 |
| molly on howl-o-ween |
Some days she's 35 pounds of terror. Most days she's 35 pounds of joy. But sometimes, I look into her cute little face and see this:
 |
| no, she's not giving me that money |
Now it's time for us to move onto the Novice class which means forking over more money. This time it's a bit more expensive ($275) but we also get more classes (10 as opposed to 6). Here is a great example about how subjective wants and needs can be. Obedience training is a little bit of a want and a need. I feel like it's money well spent because we have a better behaved dog; However, I understand that we could probably do without the classes and continue working at home for another month or two. Another factor to consider is the added travel time - the class is near my work, so that is an added day's worth of gas and tolls. I'm sure you've all seen the price of gas recently.
We decided to wait a few weeks before enrolling her in the Novice class. I will be helping a friend out at his restaurant on St. Patrick's Day so we'll use some of that money towards her "education". We have free passes towards the school's daycare facility so we'll rely on that to keep the exercises fresh in her mind.
Without receipts, I'm not really sure what the other $132.18 was spent on. I know I bought food once ($35.00) and rawhides on two occasions (@$9.99 each), but other than that, I don't know. I'll have to add "keep receipts" to my rules.
But as my friend Patty once said "it's still cheaper than a child."
How much do you spend on your pet(s)?
Day Six Spent: $0.00
------------------------
Day Six Saved: $0.00
Last year we averaged $150-175/month. Which is pretty amazing, considering that at the time we had not just a dog, but 4 rodents as well (now we're down to 3 rodents... RIP Sery!). It would have been even lower if we didn't have nearly $500 worth of vet bills in the fall due to Elvis' skin infection and subsequent seizure. :-P
ReplyDeleteah yes, those fabulous vet bills! Have you guys considered pet insurance at all? My mom got it for Wheatie when we first adopted him since greyhounds have a history of cancer & hip dsyplasia. It really paid for itself in past four months when he was having toe issues (which resulted in a toe amputation). I think Molly is a little young for it now, but it might be something we invest in a few years from now.
ReplyDeleteI've thought about it, but I ultimately reached the conclusion that it was more cost effective to just save the amount that we would theoretically pay in insurance so we have enough of a cash cushion to pay said vet bills.
ReplyDeleteAssuming we pay, say, $30/month in insurance, we'd have paid about $1000 in insurance premiums so far for him. That's more that double what we've paid so far to treat the only two health problems he's had to date, and that doesn't even take into account deductibles.