December 15, 2006
16 Comments
[photopress image=”creative_accounting_001.jpg”]
My dearest 8–perhaps another repeat customer so I may have 9 on Monday! YIPPEEEE
It’s Friday..and the first night of Chanukah… SO EXCITED… what tool should I buy myself to celebrate? (*giggles*)… Already have my EYE on a purse.. hmmm just what I need. The great thing about shoes or purses are that they always fit AND if you need a BIGGER size, you don’t get aggravated or depressed! So what.. I am now a size 10 shoe rather than a 9. Do you get depressed? NOPE. Same with stamp supplies.. they always *fit*– LOL. Next week, I promise to get more into the card making techniques and I have to concentrate on posting more images on my site.. lots and lots more. So, we will wait for next week for the juicy stuff. Now I would like to confer with all my fellow crafters.. How many times have you gone to the cash at your LSS or Michaels or any hobby store and recite the following mantra “my husband is gonna divorce me if he finds out that I spent this”. I think I have said this line about 6543 times and counting SO… thanks to my mentor and design team member Nicky Manel (you will see her work here next week), I have learned several ways of dealing with this issue. Namely, creative accounting.
(1) as you see in the attractive picture above (hey at least the garbage can is PINK!), you can easily just crumple up the bill and flick it carelessly into the trash.. and BURY IT. (you can light on fire as well, but this is quite dangerous)
(2) You can take your goodies to the cash and simply pay a portion in cash and the rest on credit, get two bills, make sure that the lower bill is the cash bill and keep that one in the bag.. come home with a *BIG GRIN* on your face and say to your beloved “CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT I BOUGHT FOR $20??” little does he know that the other $180 bill is stuffed in the bottom of your purse.
(3) you can leave the goodies in the car til your lovey goes to sleep and THEN, ONLY THEN, dressed in holy ratty pj’s run to the car when no one is looking, grab the bag and STUFF and I mean STUFF into your closet. When you take it out and he happens to ask you when and where you got it (if he cares) then you will have a look of SHOCK and HORROR on your face and say “THIS OLD THING?”.. ALWAYS works..
These are my FAVES but they are getting old so if anyone wants to share their creative accounting tips, it would be my honour to learn from you.. need to freshen up the excuses!
Toodles and love to all
Have a PHENOM weekend and I will *see* you on Monday!
Em
Emily,
I hope you are counting me as the 9th!! My favorite “accounting” trick is to talk at length about the unused crafting supplies that I’ve recently sold on ebay or other board. It makes him think I have beaucoup bucks coming in so, he doesnt really panic if he should happen to notice the new punch or stamp set……sure, I sold my Sizzix for $10 but if a “0” is worth nothing you can add another one to the purchase price making it $100 and that isnt really lying-right? Of course, I do hide all my purchase email information in a folder called “women’s issues” He’d never look in there! LOL! Happy Channuka!
Em, Em, Em.. you’ve been in the family how long and you still haven’t learned the “guilt” excuse? Surely Ryan can understand how you’re not purchasing for “you” per se.. but for the KIDS!! Being the “loving, thoughtful CARING wife” your whole focus is how to make HIS life easier, not to have to work so hard!! and how on EARTH can u do this without buying buying buying to better your business to improve sales!! (all in the name of the kids of course). Love you – see you when you guys are in town hopefully.. xoxoxo Jo
I have several excuses…when he asks I say I TRADED for this, (pick a name) had used some of it/ tried it out / made the cards she needed to make with it AND didn’t need it anymore/ didn’t like / knew how much I wanted it so we traded for some stuff of mine she wanted. This excuse is perfect, not only does he think I didn’t spend anything, he thinks I got rid of stuff!
There’s also: so and so’s husband (he’s such a jerk) was mad she bought it so I bought if from her for half price. My husband thinks I got it cheap and doesn’t want to be a “jerk” (like so and so’s husband) and so he doesn’t complain.
I tell him I got it to make a gift for his mother
If all else fails I remind him a happy wife = a happy life 🙂
I think you’re up to 10, my daughter sits on my lap when I’m on your site and looks at the “pretty girls” so she counts…
Heh up theh! My favourite is to make him think he has the best and cleverest wife in the world, as I seem to get all the best bargains in town. When he asks what this charge is on the Visa, I say “Can you believe how buyer savvy I am? That, is usually $200 and I waited and waited until it went on sale and got it for $100. I am so impressed with myself for having such patience AND saving SOOOOO much money.” He is NOT going to tell me that I am not clever or buyer savvy, as that will result in a very physically unfullfilled husband!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOOOOOOOOVE this website (and you) and it is the first thing I check each morning.
