Busted my chops

I'm so sorry to hear that, @Wodha. This is never a good scenario. I've been put on notice several times, usually for amounts ranging from $200 to $500. We've agreed upon a monthly budget now though, so there's less tension.

Although that didn't stop her from baulking at my having spent $200 recently for a single 500ml bottle - which I must say, did exceed my monthly "allowance" in that case (but it's a rolling allowance, so if I don't spend money one month I can spend big next month or conversely, I can over-spend on month and have less to play with next month).

On the plus side, this has driven me to open and enjoy more of my existing bottles and has led me to be more judicious in my whisky purchases.

This reminds me of the photo of your bowl of whisky corks and how your wife commented that it represented a lot of money.

Perhaps you need to bring her into the connosr fold. Or do a better job of "getting away with it."

I'm currently trying to stick to $125 a month. I like to buy nice beers too, so that's probably another $75/mo easily.

A new bottle every couple of weeks was fine with the missus, especially if I picked up a nice bourbon every now and then. (She loves bourbon, likes Scotch. I'm just the opposite.)

But the day I came home from Binny's with half a dozen semi-pricey bottles, I got the silent treatment for several days. Hey, I had to make the hour's drive worthwhile!

So now I'm on a strict $100 per month budget -- but, like @systemdown, it's a rolling budget. I've got plenty of mid-level whiskies in my cabinet, so I might just save up for a Brora or a Port Ellen this summer. Can't think of a better birthday present to myself.

@WhiskyBee Binnys has gotten the best of most I'd say!

I have spent around £200 this month which is rare for me. I certainly couldn't do that every month. I have bought a mixed bag of lower and mid range bottles. My wages vary every month fairly considerably so my spend is related to how much I earn, how my qtr is forcast and what other expenses crop up. This month has been my biggest monthly spend so far and I would probably budget for £40 - £50 per month rising on good months.

I'm pretty lucky in that my wife doesn't really mind too much what I spend on whisky, usually. I think the most I've ever spent in a month was something like $500-$600 AUS on a couple of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection bottles (Handy and Stagg) and I'll oftentimes spend anywhere from $100 to $400 a month on beer (mind you beer for me is tax deductible)

All that being said I try to leave each month to one series of expensive purchases so I'll either spend $300 or so on beer one month and not pick up any whisky, then the next month I might pick up a bottle for $150 to $200 rinse and repeat. The most important thing for me about buying whisky or beer though is that the majority of my wife's and my earnings has to go into savings. If we're not constantly setting money aside due to some big bills coming in, then nothing's purchased until money starts going into savings again.

Budget? I would say I buy between 10 and 15 bottles a year, spending between 40 and 125$ a bottle. On vacation in Florida last week, I bought 3 bottles : Tomatin 18 (we dont have any Tomatin here in Quebec), Redbreast 12 CS and Compass Box GKS. Total 190$US.

My budget is 50 every 2 months. Probably the most conservative one here.

No budget here. Tend to add 3-5 bottles on an average month. Depends on time of year and if there are many new releases though. So far this year I've added about 12 bottles to the collection. As long as bills are paid and there's money on the debit card for the wife I'm good!

While my wife has given me the hairy eyeball at times, I don't budget as my purchasing comes in waves. Since I'm heavily involved with barrel purchases, my take twice a year can get up around $2,000 a run. In addition to the barrel picks, I pick up the stray Scotch, Irish, etc. and then there's the craft beer. So, if I had to average it out, I would say I'm in at about $400 - $500 a month.

I generally have a limit of one bottle per week. Unless it's a really good sale or I'm picking something up for a friend. That rule will be relaxed this weekend for Go Whisk(e)y Weekend though.

@Maltmark Nice work if you can stick to that budget... you must not drink very much whisky? I drink a little under one bottle a month, and I tried sticking to a $30/mo. budget, but I ended up lacking the self-control and went over. Still, I probably don't spend over $40/mo. on average. I usually get a couple bottles a year as gifts, so I don't really need to buy many bottles in a year.

P.S. On a tight budget, it certainly doesn't help that prices have gone up so much in the past year. I found that whisky budgets need to be inflation-adjusted!

@valuewhisky It's pretty easy to stick to my budget. I just prefer a great marriage over my whisky collection. And yes I drink very little. About 1-2 drams a week. Don't get me wrong, I love whisky, I just don't obsess over it, most of the time. LOL. That's what the budget it for. To keep me accountable to myself and my family. Kind of old fashioned, but that's how I roll.