There are several categories within the art and science of budget management that can leave your family underfunded if the unexpected happens.  One such category is the care and keeping of pets.  When I examine most people’s budgets the only cost that is budgeted for is food or litter, items that would be considered supplies.  What I do not see budgeted for is the cost for Vet Visits. There is no such thing as inexpensive health issues in the world of pet ownership.  Having your animals teeth cleaned could easily run you $150.00, Cataract surgery $5000.00. Even a series of shots when you adopt a cat from the pound could run you $175.00.  I recently had an animal die and it cost $400.00 in vet bills for a cat that did not make it home.

 I specifically use “You Need a Budget Software” to account for these types of expenses.  “You Need A Budget” allows me to roll monthly excess in categories from one month to the next.  By using this feature I always had an extra $40.00 per month being saved specifically for Vet bills.  This allowed me to cover the cost of the Vet bills in addition to the adoption of a new animal.  Another way to save money is to price shop or if it makes you feel better get a second opinion.  Do not assume that your Vet is offering the most cost effective option.  I recently had a vet quote me $800.00 to get my new cat’s teeth cleaned (with one pulled).  My mother in law was able to call around town and find a vet who was able to do the same job for $325.00.  This was a huge savings that enabled us to stay within our pet related savings.  As it turns out this new Vet could have also saved us 50% on the shots for the new cat we brought home from the pound, which would have been $80 in my pocket.  Key lesson here, you have to always price shop even if you have been using the same service provider for year.

One thing to understand about Veterinarians they are just like your local doctor or hospital they are in business to make money.  Some veterinarians will offer you services that you may not need, especially when you have an animal that needs to be put to sleep.  I had these “services” explained to me by a Veterinarian I met on a flight.  He said putting an animal to sleep can be traumatic so many times I will offer services that may not save an animal’s life but will enable a person to know they did everything possible to save their animals life.  For instance I was suggested to get a $1000.00 blood transfusion me that would only extend my cat’s life for 1 week to 2 months.  This is inappropriate in a time when the average person is living month to month.  I have also had doctors tell me I should have an Ultra Sound done on my cat along with other tests for $1500, yet when I asked would the ultra sound change the treatment vs. how they would empirically treat the cat they said no.  It is important to understand when you are dealing with Veterinarians and extremely sick animals to understand that you are in an emotional state and in that state you can spend more money than you should.  I suggest sending the individual who is the least connected to the animal to be the one to make these decisions because they will make a logical decision not an emotional one.

My key take-aways for budgeting with animals is:

·         Always save extra every month for health care cost that will come up in the future

·         Look into pet insurance

·         Get a second opinion and a 2nd quote before you do any procedure\

·         Understand when you adopt from the pound that they do not provide all the shots

·         Don’t let emotions cause you to spend more money than you can

·         Always ask a doctor when they offer testing “will this test or procedure save my animals life”

·         Always let them know if you can’t afford something as you can negotiate

It is difficult to watch television or listen to the radio without hearing those cash for gold advertisements.  You know the ones where everyone is paying top dollar and encouraging you to go through your old jewelry to turn it into something more valuable.  You know what I think? I think you should take all your and gold into these shops and see what they will offer for the items.  There are multiple reasons why this tactic may make financial sense for you.

1. At MoneySeason.com we are big proponents on slimming down our lifestyles.  Meaning the fewer items around you that you do not use, the less money you want to spend.
2. Money gained from out of date or broken jewelry can go to fund a contribution for a Roth IRA.
3. Sometimes people buy jewelry believing it is an investment of sorts.  Going to one of these shops and finding out the true value of your possessions will open your eyes and make you think a little bit harder the next time you go to make a purchase that you can’t afford. Because some jewelry is not worth the money you paid for it
4. Many people correctly think if they hit hard times that they can sell old jewelry to withstand the storm.  This is a great way to think about things, but it is important to know how much cash things are worth before you find yourself in that situation.

There are some rules you need to understand in order to get top dollar.

