE household funds and hunting expenses are also household expenses along with lots of other things. You can mentally compartmentalize all you want but life does not really work that way. Annually y'all bring in X dollars and those dollars fund 'today' and "tomorrow". And you only have so many hours in a week so you gave up something to put in the extra work time. You do not magically get to cordon off a full day a week just for you to save up hunting funds and act like it impacts nothing else in your life and thus you are OWED that time and also the money it brings...In essence you are saying 20% of all paid working time is solely used to produce hunting opportunity and then you take more time to hunt? So you are burning up 45-50? days a year that are not available for other activities to save money only for hunting and then you spend how many additional actually hunting?

I would say throw all family income in one pot and fund what you must and should fund for today and to fund your future responsibly and then fund hunting and other extras that fit in reasonably without hurting today and tomorrow planning. I'd say the house projects kinda fit into the 'today' fund. House maintenance and upgrades are pretty darn standard expenses that come with homeownership and taking care of your family? So if you were not accounting for the need to spend on the house, you perhaps should have...without knowing if the projects your wife wants is somehow exceptionally extravagant or outrageous deserving of push back at some level.

I do sort of see your case for saying your use of a whole day a week for an extra job is a direct investment (at personal time expense) in your hunting but also suggest that was slightly wrongheaded. Maybe reframe reason you work the extra job into a broader 'whole' of the pieces of your life current and future. Surely you are in part working the extra job because you have the energy and gumption to do so and prefer to not 'rest' on the fact you did your 40 and can thus sit around or not be productive on a fifth day. You WANT to produce more overall income so you do so? Why not frame it that simply? BUT ensure the overall budget includes hunting cuz there can be precious few reasons to skip hunting if it is a personal priority and you are not also doing excessive amounts of other recreation such that it is out of balance with being a good husband and partner in life.

If you are not being excessive with time and money spent on your hobbies/recreation and not spending funds that really NEED to be invested elsewhere it would make no sense whatsoever to quit hunting because your wife simply does not want you to do it. There are many reasons I would gladly give up hunting for my wife but 'Because I do not want you to hunt' is not one of them. With the caveat I forgo all manner of other time and money sucking recreational things so I have time and funds to hunt, and also do a ton of fun things the wife especially likes to do that are maybe not my natural 'first choice' except that she is my priority....
 
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All this thread does is remind me of how expensive hunting is as a hobby. If my wife spent equally what I blow on hunting every year I wouldn't have a leg to stand on if she chartered a private jet w/ her girlfriends to some place warm. Add in a 5 star resort, meals etc and I still couldn't complain.....
 
So what was the outcome?

No expert in the OP 's topic but in our house, 30 years married...All funds go into one pot and we both max out retirement, work to get the house paid for in chosen time frame, and have a budget that sees checking account balance growing regularly so funds for extras are there for both of us and we pile more of that extra into savings, house projects, the occasional car and other big purchases, vacations etc, and of course hunting since that is my priority recreational activity. WE have general agreement on what we are working towards and how we use our income. If things are tight, or we simply have a BIG ticket expense to cover (house project or whatever) the hunting does not disappear but the way I go about it shifts year to year to ensure cost-wise and time-wise it is balanced in the greater scheme of things. I have never felt pressured to not hunt but I have chosen to skip some hunts I would like to have done in a given year to keep a good life/family balance. That said I hunt a lot, often they are various multiday hunts that take me out of state or across the state somewhere.

I suggest your stated view of that extra day of work as funding hunting was off base just a little bit. Those funds ARE household funds and hunting expenses are also household expenses along with lots of other things. You can mentally compartmentalize all you want but life does not really work that way. Annually y'all bring in X dollars and those dollars fund 'today' and "tomorrow". And you only have so many hours in a week so you gave up something to put in the extra work time. You do not magically get to cordon off a full day a week just for you to save up hunting funds and act like it impacts nothing else in your life and thus you are OWED that time and also the money it brings...In essence you are saying 20% of all paid working time is solely used to produce hunting opportunity and then you take more time to hunt? So you are burning up 45-50? days a year that are not available for other activities to save money only for hunting and then you spend how many additional actually hunting?

I would say throw all family income in one pot and fund what you must and should fund for today and to fund your future responsibly and then fund hunting and other extras that fit in reasonably without hurting today and tomorrow planning. I'd say the house projects kinda fit into the 'today' fund. House maintenance and upgrades are pretty darn standard expenses that come with homeownership and taking care of your family? So if you were not accounting for the need to spend on the house, you perhaps should have...without knowing if the projects your wife wants is somehow exceptionally extravagant or outrageous deserving of push back at some level.

