=== Long story short ===
I use a Amex Server prepaid card via direct deposit of fixed amount to get hobby money before remainder is deposited to my joint checking. Recently the card had fraudulent charges and Amex ultimately closed the account altogether stating I broke TOS.
=== /End Long story short ===

like most of your "con's" seem to be based on being cheap.  Anytime, you're fucking around outside your marriage, whether its with a provider or the 20yo daughter of your neighbor, there are going to be hidden costs that you didn't plan on.  Sometimes, when you try to skimp, that's how you get caught.  There's an old saying that will get rid of most of your stressing over this:
"Don't sweat the small stuff."

hmm, interesting observation... Well I take no offense to it, but I wouldn't say I am cheap. I am attempting to avoid using anything traceable. If you have advice then you are welcome to provide it no matter how "un-cheap" you deem it.

I don't see why you're concerned about the bank statement given you say your wife does the taxes -- she would clearly then know that some of your money is not deposited into the joint account. So what exactly are you trying to hide? What it's spent on not that you have a fund for your own to spend without explaining.

cash a check every few weeks and keep the cash in a desk drawer at home.  When I run low, I cash another check.  However, I have an employee who hobbies and a few years ago when he was getting a substantial raise, he approached me on getting a second check in the amount of the raise, which I think is similar to one of your suggestions.  That way, he still takes his regular check home and lets his wife take it to the bank.  Then he has a separate account (paperless statements) for himself and withdraws money as he hobbies from the ATM.  He says in two years not a single suspicion from his spouse because his paychecks, which she sees, are always for the same amount.

Seems to me, she'll eventually want to know where the missing cash went. I'm not sure there's a good solution for you now. My advice would have been separate accounts from the start and control of all the IRS reporting.

Generally I have found that most people don't try to compare the amount of annual income (after taxes and all the other stuff) to what comes into their bank account per year from one source. You are reading into it too much and this is very much not the question I am asking.

As I stated elsewhere in this thread, she really doesn't notice the smaller amount of money missing from a paycheck nor does she or will she go through the trouble of adding up all the paychecks for the year and comparing them against my final income. If she did there are ways around dealing with that I can come up with. But I digress, that is not the question here...

You need to let it go.  She was sick of you..and from your repeated posts here it's pretty obvious why she got sick of you.

I do like the idea, but I don't know if your employee has realized that any account that draws interest, no matter how small will have a statement for filing with taxes at year end. Additionally the account may actually show in credit reports.  

I guess maybe a fake identity could work! Fake id (easy to buy), doctored proof of residence at some other address, and open a bank account at a bank that doesn't require much more than that. Might not be too crazy since discretion is important.

Since you claimed that your initial dispute was turned down...sounds like YOU did something that may be a much bigger headache than hiding a few bucks from the SO.

YOU know that most of the johns have an SO...and most of those same johns have NO problems with using monies to pay hookers.

You're worrying about a few bucks and how to hide from your wife/SO.  But committing bank fraud is OK with you LOL

DO NOT accrue interest.  If you get an account that is based on some type of analysis in order to determine the monthly charges vs. interest, unless you are keeping a high five-figure balance, the charges will offset the interest and you will not get an interest statement at the end of the year.  Of course, the excess charges above the interest earned will be charged against your balance, but that's peanuts compared to the privacy you get.

Pretty sure no one has really presented a possibly solution aside from get a divorce and/or your screwed other than coeur-de-lion whom I did already thank, whilst discussing the possible ramifications. Not really sure why there is so much animosity on these boards, just asking for suggestions from fellow hobbyists. I know that most of the girls I have seen, when asked, say that at least 50% of their clients are married and those are the ones who admit it, so I don't see the reason for the public flogging.

1. don't skim from a paycheck, but do it from expense reimbursements if you have them. I travel using my own vehicle and can easily pocket the extra cash Uncle Sam allows. Same with Per Diem.

This method was suggested elsewhere, and seems to have some merit:

I thought that might be the case. I will have to be sure going into it I guess. This may actually be the best solution. Would be nice if it didn't show on a credit report but I guess that is still easy enough to write-off as an unknown if ever questioned.

This is the kind of info I was looking for. Very good! Thanks!

This also a very nice idea! Thanks for rehashing from wherever you found it.

You can typically do that at the grocery store, etc. Perhaps just small-ish increments?

Yeah, for security my wife and I don't use debit cards as a rule, so it wouldn't work for me but I am sure it could help others. Thanks for the idea.

I know I will catch shit for saying so - but it really is depressing to realize the great lengths men will go to deceive their spouse.  I try my best to not think about it and then I stumble upon threads like this...such a bummer.  xoxo  Okay back to la la land.  

Well the sensible solution is the honest one: I make the money and will spend it how I want. I don't want to have to explain everything so the smart thing for our happy relationship is to have the joint account for the household expenses and then separate accounts for personal spending.

I was going to suggest the same thing. One can see how LAME many of the characters on this board are. The OP asks a very legit and worthy question yet 90% of the responses are GARBAGE opinions that are absolutely USELESS and contribute NOTHING to the collective intellect of the board.

stash the funds. Other options include bonus checks, rental income checks, etc.--just cash and stash.

This is no public flogging -- just some harmless ribbing because you seem to be making a mountain out of a molehill.

I left her, I don't pay spousal support and neither does she.

Make sure the hobby credit card address gets changed to the PO box. Also when you register with hotels use the hobby mailbox. You don't want hotel mail going to your home address. Sometimes that does not always work, one time I had to get on the phone with American express and tell them to stop sending stuff to my home address connected with the hampton inn.

Then you go on and on and on claiming to be the speaker to "us" using "friends horror stories" as your warning  LOL

I am thankful for being single... and just play with my clients.  
One of the reasons why I would never marry.

That's the method I mostly use.  I cash the expense checks.  I then sock away cash a little at a time to supplement.

A bank savings account will NOT show on your credit report.  

I have my payroll check deposited into 2 accounts, 1 is a joint account, and the other is the account in another bank I use to fund the kids 529 accounts and I also use for my legit hobbiest, but I use this bank for nothing else.  The mailing address on the 2nd account is an out-of-town (20 miles away) PO Box, and I also use this same address for all of my hotel "points" accounts and anything else that pops-up and could cause potential "issues", and I also use this as the return address anytime I mail anything hobby related ($ to P411, etc.).  (And if I forget something at a hotel or wherever, this is the address it is mailed to.)

Potential Risk -- wife will see distribution and capital gain statements and wonder where the $ is going.

Why don't you start a tread for the ladies to discuss how they keep their SOs/BFs/spouses from finding out about their work. I have a feeling that the SOME of the ladies here will have similarly "depressing" (to some) suggestions.  

+1, that too!

You are the lamer when you hang around a board for two years with no intention of buying anything. You are a self admitted street monger for Christ's sakes.

in a sock in my sock drawer and only use that.

I guess it depends on how closely your wife audits your spending, but if you set aside $100 from each ATM withdrawal you can accumulate a tidy sum for hobbying in just a few weeks. Once you've established this sort of slush fund and are disciplined about maintaining a balance, it should never run dry unless you go crazy on a long weekend.  

It was easy to get a Debit card with skimmed money but now they request a SS #.  It's easy to fake the requested addressfor the prepaid Debit card but I can't fake a SS # they're actually checking.  Anyone using a prepaid where you don't supply SS #?

Who gets a real paycheck any more to actually take to the bank to cash?

Bad luck on your part but IF you went on some site then you put in information pertaining to whatever and that included a credit card number. You also clicked the "SUBMIT" button or whatever they use.