About sixteen years ago, I met him for the first time. My trainwreck sibling brought home this adorable puppy he had no business adopting because he had not one thing in his life that wasn’t a mess. I was furious at my sibling – he didn’t even take care of himself, how could he drag
Read More
February 11, 2010
In a previous post, Pets and money: where do you draw the line?, we talked about a situation where a family had to choose between necessities and a pet’s health. The woman literally didn’t know how she was going to feed her kids, but with an unemployed husband, she still brought home a sick puppy.
I’m an animal lover, as my “retirement plan” clearly indicates, but I’m also a very practical person as my blog shows. At no point would I ever want to be faced with an either/or situation when it comes to the health of my family, including the furry, wet-nosed and four-footed members.
Knowing what I do about the costs of health care for animals, I could not, in good conscience, take on any more pets without a solid pet fund. Saying that aloud makes me feel like a Murphy’s target was just painted on my back.
I recommend being proactive: get an emergency kit and fund put together. You never know when an incident may strike and if it’s minor, a kit could save you an expensive visit to the vet’s office.
Lemons and the case for an animal emergency kit
So many people think: “it couldn’t happen to me. My pet is calm, quiet, and well-behaved, he/she/it wouldn’t ever need emergency anything.” Once in a while, that’s true. Some pets can go his/her/its entire life without needing more than routine maintenance. It’s a rarity, though.
I’m a mutt-lover. Each of my three dogs were a variation on a Mutt, and only one of them developed truly life-threatening health problems later in life. I was lucky enough to be working at a clinic at the time and he received top-notch care at a discount, but there were times I knew that, as a regular client, I would have been forced to make a final decision based on cost. Even with a 75% discount, I spent more than $3,000 on him on an $18,000 salary. My other two live(d) unnaturally long lives – the chihuahua lasted about 18 years, the large breed mix is still hobbling along at 15 years of age. We probably only have a few, if that many, years left together.
Some people believe in the power of the purebred. They think that good bloodlines are security, a bit of insurance against the run of the mill illnesses that plague mixed breeds, mutts, and scruffy rescues. To some degree, they’re right. They’re very unlikely to get a Parvo Pup from a reputable breeder – though there aren’t any such guarantees if you’re dealing with a disreputable breeder or even worse, a puppy mill.
But the thing purebreds have going for (or against) them is the predictability of their breeds. Labs have hip dysplasia, Dachshunds and other long, low-riders have spinal problems, Great Danes have gastric torsion, white Boxers are highly prone to cancer and lots of it. None of these mean that every purebred’s fate is set in stone, it just means they’re highly prone to specific illnesses.
What you don’t get in that list of “what they’re prone to” is the list of “what else could happen.”
GB: the cautionary tale
My dear friends bought a very Marleyesque dog, we’ll call him GB for the Good Boy he really tries to be. The cost of just bringing GB home was several hundred dollars, a cost that my pound/rescue supporting self will withhold comment on. They spent hundreds on puppy obedience training, a crate, beds, pens, and all the other conveniences.
The trouble started when GB got home. He was so excited and happy that he had to explore everything and everywhere, and everywhere bought him a big swollen bite on the face. It could have been a spider or insect bite, either way, he looked like one of those hugely magnified Hallmark cards. Off to the vet! Hundreds of dollars and a few shots later, his swelling went down and he worked up a rash instead.
For two weeks he was on antibiotics to treat the rash, infected because GB wouldn’t stop scratching at it, and then his immune system went haywire. He’d never had reactions to his vaccines before but after the bite, he was highly allergic to the vaccines and his vet decreed No More.
Life settled down a bit. I was asked for advice on some suspicious looking pink fleshy scabby things on his face, it seemed to be ok. For any other dog. Knowing GB, I sent them back to the vet anyway and sure enough, more meds. Surprisingly, GB was still in the neighborhood of sub $10,000 at this juncture but he’s nothing if not high-achieving.
