How many of y'all out there have issues with spousal permission for high-tech purchases?

How do you go about easing your burden for obtaining permission for these purchases?

Have you ever been known to tell a lie regarding a purchase, or cover up the purchase entirely?

I've always been in the position where it wasn't soley my decision to make a purchase regarding an Item, typically $100 and up. However, I've never been consulted about clothing/accessory purchases in my life.

My problems are compounded by the fact that I have an addiction to expensive toys. I must have them, immediately. Co-Workers called me Instant-Gratification-Man ... Don't get me wrong, I don't go out and buy the latest crap because it's out there (no x-box or tivo) ... I research and debate and research and think ... once I've decided that a particular product really is for me, and that I would get a bit of use out of it, I am on a one way path to the purchase. Nothing I or anyone else does can change the fact that sometime down the road, that product will be mine.

This has typically manifested itself into items which cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars up to several thousand dollars.

My wife has historically frowned (understatement) on this activity, but since I manage the finances, it is at times a little too easy to disguise some of these purchases as less significant than they really are, if she finds out about them at all. She's no fool, but on occassion a secret will stick and remain stable in its secrecy. Sometimes a $500 remote control is transformed into a "$100 on-sale" item. A $1200 mp3 player for the car is transformed into a $200 gadget, to ease the would-be pain.

I've been busted a few times simply by savvy friends who come over and remark on said $500 remote control, asking my wife why she would allow me to get such a thing. (Thanks Alex Harper!). Other times I'll be forced to confess my transgressions.

Luckily my marriage hasn't suffered. I know other guys who aren't so lucky, my wife is generally pretty forgiving and she even has a sense of humor about that Pronto remote.

My question to you is, do you have this adiction or permission problem? How do you cope with it? Have you been able to overcome your purchasing urges in the past? What are your thoughts on this?

Greg