[jchcollins]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but this topic struck me as interesting.

We’ve been together since we were teenagers, so she knows I collect - but for me it’s probably a don’t ask, don’t tell thing at best - mainly because she could care less, and I have sometimes in the past even gotten in trouble for “caring too much” about baseball, and baseball-related things. Not that I really do, but sometimes I think this is just a convenient point in an argument if I have been careless about something else important. As for the finances, 9 times out of 10 I’m selling something old from my collection to finance whatever new it is that I’m buying - so it’s usually a wash and because there is little long-term $$ impact anyway - I don’t really feel the need to keep her posted on the day-to-day. At worst, I’m earning her extra bonus points on her credit card. Other purchases are funded sometimes from one-time windfalls, birthday and Christmas money, or bonuses and that kind of thing, and I’m always careful not to do anything outlandish that would have any real impact to our family’s budgeted finances.

All that said - cards for me are still kind of a guilty, solitary pleasure though. Interesting to me to consider why that is. I have 2 daughters and have gotten them into it somewhat, but not nearly to the extent that I am. I guess some of this stems from being an only child and always seeing my collection as a private, personal thing when I was growing up.
The hobby is my “forget about the rest of the world” thing, and has helped me through some tough spots over the decades. I guess that’s what a hobby is supposed to be all about.