Girlfriends and wifes, how do YOU cope?

Man cave setup so she doesn't care. I buy vintage classics that don't cost too much. I don't get needing to spend fortunes on high mark up gear. My rig sounds great for a lot less dough than most.

We have a sort of "don't ask, don't tell" arrangement. The stereo rig is in the man cave, which can only be accessed from the outside - so she rarely sees it (her choice, not mine!). I keep a separate slush fund for business expenses, gifts - and the occasional purchase. Meanwhile, these last two years she's spent quite a bit more on her "stuff" than I typically do on mine - so there's balance of a sort. Finally, a bit o' lovin' is important. Sure, I buy little gifts for myself, but I buy gifts for her too. Thoughtful, spontaneous gifts count for a lot.

The usual complaint was "aren't you done buying stuff?"!!! Until both our dear mothers died and left us some monies . NOW... She has her inheritance pot and I have mine. The complaints essentially stopped. The rebuttal to any complaints is..."am I asking you how you send your inheritance"?
After working and slaving for 35 years to raise three kids through grad schools, it is now my turn to savor one of my passions. It's true. You can't take it with you..

My approach is very simple - in good years, spend on turntables, which dont depreciate. In bad years, sell them off and recycle the money. You dont have to ask the wife. You can also pitch this creatively "Honey, I just saved us $1000. Guess what - how do you think bought the new DAC? Easy...I just sold off a cartridge (don't tell her that such a small item cost $1000)."

At the moment my wife is coping very well with my audio hobby since Sandy took away my listening room. All my gear is boxed up in a spare bedroom and I'm stuck with 100's of channels of crap on the TV to choose from!
I'm living in Reality(?) TV HELL! Arrrrrrrgh!