First off, thanks for all the well wishes. My cat came through surgery with flying colors. He was pretty woozy when he came home, but before long, he was demanding treats, which meant he was definitely feeling better.
While he was having surgery, I started thinking about what we value. Because his surgery was dental related, the vet was going to do a cleaning while he was knocked out. When I dropped him off, the tech asked me if I wanted them to do anything extra if they noticed problems while they were in there – such as other problem teeth and the like. Of course, I said yes, do whatever you think is necessary. The cost didn’t cross my mind.
Thankfully, his surgery was exactly what we expected, so there were no added costs, but without thinking, I was willing to spend that money, because his health was the most important thing to me at that point. And yet when I’m at the grocery store, I will debate over whether or not I need that extra $3.00 worth of fruit.
While money is money, and $25 is $25 no matter what you spend it on, it’s interesting how priorities differ and when money is more important and when what you’re spending the money on is more important. I think for me, the times when I don’t think about money are when it comes to my pets’ care, my own healthcare, plane tickets home for the holidays (though I do try to find cheap ones), and a few other things.
Not that I always think about money, of course. Some of it is automatic, or more savings focused. “Do I need to buy this or not.” But sometimes, there are more important things to consider than money.
Megan is a 30-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
We’re the same way. We wouldn’t blink twice at paying whatever is necessary for our pets’ health, but I will always spend minutes (sometimes hours) debating over the cost of other things (of course the hours aren’t over groceries – things like a new TV, something we recently purchased).
I’m glad to hear your cat came out of his surgery OK. If either of our dogs ever needed surgery, we’d be in a state still they were back and 100% recovered!
Oh my gosh. I just went through this. Took my cat in for an eye infection and discovered he had a loose tooth and bad gums. During the cleaning, the doctor called me to tell me there were 10 MORE teeth that had to be extracted. And that he’s just one of a handful of breeds with really bad teeth. So she expects to take more out next year. Of course, I said do everything you need to do while you have him anesthetized…
I wasn’t prepared for this. But like yours, he’s now crunching his favorite treats. He doesn’t even seem to mind losing a third of his teeth. Like you, I cared about making he got everything he needed. The cost was going to be paid regardless how much it was. And it was.
This is one area where I always say I’m not going to overspend, but I do. What is it with cats and teeth?
I’m glad your cat is feeling better.