A couple of Fridays ago I had to take my cat to the emergency vet clinic. He’d been on edge for a couple of days and was in and out of the litter box every few minutes. I thought he was just acting up because there’s a neighborhood cat that takes a short cut through our yard to get to the woods at the back of our house, but then I sensed it might be more than that. I pulled out the cat wellness book and all his symptoms pointed to either a stone or crystals. This was close to 9 p.m. so I phoned the emergency vet’s office and a vet tech said it did sound like he had some type of urinary problem and to bring him in straight away.

Well, the good news is he didn’t have either, just a bladder infection, but as you can imagine the bill started to creep up. They suggested he stay in overnight so they could get a urine sample. I have to say they were really good about it because they didn’t charge me for the overnight stay. He had an X-ray, lab tests and then a week’s worth of antibiotics, total amount $380. They also said he has tartar build up on his teeth and to get them cleaned. I did get an estimate for that last time he went for his annual shots and check up, total close to $400. So I’m thinking maybe as he’s getting older and more likely to run into these type of problems, it’s time to invest in some pet insurance. I’ve looked at a couple if plans and they range anywhere from $240-$400 for the year. Who would have thought owning a pet could be so expensive. I know veterinary medicine has made advancements, but wow, will you soon have to be rich or famous to own a pet? It got me thinking about my late father who was a great animal lover. He owned two dogs when he was growing up and his family was about as poor as you could get, and there’s just no way they could have paid this type of money.
Well, you can predict the topic of an upcoming Budget Smart Girl column, yep, pet insurance.


Another thing that seems to cost a fortune these days is printer-cartridges. Just about everyone owns a printer now so these companies must be making a fortune. There’s a cartridge refill store close to where I live and I’ve been shopping there and saving about $10-12 on each refill. As I send out lots of work each week, I go through no end of cartridges so it’s really saved me a ton of money. The other day while I was in the store waiting for the cartridge to be refilled…and as I always eavesdrop, I heard another customer and the assistant talking about the very same thing. The assistant said the price of cartridges either stays the same, or they even go up in price, while the price of printers keeps going down. He said if you buy say four new cartridges, it’s comes out to about the same price as a new printer, so sometimes it’s wiser just to keep buying another new printer. Am I the only one who thinks that’s totally bizarre? And no wonder our homes and landfills are overflowing with stuff we no longer use.


For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm and www.gardenandhearth.com/EatingWellonaBudget.htm