It's always been my dream to one day have average-looking teeth. I'm 27 years old with a new job making 18/hr, 35 - 45 hours week, take home pay estimate $2300 - 3000/month.
Expenses: $350/mo on shared rent, $100 - $300 on food, $100 - $400 on gas, parking tickets, and car maintenance, $40 phone, $64 car insurance. $150 on cigarettes if I don't succeed in one of my next thousand cessation attempts. I don't pay utilities, I don't have health insurance, and I avoid doctors like the grim reaper.
I have a bit over $2,000 to my name right now and my most pessimistic savings estimate is $500/month. I'm aware my budget is rough and variable, as is life.
I also have bad teeth, bad enough to scare children. They've been bad my whole life. I didn't regularly brush my teeth until I was around 13 and my parents spent all their money and whatever they could steal or beg from me on drugs and alcohol. But I always believed, if I work hard enough and don't fuck up too much (which I did) that I could buy better teeth.
Here's what I'm considering.
1) Save up $15,000 over the next year or three, drive to Los Algodones (Molar City), Mexico, and just get it all done. I've had exams and x-rays but I still don't have a good idea what I'd actually need and how much it would cost, only that it would be about 30% of the price out there. This appeals to me because I love the Southwest and I always fantasize about traveling, but I would probably have to quit my job as I might have to stay for an extended time. I will have to research and plan a lot more to ensure I don't wind up stranded and broke south of the border with my beautiful new smile.
2) Commit the cardinal sin and put it on credit, right now. I am willing to go into debt and pay interest on it to an extent, but I've never done anything like this, never had a credit card, and have no idea how to go about it. I've had total opposite advice from friends and family, from "You're young, everybody does this, enjoy life, it will be nothing once you have a career" to "it will completely ruin your life, you'll be buried in debt forever, it's the dumbest thing you can do, never get a credit card." It has not helped me make a decision.
The thing is, I really, really want to get my teeth fixed up. I want to start attempting to date and talking to girls I like. I want to be able to laugh and smile without embarrassment and guilt. I want to stop feeling like a repulsive goblin creature all the time. I would be totally fine with having to put off retiring by 10 years to enjoy one year of my 20s.
What I don't want is to regret it. I've seen too many souls crushed by debt, so many people I love and care about helplessly squirming under the oppressive bootheel of compound interest. To me, borrowing money from a financial institution is like summoning the devil to grant my earthly desires. If this isn't an absolutely terrible decision, I need to know how to go about it.
Please just give me advice on what you would do in my situation. My indecisiveness is causing me distress and I need to make up my mind.
tl;dr: The Romans could have easily conquered Germania.
Submitted April 10, 2021 at 04:48AM by NavrusKhabar https://ift.tt/2PU6Mvh
