To spend our money on a new bicycle

[BJunction]

Hello all,

I wanted to get the "female" perspective on this...

My wife is due in a few months and we're putting all my recent bonus money and savings towards the required purchases. The issue is there is a lovely bike that I've been eyeing up to compliment my existing stable of bikes. The bike cost is about 40%-50% of the money we have but I'm sure we can get by on what's left. There's easily enough for a good cot and the rest of the stuff we'll need.

I've even made a spreadsheet covering the spend so it's clear we can do it but the wife is insistent that we spend all the money on the new born... who won't even remember this stage of his life.

am I being unreasonable for wanting this great bike whilst making sure there's enough left to cover the cost of the incoming baby?

[InMySpareTime]

Isn't there a "bike to work" scheme where you can do a salary sacrifice to repay a government backed bike loan, thus saving the income tax on the cost? That would be a more tax efficient way to buy the bike, and you'd look less selfish, as the bike cost would come from your income over the next few years rather than family savings.
Just a thought, since you're clearly going to get the bike whatever we say.

[ScrambledSmegs]

Mmm. Your wife doesn't sound ok with it though. She's the one you're married to, not arethereanyleftatall. If you say ' look, one lone female poster on MN agrees with me, ergo I am right!' I can't really see that changing her mind.

But, it's your marriage. Your family. Don't say we didn't warn you...

[dreamingbohemian]

arethere:

1. He says they can afford it, his wife doesn't think so
   
2. Spending half your savings on a luxury item when you're about to have a baby, in an uncertain economy, is pretty foolish
   
3. Who says he has to give up his hobby??? He already has a stable of bikes. No one would object if he sold one or two to fund the new one.
   

I am plenty chilled out, I just think that if the OP is real he's being incredibly selfish and short-sighted.

[StuntGirl]

My thoughts exactly flouncy.

[PatPig]

I don't think spending £8k on a bike is necessarily being unreasonable.

If a female poster came on here saying 'I earn £500k/year and have just bought myself a new sports car and am having a baby, AIBU?' then people would say 'no YANBU, you earnt it, you spend it'.

Cars costing more than a few thousand pounds are unnecessary extravagances as much as an £8k bike is, yet I see many many mothers driving their kids round in new BMW X5s, Range Rovers, and other such vehicles.

How is a £50k Range Rover not more of a waste of money than an £8k bike?

[Oldraver]

Are the bike forum lot bored again ?

[BookieMonster]

I would imagine your wife is keeping a spreadsheet of her own and that the negative column looks pretty heavy.

[arethereanyleftatall]

fair points dreaming bohemian.

This whole thread depends entirely on OPs financial situation, and unless I've missed it, we haven't been made aware.

Like Patpig states, if he earns 500k a year, it's fine.

If this is all their savings gone and they'll have to scrimp going forward, then it's very silly.

A pot of £8K for a new born far more than is needed. All you need is a cot, a car seat, a baby bjorn, a few babygros and 2 boobs. £500.

So, my assumption is OP has plenty of money.

[arethereanyleftatall]

And nappies.

[SybilRamkin]

This is a blatant wind-up. Nobody is actually selfish enough to believe that a PC tablet equals a several thousand pound racing bike. OP is having us on.

[sparechange]

Another former triathlete here, with joint custody of a his-n-hers stable.
And another person who thinks you are being an arse.

For what it is worth, the best thing we bought was a turbo trainer, and a nice fancy quiet one that is virtually silent, but will give you as much of a work out as 4 hours in the hills. Combine it with some Sufferfest videos and you can still stay as fit as you ever need to be, but without giving your wife the impression that your life carries on as normal while hers stops dead and revolves around your child. That way, if you wife needs some help while you are 'mid ride', you are in the next room, not 40 miles from home. And if she wants to do a bit of gentle exercise in the privacy of her own home while the baby is asleep, she can.

