Financial Infidelity

I recently stumbled across a whole world of financial secrets and intrigue. It happened like this…

- Gregg Sneddon

Having been a keen trail runner for a number of years, I I was forced to consider some alternate forms of exercise after an injury – and so it happened that I was in the market for a mountain bike. I chatted to friends who bike regularly, and the consensus was that I’d need to spend at least R35-R40k to get a full suspension (better than entry-level) bike.

Trying not to be financially impulsive, I gave it quite a bit of thought and did my homework. I also chatted to my wife about it, and in the end we decided there was no way I was going to spend so much money on something I might not actually enjoy doing. In the end I settled for spending a substantially smaller amount while I decided whether mountain biking was something I really enjoyed doing (I could always upgrade later).

When I told my friends of my decision I was called an ‘idiot’ (to be polite). I mentioned the reasons for the decision and also that I had discussed it with my wife. This was met by stunned silence, then the following: ‘You just broke the cardinal rule – never tell your wife what you spend on a bike! And be careful what colour you choose, because now you’ll have to keep to that colour so that each time you upgrade, she won’t notice.’

I thought they were having me on, but I soon discovered a whole world out there where people are spending fortunes on bikes and their partners are none the wiser. I heard of a guy who keeps his second bike in the roof, another who keeps his second bike at a friend’s and yet another who has a separate ‘bike’ credit card his wife doesn’t know about… and the list goes on!