Yea... That is a bitch, but if something goes wrong or you just need routine maintenance, it's nice to have the dealer pay it for the first few years. But look at it this way... At least you have a vehicle that the wife will use you for, to go get stuff that won't fit in hers.
But truthfully, as long as your happy with it, and you still put food on the table, that's all that matters. Cause at the end of the day, who cares about the rest of it.
Like my wife said once... You have put "us" first for so long, it's time you got something for you. (PC parts and other expensive hobbies are NOT included in that statement) LOL
I'm old enough to know there are tricks involved when it comes to shit being fixed by the dealer. My wife's previous vehicle, her fucking driver side window FELL. Lucky it didn't shatter inside the door, but the regulator cables just snapped and I had to tape the window up for her. This was not covered under warranty even though a 4 year old part made of steel braided cable shouldn't snap like that. When it comes to our vehicles though, we are not on each other's insurance and we don't drive each other's vehicles. I have let her drive the Mustang a couple times to work because she asked but that's it. I mainly got the truck because I missed having a truck and being able to go to Home Depot without needing to rent a truck. I don't really think she's even tall enough to drive it lol.
Yea I'm happy with it, but when they slapped me with the insurance cost I was like holy jesus I am just reminded why I never financed vehicles. Over 300 a month in insurance costs when I'm used to 65 a month for the Mustang. Then yesterday I was filling up my tank while having a convo with our oldest boy about inflation and how the country is going to shit (end of a previous convo he started about the Soviet Union....don't ask idk) and saw over $100 and was like.....sigh. Obviously that's not the trucks fault, but good thing is I think it gets better gas mileage than the Mustang.
Luckily, she supports and sometimes helps with the expensive hobbies. In fact she helped with the 3090ti purchase while I was waiting on pay day. I paid it back and it went into savings.
You after being single for 8 years your last sentence kind of fills me with some kind of existential dread. I am *SO* used to doing whatever I want and spending money on whatever I want, i'm legit unsure how I would cope with the opposite.
Sacrifices you have to sometimes weigh if it's worth or not. Her and I just had an argument about this the other day, where I've made all the sacrifices to my regular daily life while she continues hers like nothing has changed. Not necessarily on purchases I want, but my hobbies.
Honestly, when you find "the one" it won't even be an issue. If it is then you are not with the right one. I know it sounds all mushy and sentimental but I have found it to be true. If being with them doesn't cause you to want to put them first then you need to move on. I have never understood couples who have separate bank accounts, have his and hers bills, etc. Either you are committed or you're not, either you trust them or you don't. It works the same way in the opposite direction as well with them being committed and trusting you.
Not to pull "that" card, but in today's day and age you'll find that's antique thinking. Even Steve Harvey has said live you need 4 accounts. 1 joint savings, 1 necessities account that's joint, 2 personal (his and hers). We don't roll like this and I probably won't ever adopt this because we don't have Steve Harvey money but we have our own checking accounts, seperate credit cards for credit building (with vehicles being secondary credit account), and a joint savings.
Reason for this is, I am a penny pincher when it comes to planning, saving, and making sure everything is paid over a set amount of time. We went 6 months last year during my unemployment (still making small amounts of money) without things getting shut off because of this. She is a "I have the money I'll do it" kinda person. She doesn't flamboyantly waste money but she doesn't really think about the long term either, very impulsive. Having our finance sheets I balance it all, as in most relationships one person is usually good with money and the other isn't. With her current vehicle, daycare, and food expense it's put her in the red. So I half the daycare cost with her, and half the grocery bill with her while she covers the rest of her own bills plus the water bill. This gives her a sense of independence and accomplishment while me looking at the numbers knows it gives her some spending money without her needing to ask me to purchase something. Her vehicle is her vehicle, it's paid with her money just like mine. I don't personally care, but some people do and that's not necessarily a bad thing so call it a compromise if you will. On the flip side, if we did both have our checks deposited into the same account she could go willy nilly with my salary thinking we have all this disposable income because the account isn't "on E" constantly. Then we'd really be broke and I wouldn't be able to save for things we want to do like costly trips etc. So basically what I'm saying is, keeping her account like that knowing it'll get empty without overspending means I know she won't waste a ton of money on BS because she thinks she can afford it at Target or something. She's financially responsible enough to make sure her bills are paid so it's a control without the "control". My account is left untouched because I can save without spending but I can also get what I want without it being a big deal (avoiding Kmans worry). Anything she does want I take a note of it and toss it on an Amazon list. If it's important I'll get it right away, if it's just a simple "want" I'll grab random things off that list as a surprise or gift for brownie points. She has all kinds of things she wants like tapestries, crystals, necklaces, decor, whatever I just purchase randomly from each check. None of this would work and we'd be broke as shit if it was joint and I knew this just from her previous marriage.
I know almost any woman and a lot of men would read this and immediately say "that's really terrible", but at the end of the day it saves on any financial arguments or hot topics (like the above mentioned by Kman) that most couples normally have. It's a system I silently started implementing right after our first fight about money in 2018. We both agreed to help each other with bills because we need combined checks to survive, but it takes all the hassle out of it with scheduled payments being sent for rent, groceries, and childcare. I've also listened to old men at my old job and how they hide money from their wife with secrets accounts and shit, fuck that. We buy what we want and don't need permission. Being my wife I'll definitely run by things with her but her response is always "well you run the sheets, if we can afford it why not". And at the end of the day with women wanting more control and independence while still maintaining dependence on their men secretly in today's thinking, it takes care of that too. Million birds, one stone.