A few months later, he couldn’t keep anything down. I didn’t hear about it for about a day, but as they became concerned, my phone started to ring. “Something to do with GB? Yes, take him to the vet.”
X-rays revealed that in his love of turf, he’d scarfed a tiny bit of netting with the grass and it had gotten caught somewhere on the way down to form a little net. Like a sieve, this one inch piece of netting cupped and blocked his intestinal tract, only allowing liquid to pass through. Three cups of dog foods a day came right back up. Two surgeries, another $10,000 later, and GB was sent home with orders to gain 20 pounds during recovery.
He’s had other incidents, like chronic ear infections for his love of swimming with his head underwater, but I’m just grateful he made it through his first year.
He’s a big ticket dog, for which a dog/pet health fund would be highly recommended as part of your arsenal as a pet owner. Pet insurance is always a consideration but it can be hit or miss. I think the decision whether or not to carry pet insurance depends on your cash flow, earning and saving power, and the extent and quality of the coverage offered.
On the more prosaic front, GB managed to injure himself again over the holidays, again sending his parents screaming for my help. Luckily, it was one of the easiest things in his medical history to deal with: a broken dewclaw. The dewclaw on a dog is that thumb-like nail that actually doesn’t serve a purpose but to get broken, chewed on, or hung up on things. The canine’s external appendix, if you will.
For that, I just needed a pair of dog nail clippers, gauze, medical tape and some powder to stop up the bleeding. After clipping off the shattered nail, I wrapped him up and sent him, fat-pawed and resentful, on his way. An emergency visit for that would have cost them at least $100 for the late night visit and then a bit more for simple treatment.
I’d recommend having a Pet Kit on hand for some of the more routine things that your pet could require. My own held the following:
1. Nail clippers. Not the ones that look/act like a guillotine, my dogs hated those. The ones that were more like scissors. They’re easier to control and less uncomfortable for the pet. These are good for basic maintenance, and for situations like GB’s.
2. Cotton balls, long Qtips, and gauze. Pets get into stuff, getting scratches, scrapes and all over in dirt, grass and blood. They’re kind of like kids that way. It’s easier to assess the situation when they’re cleaned up. Long Q-tips are great for keeping ears clean, especially if you’ve got a chronic ear infection on legs. (We did.) Water dogs should also have cotton stuffed in their ears to help protect them from ear infections as well – be sure to check with your vet before you do anything like that, though!
3. Medical tape or wrap that sticks to itself. I used Vetwrap which is like a hybrid between Saran Wrap and medical tape.
4. Towels/rags: Always useful after baths, wrapping up the bedraggled, and containing messes (ahem, vomit).
$$$$
As far as a pet fund goes, I’d be most comfortable with having at least $1,000 per pet assuming I’m still maintaining an outsized amount of cash on hand. If not, I’d like to have closer to $5,000 squirreled away per pet. They can borrow from one another but I don’t like to take for granted that they’ll take turns being sick or injured.
Disclaimer: I’m not a veterinarian- I cannot diagnose your pets. When in doubt, please see your vet.
February 10, 2010
Could I have the mic, please?
I must express my sincere thanks to each of you who reads this blog, shares your experiences, and supports me through some of my ugliest, most painful moments.
More than that, several of you whom I don’t yet have permission to thank publicly but would really like to!, were overwhelmingly compassionate when Fabulously Broke and Rina of Gotta Little Space sent out a plea of comradery and community after my post on Sunday. It had been a soul-rending sort of day and I deeply needed to purge the poisons of paralytic despair, never dreaming it would become a call to arms.
FB made the argument for a spot of help better than I ever could have – I couldn’t have justified asking for anything. I trek from today, to tomorrow, to next week, making the best of it. Nobody was compelled, no one was importuned with expectation. But you gave anyway. And you gave with wishes that it could be more, when no matter how much (and never ever “how little”) you gave, the gesture meant the world to me.
I’m not destitute, just heartwrecked. I didn’t have the words, who knows if I ever would, to ask for help for myself but I am blessed with friends who know me well enough to step in anyway.
