DH Bought Himself A TV for My Birthday...

[thyme4change]

I haven't had a problem, but I'm not the big reader. The nook is my husband's. I have used it for a few books, and I liked it.

[robbase]

you should just be happy that he did not get you a vacuum cleaner

[Deleted]

BIL and his wife live check to check (he gets military pension, she gets SS disability). One Christmas she was well enough to go out shopping and brought back a Bose sound system as a Christmas present "to each other". Uh-huh.

DH and I don't spend large amounts of money without letting the other know and getting agreement beforehand. That would include gifts. If one person is about to spend a major portion of our disposable income, the other might want a say in the selection of the item even if they agree with the purchase.

[soon2bmomof3]

I just bought DH a bike (as in bicycle) and helmet for his birthday. Does that count?

He never learned how to ride and I like the idea of him and DS riding together around the neighborhood eventually. I'll be getting DS a bike when his birthday rolls around, but his comes with training wheels

[lynnerself]

I got a toaster from my DH for Christmas once. We did need a new one.
Fortunately DH is a smart (sneaky) man and there was a diamond tennis bracelet tucked inside the box too.

FYI
I looove my new Kindle.

[Deleted]

I guess I'm different. I loved "household" presents that I really wanted (not a vacuum cleaner). I'm short so the clothes that my ex thought were cute never fit right, and you only want so much "romantic" underwear. I really am not into jewelry although I successfully sold it for years.

But a new sofa? New pots and pans (read Caphalon)? That sort of stuff made great presents for me.

One year, though, I got a grill. I don't know how to grill. I think his reasoning was I like grilled food. That may be similar to giving a utensil and an operator who will do it for a year. But we separated a few months later.

I was very tempted to take the grill with me. Lol.

[Deleted]

Double post.

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

...happy birthday...

[raeoflyte]

Our 2nd christmas together I BEGGED for a vacuum cleaner. We didn't have one, so I had to borrow my parents every couple weeks and it was a total pain.

DH was mortified to get that as my present, so I finally told him that I would return anything else he got me and use the cash to buy it myself. This was at a time when we spent far too much on presents for each other, and I got a very nice vacuum that year. ;D

[kgb18]

I like household or practical presents, too, if it's something I actually want. However, if OP didn't want a new television, it's not a good present.

[Jake 48]

Happy Birthday!

[Gardening Grandma]

I'm pretty sure that DH has more sense than that. But if he did, I'd reciprocate by buying him a new top of the line sewing machine!!!

[crockpottin]

At least you get presents from your DH (even if they are for him too). Mine will tell me to go shopping and get what I want. Yes, I get exactly what I'd like, but it would still be fun to unwrap a gift once in a while

[seriousthistime]

Has this or something similar ever happened to you?

Actually, it has.

My law school graduation gift was a $40K sports car. For him. See, I got to use my newly-learned negotiation skills to get him a bargain! Wasn't that a nice gift for me? And he was so burned out from me being in law school for 3 years, when the meals were not gourmet, the house was not spotless, weeds grew in the garden, the kids were not old enough to drive at the time and I had to chauffeur them all around in the evenings, and it disturbed him when I woke up from stress in the middle of the night and would quietly go downstairs to study for a few hours before everyone got up. So, supposedly, this car was for me, too, because even though I had NO interest in a two-seater, or a convertible, or a fancy logo on the hood, he was SURE I'd love it. But I was completely indifferent about that car, and if given the choice I would drive one of the other cars instead.

As part of my gift, I had some input into what color to choose, and what combination of letters and numbers to choose for the vanity plate.

When I started working at my lawyerly job, I got a lovely Christmas gift to go with the graduation gift: a $12K addition to the garage to keep it in and a $16K paving job for the formerly-gravel driveway because we couldn't have that gravel dinging up the paint. It was the gift that kept on giving ...

