My wife has her monthly gym subscription, new trainers, leggings etc. That gets me a good few hundred pounds each year. But if I needed to justify, I’ve worked my ass off to get a decent job paying decent money, so a little bit for me isn’t hurting anyone.
My wife rides road, cross and triathlon. I have to stop her from spending!! 
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Never had any issues spending as much as I want when I want. No joint account, my money is mine and hers is hers, we just split the household bills in half. It’s worked for us for over 10 years. I do realise that I am lucky in this respect though and my Mrs is very sympathetic to my 2 wheeled hobbies. I have friends that have to hide their spending frequently.
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My previous main hobby was plastic crack, expensive and I wasn’t active so I was getting fat. Much more of a healthy waste of money
My wife quilts as well- her last machine was a mid-arm that cost more than any bike I’ve ever bought. Add in all the cool hipster fabric she buys and it gets expensive! But we’re both supportive and give the other time to pursue their hobby for a morning or afternoon on the weekend (during the week it’s either early or late while the kid’s asleep).
I also think it’s important to have something you do together, outside of just being at home. We try to go to a concert once or twice a month for example, and a couple times per year will travel to see bands we like that aren’t coming to our town.
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Cycling is a relative bargain in my mind as far as the enjoyment/health benefits and the cost. I do think some of the stuff cyclists think we need to buy is a little over the top (groupsets and wheels I think are barely worth the expense). I ride an entry level specialized allez and it doesn’t leave me wanting for much, even on the few road races I do. My CX bike was a deal ($700 new as a closeout, last of the canti models lol). The most expensive cycling purchase I’ve made was the Hammer, 1200 new, paid the early adopter penalty, but I’ve used it so much over the past 3 years that I’m sure the cost per ride is pretty low at this point.
My wife, on the other hand, has a gym membership she hardly uses (plus we’re members of the Y) she pays to go to spin classes even though she has a road bike and access to both my hammer and fluid trainer at home, and she does a personal training session each week (to be fair, it’s more of a PT thing than anything else), but all of it is so sporadic that I don’t think she’s really seen many fitness gains.
I’m rambling, point is cycling is totally worth the cost, I think a lot of us who train consistently really get a good return in the form of enjoyment for many rides and being in good health. I know I was 225lbs before I started cycling and am at 160ish now (should be 154 lol) but I’m sure I’ve staved off going on meds as I’ve gotten into my late 30’s, better to spend money on cycling than on pills to control blood pressure and cholesterol.
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this is gold! especially since my S/O father golfs almost everyday, she knows how time consuming it is.
My trick is not getting married – works all the time, no pain and no fuss, although it does look as if I am in the minority here 
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I’ve never had an issue justifying the cost, as the attitude is basically if we can afford it, and it’s something you really think you want or need, then fine. Goes both ways with the things she likes as well.
Where I get into trouble is the time. This year I was spending somewhere around 12-15hr/wk training alone, then you add in transit time, time working on the bikes, etc. That became a real sore subject, so we had to sit down and level set expectations and come up with somewhat of a schedule. Now we have an understanding that if I’m doing a 4-6hr ride one weekend day, the other day has to be 1-1.5hr max, we have scheduled weekends where we spend time away together (where I commit to limited time on the bike), and I communicate better with race schedule, etc.
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Or divorced! I have 7 bikes…
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It’s her fault. She got into spinning and cycling. I said it was stupid. Then decided to give it a try and trained behind her back to be able to keep up next season. Turns out i liked it and i’m doing triathlon training and cyclocommuting and trainer rides. Well that back fired
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My wife also pointed to the health benefits as one of the reasons for her supporting my hobby/addiction. The other important factor that works for me is to be open about all purchases. She is smart enough to know that, say, a repair to exchange a broken part is different from me coveting a new bike or a new set of wheels. Being open about these things gives us “permission” to reciprocate. My wife e. g. recently bought a new violin case for a few hundred dollars. The nice side benefit was that she now understands the importance of carbon fiber!
My wife was even almost willing to consent to me buying a new bike that was on a crazy clearance sale. Open communication really does wonders and eventually pays off.
@RJones07
Time is the more important currency. I used to do longer outdoor rides, and I have reduced that to just once per week. The rest I do indoors and usually in the morning. This maximizes family time and minimizes time I can’t spend with my wife and daughter because I am on the bike or on the trainer. Personally, I couldn’t spend 12-15 hours per week training, because my family and/or (probably and) my job would get short changed.
The other factor is communication: you can trade time with your partner. I take care of our daughter and household chores on certain days so that she can go to the gym or go out for drinks with colleagues. This way she is much more willing to do the same for me when e. g. I am out of town for a weekend to participate in a race. The pain threshold is of course different with everyone, but I would like to stay married, so I have to take my wife’s wishes into account.
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This is why all my bikes except 1 are flat black. Can’t tell the difference.
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Yeah, compared to the sailboat cycling is actually my cheap hobby.
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Yeah mines flying so cycling is like a fraction of the cost.
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I just had that thought the other day: bike$ < car$ < boat$ < fixed wing$ < helicopter$.
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I have said to Mrs I will happily give up cycling to take up drinking every night down the pub.
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Warhammer 40k?
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Yup. Another memorable quote from my wife: “At least you are not into cars.” True dat, just a few options = new, very nice bike.
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Yeah, even with a family member who worked at warhammer world with a 50% discount it was stupidly expensive.
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