Because my parents are destitute. They’ve lost the joy and freedom that parents earn after raising two children, they’ve stalled in gear, in survival mode. Instead of pride in a job well done, instead of relishing time-mellowed relationships with their adult children, they’re always fretting. Reliance on their daughter must be crippling her future, they think, and so they pinch every penny, unable to partake in the most basic pleasures in life. Rarely taking good enough care of themselves. Asking, needing yet more from me, was destroying the definitions of their parenthood, shaking already fragile psyches.
It is on their behalf, I gratefully accept these helping hands that aren’t about me, that are about helping people over an increasingly rough road until we can make more permanent decisions. Those decisions cannot be made lightly, they take time and ever-limited resources. Resources like extra gas money for twice or thrice weekly 60-mile round trips to the nearest, properly-equipped adult day care center and the invaluable benefits. Resources like that can buy time, a chance for rest, for solace, for reflection and planning. And time can bring a measure of peace and clarity.
A wise friend said, “if we don’t help each other, who will?”
Though I firmly believe the same, that fact has never before come home with such grace and selflessness. For our good fortune, in this wealth of friendship, please know that this will be put to good use, and will be passed forward.
February 9, 2010
When you’re in pain, the world needs to know. Sorry loves, I’m updating you on the weird developments in my dental world.
All last week, as my
Tweeple might have heard, I was in
excruciating pain. Purportedly stress-related, it was agonizing and frustrating that the pain kept coherent thought at bay and kept me at that high level of stress. Almost as upsetting was the foggy realization that I was spending money on things I a) would normally avoid, or b) had to buy for convenience’s sake. Adding up the numbers is fairly well horrifying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Category A:
Repeat or unnecessary medications: My dad offered to make what would have been my third trip out to the hospital to pick up medications. The pharmacy filled one too many and sent him home with Naproxen, the OTC version of which I already had.
Processed foods: At best I was gumming my meals and even that hurt. I couldn’t take one more day of liquids-only or scrambled eggs so I bought packaged mashed potatoes (just add water!) and Top Ramen. I could just microwave the one, and overcook the other into mush. [Yeech!]
Category B:
Ordered in food: I paid a premium for high-calorie, high-sodium soup because I desperately needed extra calories and my dad can’t handle non-Asian cooking. He means well but he’s only cooks Asian-style and recipes make no sense to them. *sigh* OTOH, French onion soup. Oh yes….
Category C – luxuries, unbudgeted:
One of my close friends, a massage therapist, called me on Saturday at noon with instructions to nap, drink plenty of water and drive 50 miles to see her. She took me to an acquaintance whose background includes physical therapy among other homeopathic disciplines, and we spent an hour and a half working on postural analysis and some exercises. My good ole narcotic had worn off before we crossed his threshold, and the pain level didn’t spike during our session. For five days, pain has exploded as soon as a med wore off… this was nothing short of breathtaking.
She bundled me off and gave me a good long massage (she insists it was only an hour, but I suspect she fudged the time a bit.) I insisted on paying her because her partner is on disability right now and money is tight, but she also insists that the next massage is free. Who am I to argue?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can think again.
I could drive, I could talk on the phone for short bursts, I can remember things. (Not everything, but it wasn’t a certified miracle.) Pain management is incredible.
The eagle-eyed might notice that, above, my dentist, for the pleasure of making me cry when he thwacked my already smarting teeth with his instrument, gave me a 10% discount on the nightguard. Actually, he noted the discount when he found out that I was paying cash. But still. They both discounted the total price and didn’t charge to expedite the order. (I’d told them there was a chance I had to be out of town the following week for an interview.) Good folks.
We’re not all the way there yet, but lots of deep breathing and judicious use of the painkillers makes an enormous difference. There really seems to be something to this alignment business. If I can, I’d like to see him one more time to help winnow the pain down to less than a daily occurrence and work on my own from there.
