Happy Monday PF-ers,
I've been on this sub for a couple of years now and always enjoy seeing posts that go into more detail about a specific line-item on a budget. I can budget $400/month for my pet, but what is that really going towards? For those of you that are considering adding a pet to your life, perhaps this could help you with that decision.
The Story: My SO and I had been wanting to adopt a puppy ever since we moved in together 2+ years prior, but it wasn't until we were more comfortable with our home type (detached single-family), location (midsize city with plenty of pet-related services and a high concentration of pet-owners), and careers (with somewhat flexible schedules) that we started to look pretty seriously. We Adopted our Golden Retriever/Border Collie (we think) mix in September 2016 as a 10-week old puppy. The adoption fee was a total of $600 as it included travel (he came from The south to the midwest), neutering, some initial vaccines, etc. The cost of a new pup was something big to think about first, but we had been focusing a lot on saving for the 2+ years since college, and were debt-free making ~110k USD at the time, so we began estimating monthly/yearly costs to ensure we could retain our current spending habits, and still have plenty of room to spare.
The Cost(s): I will admit, our pup has cost way more than I could ever imagine. However, by following a strict budget for the larger pet expenses, and making joint decisions on what's important to us, and for him, I think we've found a good balance between our life, the pup's life, and how much it costs.
Breakdown: At a high level, here are the costs for the 3 main (+1) categories we've spent money on in the last 9.5 months:
| Type | 9.5-month Total Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Adoption Fee | $600 | One-time fee |
| Vet | $915 | This is high, as he has had some (2) cases of parasites and general allergies. The daycare also requires certain vaccines. |
| Daycare | $1017 | 0-2.5x per week @ $22.50/full day - began in Jan 2017 |
| Supplies | $1359 | Further Breakdown Below |
| Total | $3,891 | ~$410/month overall average |
Here's a table with the breakdown costs of "Supplies", estimated by where we shopped and what we usually get there:
| Supplies Type | 9.5-month Total Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Leashes | $60 | Multiple lengths |
| Collars | $60 | He keeps getting them eaten at Daycare |
| Harness | $20 | |
| Crates | $75 | 1 for home, 1 for MiL house |
| Playpen/Gate | $100 | To separate rooms without doors |
| Beds | $100 | 1 for each crate, 1 for out of the crate |
| Food | $540 | Fromm Four-Star Nutritionals; though we experimented with multiple types first |
| Treats | $175 | |
| Toys | $200 | |
| Home | $100 | Bowls, poop bags, etc. |
So, the usual monthly budget consists of:
| Item | Monthly Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Food | $40 | |
| Vet | $45 | Nail Trim, monthly flea/tick/heartworm meds |
| Daycare | $215 | |
| Toys | $25 | |
| Treats | $25 | |
| Total | $350 | This remains relatively stable, as most of the lasting supplies have already been purchased and can be used for the foreseeable future. |
Other notes: On non-daycare weekdays, either my SO or I will come home for lunch for 20-45 mins to give him a stretch and to eat lunch. Even with all of this $$$, I can't even quantify the enjoyment, challenges, and quality of life improvement that our dog has brought into our lives; this alone seems to make the cost irrelevant at times. Lastly, something not included in here is the time commitment for exercising a high-energy breed. I'd say we do a solid 1.5-3.5 hours of 100% attention on the pup, every single day. This could include walks, training, going to the park, playing inside, etc. Weekends it can go up to 6-7 hours if we go for long walks multiple times. I could expand on this but I'll keep the content more PF-focused.
I hope this helped bring some insight into the "true" (anecdotal) costs of pet ownership. I'm sure I forgot several things here, so I will make sure to update the post as I'm reminded of them. I'm not looking for help or criticism, I'm just trying to share a pet cost that works for us, hoping it helps others out, as well.
Submitted July 10, 2017 at 10:04AM by NotSureWhyIAsked http://ift.tt/2u07Wsj
