No way at that HHI. But obviously, if this is a real post, you have much,much bigger problems.

OP here.
This is not a milestone birthday. She is turning 34. I’m 32.
Our kids are 3 and 5. After our second child was born, we decided she will stay home until both kids start school.
I’m the sole breadwinner. HHI is $250k.
We have a mortgage but our cars are paid off.
We only started funding our 529s last year.
Our net worth is approximately $700k including home equity.

I don’t think we can afford to spend $8k on a handbag.

I believe she is being influenced by some of her friends.
She said that if I don't get her that handbag, she'll just buy it herself and remember that I'm a worthless husband.

It’s not an investment unless she uses it like a normal handbag, it will have wear and tear, and it will not be an investment. Also, if you have a little kids, any expensive item like that needs to be kept locked securely out of their reach. For some reason, on my Facebook feed, I get a ton of those videos, showing people buying Birkins and then selling them at this resale store where they get more money from the store than they paid at the time of the original purchase. I’ve watched a ton of them and the more I watched them, the less absolutely absurd the bag seems to me on one level. On most other normal brain levels, I realize it’s an absurdity, but a little part of me thinks it would be nice to have such such a bag. So your wife may have just fallen victim to some Facebook algorithm.

If it’s a special birthday, and she wants the Chanel bag because she is going to keep it and use it forever, then maybe that’s what she means by an investment. Maybe she means it’s a lifetime bag, since Chanel is pretty classic.

I’m a SAHM, so I’m not throwing shade, but where and when does a SAHM carry an $8k handbag? I wouldn’t be comfortable carrying a bag like that to the grocery store or a parent/teacher conference.

Anonymous wrote:My wife's birthday is coming up.
She told me that she wants a Chanel handbag for her birthday. I checked the price, and it was $8,000. I'm shocked! $8,000 for a handbag? That's crazy. Is she crazy?

I told her it's silly to spend so much money on a handbag.
She is insisting on a Chanel handbag and says it's an investment.
She doesn’t want anything else.

I love her and want to make her happy, but I can't justify spending $8k on a handbag. It’s a lot of money.

She is a SAHM. We have 2 children.

Any advice?

If you earn $800k+ annually then yes, otherwise no.

HHI?

This isn’t how I operate regarding handbags.

She’s not asking for a bag. She’s asking for a status symbol.

I’m not saying to give it to her, but … also … how much does she earn or contribute? How much does she spend. If she earns 80k on her own and doesn’t spend a lot, I mean why not?

If she is a SAHM (like me), figure out a timeline for *when* a status symbol could fit in? Maybe a year that you take a simple or no vacation? Maybe a year you hit a positive financial milestone?

Again, I would never ask. But I might ask for a massive yard project instead!

If you can easily afford it, I don't think it's your place to decide if it's "worth it" or not. If it would stretch your budget, that's a different story.

No. matter how much money you have 8,000$ for a handbag is an extremely unreasonable purchase.

Ewww. She sounds gross and insecure.

If you can afford it, get it. She will.be happy.

You do realize these things are made in China now for a few hundred dollars, don’t you?

Is this a milestone birthday?

Whenever I walk by Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, etc they often seem really busy. You obviously don’t have to be a 1%er to buy designer goods at least occasionally.

To answer this question, I’d first need to know how you’d respond if she bought you an $8k watch….