I bought a paper shredder, which also comes in handy for making pretty stuffing for gift bags and gift boxes made from my brand new accucut machine. I also tell my husband that any new supplies are “research” for my business ( as my day to day job is stamping). My husbands practice and my store is in the same building and our debit machines are connected so my customers debit reciepts say Dr. Lawrence Mackinnon on them. Some of my customers husbands think they just go to the eye doctor alot. Tee Hee
Well you can always use the good ol hide the money in your secret compartment of your wallet trick. Every week ask for a little extra $. My mother always used to ask my dad for cash for food shopping and skim a little off the top and hide it so she could buy (for cash.,…not traceable) something “pretty” for herself. Ok so we starved a bit as kids….lol…could use that now a little….hehehe.
Or you can always do what my sister does…..”no hun i have had this FOREVER, you just never noticed”
I am personally lucky….my dear husband doesnt care what i spent….b/c he spends $700 a month at costco on NOTHING………so I banned him from there…………anyways…its late and this might not even make sense…
Great website Em..
love ya
mel
My trick is to write a check to someone and put something harmless like “groceries” in the memo line. Works every time… 😉
BTW, I just found your website and I LOVE your bellas! I can’t wait to get some of my own!
My favourite trick is to blame a friend by saying that they didn’t want their husband to see what they bought so I paid for them and they will pay me back when the Visa bill comes in.
When my husband asks if the friend paid back, I reply of course.
(A little white lie never hurts,right ladies..) Then he thinks that I am such a disciplined shopper as my friend spent all this money and not me. :o)
This is the BEST Blog ever and I LOVE checking it every day to read about your adventures, comments and techniques. I looove ALL ofyour stamps and they have become my very favourite.
my trick…i’m a demo for a stamping company. i do this mostly for the discounted stuff as well as having a supply whenever i want it!! so when i get all the packages delivered, i tell him that it’s for a customer and not me!!! he doesn’t need to know that the only customers i have are my online friends that get their stuff shipped directly to them!!!
by the way, you’re stamps are so stinkin’ cute!!
Well I have quite an accounting method myself; I have three separate checking accounts and I move things around a lot with my online banking to cover my tracks!
Now at this point YOUR best excuse would probably be just to put on your sexiest little sleepy-time number and sit on his lap and tell him all about what you’ve done in your best pouty sex-kitten voice. Just be prepared for the evening ahead! 🙂 Isn’t THAT what a Bella would do?
Hope you had a Happy Chanukah!
Honey, I just pay in cash wherever possible! 😀
Honey, I just pay in cash wherever I can! 😀
I’ve actually done this….and since I NEED more Bella’s I’m adding another suggestion. I entered a card contest with Whippersnapper and won the prize of a $25 online coupon. Naturally, I had to use it right away to celebrate my win. $75+ later in new stamps, I just told my husband “I won these–how cool?” LIke I told Em, I’m not really into lying….I prefer to think of it as creative truth telling! I think there are a lot of ways to stretch the truth to fit your needs…..sometimes I just tell him its a business expense–I can write it off—LOL! Sometimes, I just hide it all together and count on the fact that he is a man and doesnt really pay that close attention to stuff like how many stamps I have. Another good time to tell your dh about just about anything you dont want him to get mad about is to wait until he is watching TV!!! I can tell him just about anything then and pretty much all he gets out of it is Wha Wah Wha Wah (that’s the Charlie Brown adult voice if you didnt recognize it!) Well, I’m all out of ideas, but I sure am anxious to see those VAlentine stamps!!! I definitely am going to need a V-Day Bella!!!
Well, I’m not yet married – but will be August 11, 2007! So you could say I’m in training! 😉
My best one is that because I, too, am a demo, to say that I bought this with my stampin’ profits! I’m just “re-investing” in my little business so that I can make samples. 🙂
I went back to read some of your post..You are always so entertaining and clevah as evah!!! Sistah!
I just found your blog and I luv it!
Unfortunately, my DH gets the mail before I do. He leaves the stuff piled on the kitchen counter for me to see when I get home from work. He never says anything, but if I happen to get in and he’s there and the counter is kinda full. I’ll just say, “Oh, yippee my free stamps arrived”. He knows that I’m always submitting things, entering contests, etc.