February 8, 2010
Many of us who grew up with the mantra Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle may be most familiar with it thanks to the annual Earth Day activities in school where you spent a week collecting cans or brought in stacks of paper you thought your parents were done with for recycling. (Ooops.)
SSB4C made a great point about the misconception that recycling is an adequate cure-all. It’s not free, and it’s better not to use the item in the first place if you don’t need to. But our society runs so much on the Disposable Attitude that I’d like to advocate another form of eco-friendliness: repurposing.
When and where you can: consider a different purpose for an item you’re about to discard.
Containers are the simplest to repurpose. Empty glass jars become coin collectors, storage for leftovers, a temporary home for new plants, a desk organizer for pens and pencils, “hurricane glasses” for tea lights, etc. Creative kids can turn containers in to booby traps, treasure chests, bombs of all sorts.
Does anyone remember the milk jug scoops? When you finished up a gallon of milk, an adult would cut out a portion of the side, and kids could use it for scooping sand (or water during a massively unfair water fight before it escalates to just using the hose).
Or the last of the shampoo in the bottle was diluted for you to make bubbles with. Toilet paper rolls become chew toys for the dogs, cats bat around bundles of old shoelaces with a long trailing lace.
A bag full of my t-shirts, scrubs, scrap materials became a quilt.
What about choosing not to buy things if you can repurpose another item?
I’ve used this former travel pack box of Q-tips as: a wallet sized photo holder (high school) credit card/gift card holder (college), and now a pillbox.
Use glass or plastic jars to grow some herbs on the window sill, or glasses as cookie cutters instead of buying round cookie cutters?
Opt to just microwave your cup of water for tea instead of buying a new kettle like EM?
Use old or mismatched socks as cleaning and dusting rags instead of buying disposable cleaning wipes? I do this all the time to clean my blinds because they fit right over my hand like those cleaning gloves, and I don’t have to grip or anything. Just spray and wipe.
Or use the clean mate-missing sock to make a heating sock? Fill it up with rice and heat in the microwave instead of buying a heating pad. This works wonderfully as a drape across your shoulders too, for a relaxation technique. Though I’m more willing to sacrifice beans (ugh) than edible rice, I don’t know if it heats up just as well.
There are hundreds of ways we can choose to save time, money, resources and some space in a landfill by being a little creative.
February 6, 2010
From the readers
444 Express meets the insufficient funds monster! And has managed to prevent a promotional balance from garnering all the interest from the promo period on a card carrying a balance.
Abigail of I Pick Up Pennies: 1. My MIL is (finally!) quitting smoking. She has been using Kroger brand patches. She went to get another box of the step she was on. Couldn’t find it. Went to 3 more Fred Meyer’s and… nothing.
So she went up to the pharmacy and asked if they had any in the back. He said they were out. She mentioned they were out at 3 other stores. So he made a call. Turns out, they’re not going to make that step anymore.
She asked if he would give her the Nicoderm at the Kroger price. He said he didn’t think he could do that. She pointed out that it seemed unfair to pull the rug out from under people who had started the program with the generic. He thought about it, made a call, and gave her the generic price. Fifteen dollars saved — which is a big deal when you’re on disability!
2. We got Tim 3 pairs of sunglasses (he loses/breaks them a lot) and he wanted to get a case or two to keep them safe. So we headed over to Walmart’s optical store. As we were discussing the merits of various cases, an employee approached us. He had a case — nicer than the ones we were looking at, and it came with a cleaning cloth — that he had been given and wasn’t using. He just handed it to us. (So, okay, this wasn’t us asking, per se. But it was still pretty cool!)
3. At Macy’s the woman in front of us was using a $10 off coupon. I asked where she got it, she told me it was in that day’s paper. When it didn’t work for her, she offered it to us. It was supposed to stop working at 1 p.m. (It was about 1:10.) But we tried it anyway, and it worked. And I wouldn’t have gotten the coupon if I hadn’t asked the woman about it.