I do sort of see your case for saying your use of a whole day a week for an extra job is a direct investment (at personal time expense) in your hunting but also suggest that was slightly wrongheaded. Maybe reframe reason you work the extra job into a broader 'whole' of the pieces of your life current and future. Surely you are in part working the extra job because you have the energy and gumption to do so and prefer to not 'rest' on the fact you did your 40 and can thus sit around or not be productive on a fifth day. You WANT to produce more overall income so you do so? Why not frame it that simply? BUT ensure the overall budget includes hunting cuz there can be precious few reasons to skip hunting if it is a personal priority and you are not also doing excessive amounts of other recreation such that it is out of balance with being a good husband and partner in life.

If you are not being excessive with time and money spent on your hobbies/recreation and not spending funds that really NEED to be invested elsewhere it would make no sense whatsoever to quit hunting because your wife simply does not want you to do it. There are many reasons I would gladly give up hunting for my wife but 'Because I do not want you to hunt' is not one of them. With the caveat I forgo all manner of other time and money sucking recreational things so I have time and funds to hunt, and also do a ton of fun things the wife especially likes to do that are maybe not my natural 'first choice' except that she is my priority....
This may be the wisest thing I’ve ever read on this forum. It made me rethink how I plan my expenses.
 
So what was the outcome?

No expert in the OP 's topic but in our house, 30 years married...All funds go into one pot and we both max out retirement, work to get the house paid for in chosen time frame, and have a budget that sees checking account balance growing regularly so funds for extras are there for both of us and we pile more of that extra into savings, house projects, the occasional car and other big purchases, vacations etc, and of course hunting since that is my priority recreational activity. WE have general agreement on what we are working towards and how we use our income. If things are tight, or we simply have a BIG ticket expense to cover (house project or whatever) the hunting does not disappear but the way I go about it shifts year to year to ensure cost-wise and time-wise it is balanced in the greater scheme of things. I have never felt pressured to not hunt but I have chosen to skip some hunts I would like to have done in a given year to keep a good life/family balance. That said I hunt a lot, often they are various multiday hunts that take me out of state or across the state somewhere.

I suggest your stated view of that extra day of work as funding hunting was off base just a little bit. Those funds ARE household funds and hunting expenses are also household expenses along with lots of other things. You can mentally compartmentalize all you want but life does not really work that way. Annually y'all bring in X dollars and those dollars fund 'today' and "tomorrow". And you only have so many hours in a week so you gave up something to put in the extra work time. You do not magically get to cordon off a full day a week just for you to save up hunting funds and act like it impacts nothing else in your life and thus you are OWED that time and also the money it brings...In essence you are saying 20% of all paid working time is solely used to produce hunting opportunity and then you take more time to hunt? So you are burning up 45-50? days a year that are not available for other activities to save money only for hunting and then you spend how many additional actually hunting?

I would say throw all family income in one pot and fund what you must and should fund for today and to fund your future responsibly and then fund hunting and other extras that fit in reasonably without hurting today and tomorrow planning. I'd say the house projects kinda fit into the 'today' fund. House maintenance and upgrades are pretty darn standard expenses that come with homeownership and taking care of your family? So if you were not accounting for the need to spend on the house, you perhaps should have...without knowing if the projects your wife wants is somehow exceptionally extravagant or outrageous deserving of push back at some level.

I do sort of see your case for saying your use of a whole day a week for an extra job is a direct investment (at personal time expense) in your hunting but also suggest that was slightly wrongheaded. Maybe reframe reason you work the extra job into a broader 'whole' of the pieces of your life current and future. Surely you are in part working the extra job because you have the energy and gumption to do so and prefer to not 'rest' on the fact you did your 40 and can thus sit around or not be productive on a fifth day. You WANT to produce more overall income so you do so? Why not frame it that simply? BUT ensure the overall budget includes hunting cuz there can be precious few reasons to skip hunting if it is a personal priority and you are not also doing excessive amounts of other recreation such that it is out of balance with being a good husband and partner in life.

If you are not being excessive with time and money spent on your hobbies/recreation and not spending funds that really NEED to be invested elsewhere it would make no sense whatsoever to quit hunting because your wife simply does not want you to do it. There are many reasons I would gladly give up hunting for my wife but 'Because I do not want you to hunt' is not one of them. With the caveat I forgo all manner of other time and money sucking recreational things so I have time and funds to hunt, and also do a ton of fun things the wife especially likes to do that are maybe not my natural 'first choice' except that she is my priority....

Well after some discussion with the wife it was decided that once my tags ect are paid for the extra money goes into the "general funds" for every day items, family vacations, and home improvement projects . So it all worked out in the end. My wife is pretty awesome and understanding.
 
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