(and the fact you've bought this bike online, rather than going into the shop and a)haggling and b) actually getting it fitted to you makes me think you are probably a bit all-the-gear-no-idea, rather than actually any good)

[lljkk]

Brad has dropped out of the Giro, BikeRunSki, chest infection. :( Uran is the new Sky leader.

I would REALLY like to know how Wife is going to manage to spend £8.5k on first year baby kit. Can you copy that bit of the spreadsheet over here, BJunction?

[ToomuchIsBackOnBootcamp]

YABU. £500 quid tablet v 8.5k bike. yeah that is so fair.

Have you though about any of the other possibilities, what if your wife is ill after birth and can't return to work / you have to take extra time off / you are made redundant or have a serious accident/illness / your child is born with special needs requiring massive adaptions to your home / ALL of these things have happened to various friends of mine over the years and they all ate through savings like nobody's business.

Ok you might think the risks of this are small and dont want to put your greed (and it IS greed not need, since you already have several bikes) on hold for a few months, instant gratification nation etc. but Why not wait a year and see how things pan out and if you can still afford/want it then, discuss again with your wife? Who knows what costs may crop up in the early days, it's always more expensive than a predicted spreadsheet.

[MummytoKatie]

arethere but the £8k may also be needed to cover the cost of loss of incom due to maternity leave.

Op implied that there was enough money according to his spreadsheet. Not that there would be £50k spare sitting in a savings account.

Actually we do have over £50k spare sitting in a savings account. Nd as mentioned up thread dh is an ex junior international at a sport so pretty dedicated really. I would still need quite a lot of convincing for him to spend £8k on the sport.

[Fairylea]

LTB!

Because she will.

Even if she says oh it's fine get your bike.

You can bet she's seething. And storing this up ready to throw back at you.

[Technotropic]

Can I ask what group set it comes with or is Di2 the default

Nice bike BTW and I hope you're haggling down the £8.5k price as I'm sure there's 5-10% in there somewhere.

Personally I wouldn't though. If it were just 40-50% of the bonus then maybe but I wouldn't want to cash in all my savings too.

You are definitely NBU to want the bike. Whether YABU to actually buy the thing is another matter.

To put it into perspective a friend has just had a baby and they've bought a brand new X3 for £30k. There's no 'real' need to spend £30k on a car but there you go. At least you get the benefit of keeping fit with an £8k bike.

All the best with whatever decision you come to but just hope you don't annoy your wife too much

[ScrambledSmegs]

Oh. I thought it was just bonus. It's bonus and savings. So half of all that on a bike?

Doesn't sound particularly financially astute to me.

[PoppyWearer]

£8k on a bike. Definitely having a larf.

(Speaking as someone whose DH is a high-earner and has just spent over a grand on a vair naice bike which is perfectly fine for weekend cycling.)

If you earn that much money you won't have much spare time to use it anyway.

[dreamingbohemian]

arethere -- I totally agree you don't need to spend much on a baby, but they don't stay babies forever... you can easily spend more than 10K a year on childcare in London. If the wife becomes a SAHM then there's her salary to replace.

if it were half a paycheck, that's one thing, but we're talking half their accumulated savings

(IF this is real, that is, which I find so hard to believe)

[theoriginalandbestrookie]

Well I hope you have pointed your wife in the direction of mumsnet as I have a feeling she is going to be using it quite a bit over the next few months.

[MummytoMog]

Buy a Taga. You might get to use that. But probably not.

[sparechange]

Technotropic, I'll eat my hat if it isn't Di2
He's already said upthread that he wants 'boys toys', and with that sort of mentality, he won't go for anything as antiquated as mechancials...

I also have a vision of a proper MAMIL with a paunch, rather than the toned rider that I imagine he thinks he is

[Technotropic]

LOL @ MAMIL. Talk about shattering the illusion.



PoppyWearer. Come on. There's no such thing as a naice bike for over a grand. Tut

[lottiegarbanzo]

You will come back and tell us how the subsequent conversation with your wife went, won't you Mr BJ?