Karen – My lease was up for renewal and the management sent me a letter with my rent increase. It was a 6% increase. I have never renewed a lease so I am uncertain if this is a standard rate increase. Due to owning a dog greater than 25lbs and needing to live within a certain radius, my options are limited. I called the property manager and asked why my rent was going up 6%. I was told my rent was under market value and that it would still be under market value with the 6% increase. She asked if I was expecting no increase. I wasn’t however I wasn’t expecting 6%. She said she would look at my lease renewal and see what she could do. She called back and offered a 4% increase instead.
Personal victories
Textbook madness: With only two classes, I shouldn’t complain but I had ordered books in readiness for the new quarter only to be surprised with a different book on the syllabus posted on the first week of classes. Mon Dieu, professor! Why lead me astray so I’ve a useless book at the ready and naught to be used??
I emailed the instructor, hoping with my eyes squeezed shut that it was an old syllabus, that he’d neglected to update the text. Alas, twasn’t the cast. Crestfallen, I glared at the book. I had to find, and price- and shipping-times compare. Like Superman (Prime), like Optimus (Prime), Amazon Prime came to my rescue, the book priced just $2 less than the rental with a two-day ship time.
Unexpectedly, an email pinged in from the instructor. He’d spoken with the course representative and suggested that we touch base for a reimbursement. A few emails and a phone call later, the course representative agreed to reimburse me for the cost of the replacement book. ($63)
But the saga doesn’t end there — I was expecting to hit the road and needed the replacement book to meet me at a halfway point. Thanks to Amazon Prime, I expected to see the new book within a couple of days, but it took me almost 48 hours to realize that the shipping address had reverted to my home address. Cuh-rap. Another round of calls to Amazon to get the shipment rerouted turned into five calls and 16 hours of frustration. Finally, I was offered a $10 discount from Amazon for their inability to help me (and for the previous CSRs lying to me). I spent half of it to get the book shipped to the right place.
Macy’s and the everlasting coupon: Like Bed, Bath and Beyond, Macy’s has become one of those retailers I won’t shop without a coupon. They’re overpriced and reasonable only with a combination of sale, coupon and gift card. Unfortunately, my friends insisted on making an impromptu stop without doing coupon research beforehand. *the horror*
I looked up coupons on my iPhone, and asked the floor manager if they were willing to scan my phone since I couldn’t print a coupon. He laughed at me saying, “You’re just trying to be difficult” and waved off the phone. Instead he manually entered a discount when he rang up the purchase, giving us 15% off every item instead of just 10% off Housewares. Savings: $10.79
Hot Pot and VH’s butcher trick: A friend and I had hot pot plans for dinner, but I was too tired to shop at the Asian grocery store, Trader Joe’s, the produce place, AND Safeway. We needed thinly sliced pork, though, and usually there’s no call for that at a regular grocery store. My only option seemed to be buying pork chops at $4/lb and slicing thin strips off the chops.
Instead, I talked to the butcher at Safeway, explained what I needed and lo, he led me straight to the pork shoulder, on sale for 99 cents/pound and offered to slice it up for me. I should have gotten a few pounds of the pork and frozen it for later at that price! He saved me both an extra trip and 75% off the meat.
As always, every little bit counts! And as always, I welcome your sharing!
February 4, 2010
Thank goodness for COBRA with the attached dental insurance. The score isn’t really zero, of course, I don’t count my premiums when I’m looking at these out of pocket expenses. But to stay really honest, I’m paying around $20/month for coverage right now, and haven’t paid a deductible.
I’ve been experiencing severe generalized dental pain since Monday, and it’s only getting worse. I’ve seen the dentist ($100, covered by insurance), the oral surgeon ($301, covered by insurance), have an appointment with my physician tomorrow which WILL cost me a great deal (at least $45 to start), and will have to shell out a cool $350 on top of that for a nightguard.
[Side Note: Examining my receipt, I noticed that insurance still hasn’t paid the balance for my cleaning from more than 6 weeks ago. No wonder offices hate dealing with insurance.]