[Deleted]

Jun 28, 2011 19:25:16 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

My law school graduation gift was a $40K sports car. For him. See, I got to use my newly-learned negotiation skills to get him a bargain! Wasn't that a nice gift for me? And he was so burned out ..<snip>

Holy crap. Are you still married to this guy? (And if not, who got the car? ;D)

Reminds me, in a much milder example, of the time I took a certification exam when DS was about 5. It wasn't as stressful as the actuarial exams, which I'd passed years before, thank heaven. I'd work all day, go home and do all the domestic stuff, get DS into bed, then study for an hour or two. Sometimes DS would show up and I'd pretend to be puzzled because he looked just like some little kid I'd already put to bed, and put him there again. He would do that only once a night, so it became a fun game. I passed the exam without much sweat. My then-husband told me never to do that to him again. Poor thing- he didn't even get a present out of the deal.

[seriousthistime]

My law school graduation gift was a $40K sports car. For him. See, I got to use my newly-learned negotiation skills to get him a bargain! Wasn't that a nice gift for me? And he was so burned out ..<snip>


Holy crap. Are you still married to this guy? (And if not, who got the car? ;D)

Nope. He got the car, complete with the expensive car payments. ;D

[DVM gone riding]

ill on the nook thing, I download a LOT of books from the library for mine (not the color but same idea) and don't spend much on books for it. Really great when I travel, but my screen isn't bright--hard to read in dim light--and it isn't heavy at all.

[runewell]

You have a pretty big house and net worth to be able to accomodate a 62 foot TV

[daisylu]

We are not big on "holiday" gifts - if one of us wants something we usually just get it. When we throw out "It would be nice to have"s it means we really want it, and it usually shows up quickly. ;D

[busymom]

IMM, I suggest for his next birthday that you buy yourself a really nice car. After all, he'll get to use it!

[swamp]

I got a vacuum one Christmas, but I asked, no, actually begged, for it. DH didn't believe me that I really did want a new vacuum and thought I was playing some kind of joke on him.

I got a Dyson Animal. I love it.

[Clifford]

Jun 28, 2011 14:09:35 GMT -5 moneymaven said:

Today is my birthday... he quickly said it was actually a gift for me that he'll also enjoy...

Happy birthday!
You should tell him that the remote that came with it is yours, too.

[thyme4change]

You should tell him that the remote that came with it is yours, too.

ROFL - and keep it in your purse!

[Cookies Galore]

Jun 28, 2011 14:22:37 GMT -5 april47 said:

I got ice cube trays one year for my birthday. He remembered that I had said we needed some new ones a few weeks before so he just knew that it would make me ecstatic to get them!

I got a new oven mitt one year for Christmas and I actually did get really excited. I'm a horrible procrastinator when it comes to buying needed useful things, so I guess BF though my "hot! hot! hot!" yelping when I took something out of the oven with the thinning old mitt was getting old. It's a nice mitt, but the rubber shark mitt would have been cooler.

[pig]

I've done this very thing before. Nothing wrong with that.

[strider]

Jewelry and appliances seem to be the only surefire answer to work for women. Buying a new blender was a great present for my gf (now ex) for margaritas and shakes.

Don't every buy her clothes (unless they're lingerie ).

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"Don't every buy her clothes (unless they're lingerie":::...

I was told that you never buy lingerie unless she has torn out a page in a catalogue and circled the item because if you get the wrong thing, you'll end up with a lot of questions that have no right answer.

[CarolinaKat]

I'd kill you if you bought me a blender and I didn't specifically ask for it...

DBF has unfortunate taste in jewlery for me. I like getting movies and books and flowers, both the kind you put in a vase and the kind you plant in the yard

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I was told that you never buy lingerie unless she has torn out a page in a catalogue and circled the item because if you get the wrong thing, you'll end up with a lot of questions that have no right answer.

MP Dunleavy had a story about bad gifts that talked about this. She got lamblasted because maybe just maybe you are a wee bit insecure?

DH doesn't but that is because we are never sure of my size anymore with all the vanity crap going on. It's better to just let me buy it myself when I can try it on than having to take it back because it doesn't fit.

[busymom]

DH is always saying that the only guys who buy lingerie for their wives are just shopping for themselves.