M is for Money

For every two steps forward, something will come along and shove you one step back

In November I paid off the last of our pet’s medical debts. The previous year has been an expensive one for pet ownership, with each of our three dogs requiring either surgery or hospitalization. To help cushion the blow I took advantage of our Care Credit account, which offers zero percent financing on medical expenses. Despite the low/no interest, I wanted to erase that balance before the end of the year so we could move onto new goals. But as Murphy’s Law dictates, something happened along the way.

We’ve been to the vet twice this past week, for two different dogs. First D dug into the trash – and what would the world’s most finicky dog be after? A discarded turkey bone, the leg to be precise. He had gnawed off the end before Mr. M discovered the naughty pooch. Poultry bones can be very dangerous, they are sharp and splintery. But I’ve had dogs eat them many times before without harm. We took a watch and wait approach. Well he threw up the whole day, so off to the vet we went. $650 to find out he’ll be perfectly fine, the x-rays revealed a few bone shards in his tummy. They should break down on their own, he just had the mother of all tummy aches.

When we got home from the vet with D, we noticed C squinting his right eye. There is a lot of dust and debris due to the construction, so we figured his eyes were irritated. We rinsed his eye out with saline and kept an eye on it. Well, Murphy was still in control. Come Saturday he was still squinting that eye, so we made a vet appointment. Apparently his eye has two tiny scratches on it, he needs eye drops and the dreaded cone for a week. Oh, and a follow appointment up on Tuesday. At least this has been cheaper than Turkeygate.

I put D’s turkey bill on the Care Credit card, which had finally reached zero. I already adjusted our budget to increase our retirement savings, my original plan for when I paid off that Care Credit balance. I don’t want to go back. I’ll keep the increased retirement contributions and take the money from somewhere else. The balance is zero interest for a year, but I’ll be certain to pay it off before then. There are some important lessons in this experience.

1) Setbacks are an inevitable part of the journey

When it comes to debt reduction, there are times when that the balance will move in the wrong direction. You can’t let it discourage you, you have to work through these setbacks. They are inevitable, don’t take them as a personal insult.

2) Flexibility is the key to success

Even the best laid plans need to be changed when circumstances change. When setbacks happen, you have to react. Maybe you can continue on your original path, or maybe you need a new budget and new priorities. A rigid budget is bound to fail.

I had a lot of goals and hopes for the next year, but in the months since I started planning the future our current situation changed. Now I need to save for a wedding, rebuild our emergency fund, and once again pay off the Care Credit balance. Some of our early retirement milestones will have to wait another year, while we deal with our immediate needs. As Murphy’s Law says, setbacks will happen.


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