All this because there’s nothing to be done dentally or surgically as far as my dental care providers are concerned. They are advising that I find a way to relax because apparently, being stressed is what’s causing my body to react in ways that are ultimately self-destructive, painful and stressful. *sigh* Doing it to yourself, self.
MoneyFunk suggested a *fun* solution of drinking applying whisky to the affected area but sadly, that just made the teeth even more sensitive. Darn, we were really hoping that’d be the answer. ($15 for whisky and ice cream bars. Shoulda told the cashier it’d been a rough day, hee.)
I promise I’m not faking it so I can hide in bed for hours in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I really want to get out and about, but this pain is excruciating. In comparison to the pain I’ve had over the years with my medical condition that was way high on the pain scale, this pain is much worse; it keeps me up at night and fogs my brain. I hate the feeling of fogged brain. I hate starving even more – my teeth can only tolerate liquids (of varying temperatures) and soft foods like mashed potatoes which isn’t enough. *dreams of Lemony Luna Bars and steak dinners dance in my head* *Oh, and craving sushi. Again.*
In any case, it’s rather ironic that when I need to be at my best and fulfilling earning potential, I’m only barely making it to medical appointments and emerging with no real answers.
Time to count my blessings of current health insurance coverage and … yeah. That’s all I’ve got right now. That and a bushel of OWWWW.
February 3, 2010
Today we have a guest post from Silicon Valley Blogger (SVB) of The Digerati Life, my Northward neighbor and savvy investing problogger. Please make her welcome!
The Digerati Life is a site that covers financial topics, from investing and budgeting to debt management. Check the site for online stock trading promotions, including this OptionsHouse promotion code page for cheap brokerage commission rates.
When a stock broker mentions growth investing, they are referring to companies that show a lot of future potential. To understand growth investing versus any other type of investing, it will also be helpful to understand market capitalization. The market capitalization figure will tell you the size of a company. I look at growth investing a little differently than what you’ll find from online definitions of the term. To me, you must figure the company’s market capitalization in order to know its place in its industry.
Many investors probably don’t pay much attention to market capitalization, but they all should. The market capitalization figure should be one of the first numbers you look at when analyzing a company. Companies can be divided into groupings by their market capitalization. A large cap company is greater than $10 billion, mid cap is $2 to $10 billion, small cap is $300 million to $2 billion, and there are smaller companies less than $300 million. This figure is the result of multiplying the price of a single share of stock by the shares which the company has issued outstanding. That is the equation to determine market capitalization if you don’t have a listing for it already on your information source. You should do the calculation anyway, because then you’ll know your stocks’ value, for sure.
Market Capitalization = Price of Single Share of Stock x Shares Outstanding
Now stocks can also be categorized as either growth or value stocks. A high growth company can have any kind of capitalization, whether it be micro cap, small cap, mid cap, or large cap. The growth part of the analysis has to do with potential. How much market share does the company hold in its industry? To figure market share of an industry, you’ll have to get the total market capitalization of the companies in the industry you are analyzing. Then divide each one into a hundred to figure its percentage share of the market. This figure will also give you a chance to see potential growth for your company. A company often grows by taking market share away from other companies.
Total Industry Market = Market Cap A + Market Cap B + Market Cap C
Market Share in % = Market Cap (A, B, or C) /Total Industry Market
All the calculations and rules of thumb in the world won’t help you identify a growth stock if you pick the wrong industry. You have to ask yourself, what kind of money is this company making right now, what could it be making ten years from now, and then look at the industry your company pick is in… is that industry in decline or not? In general value investors look for companies in established industries with an undervalued stock price. Growth investors look into emerging and presently hot industries for a company that is about to take off or has the potential for high growth in the future. In value investing, your gains are from buying cheap and selling at reasonable prices. In growth investing, your gains are made by buying at a reasonable prices and then selling at even higher prices. Pay attention to market capitalization figures, and the position of the industry your company is in, and that will make you a better investor.