1. Do not let emotions cloud your judgment.  Just because you think something is great does not mean everyone else will value it the same.
2. If it is a piece from a person who meant something to you, understand that does not earn you extra money at the selling table.
3. Most of what you bring in will be weighed on a scale and you will be paid according to weight
4. Always dress professionally and go to a place on an upper middle class part of town, the prices being paid are most likely higher.

What I learned when I took my goods to be appraised.

1. The more unique your item (in my case a custom made wedding band) the more likely a buyer will not want to hold the item for sale as it will take too long.  In this case the value quoted will be by weight.
2. If buying luxury watches is your thing, buy the watches that have a history of good resale value such as Rolex or Omega.  Buying trendy watches such as Movado provide limited compensation at resale.
3. You make your money in resell when you purchase so it is important to understand what you are buying. 24 carat gold is 100%, 18 carat gold is 75%, and 14 carat is 58.5%.

Generally speaking advertising is out there to get you to spend money; I think there is an opportunity with the prices of gold to make money.  Even if you only get $100.  Over the course of 30 years if you invest in a dividend paying stock at get the historical return of the stock market 10% you will have $1744 at retirement.  So maybe it’s time you put your gold to work for you.

Before my son was born my wife and I struggled over the issue of her staying home and raising our child vs. seeking out professional child care.  When we took stock of those around us we saw a mixed bag. Some people chose to have the mom stay home others chose to have the dad stay at home and others decided that finances dictated that both people need to work.  In our case the decision was made for us after I lost my job, a job that took 8 months to replace.  We took on debt from the cost associated with the birth of our son during that 8 months, I was making less money in a job market that dictates last hire, first fired.  It became imperative that my wife maintain her job in order to financially recover.  Prior to me losing my job many of our conversations centered around lifestyle for us and future lifestyle for the children (college, camps, travel) vs. the potential of a stronger foundation that an interactive parent can give in the home setting. After losing my job and future accumulation on the company pension plan I began to really look at the retirement ramifications of my wife staying home. Without a pension (which is one of our 6 points of financial freedom) our ability to retire early would be in serious doubt.  However, my wife also worked for a company where she would vest in the company pension with two more years on the job.  I began to see her vesting in this pension as critical to our goal of retirement at 59 ½.

See this is the real conversation that needs to take place when you want one person to stay home.  The question is not one of lifestyle or your current ability to absorb the cost of a spouse staying home.  The question is how many incremental years you will have to work to stay home?  When thinking about sacrificing an income even for a short period of time you also need to consider your social security benefit.  We do not all get the same benefit at retirement. Your benefit is calculated based on money paid into the system as well as years worked.  When you leave the workforce just to raise a couple of kids until they go to kindergarten you will not only lose 7 years of credited work history and the corresponding salary you will also lose 7 years of raises and in many situations you will find you will not get anywhere near your old salary.  Then factor in the money you could have been saving in a company matched 401K during that time and you can see where retiring at 59 ½ turns into 70.

Another area you need to look at is your commitment and the strength of your marriage.  While you may be able to afford to stay home and still retire at a healthy age due to one spouse being highly compensated, what happens if you get divorced?  Many people find themselves divorced by the mid 40s, getting half of one persons accumulated retirement benefits is not going to get you retired at 59 ½.  Women especially need to consider this as they are normally the ones who stay home and then find difficulty finding a great job after they have been out of the work force for the last 7-10 years.  Throw in the fact that women live years longer than men and financial disaster could be at your doorstep.

I am not saying which choice is right or wrong but I am saying people need to put more thought into the decision.

When we create a budget for most people it is built off a two week pay cycle.  What this means is we get two paychecks a month to pay our bills and to save for that early retirement at 59 ½.  However, when you look at the calendar with 52 weeks in a year we actually have 26 pay periods vs. the 24 that our budget is based on.  That magic day, that first secret bonus for the year is July 28^th with another to follow in December.    The question is, are you aware of this phenomenon and if you are, have you made appropriate plans to allocate this money.  The worst thing you can do with money is leave it unbudgeted.  Every dollar you make should have a parking space.  Here are some ideas that will help you take control of your future.  You could take one of these checks and put it toward making an extra mortgage payment.  One extra mortgage payment a year could take 7 years off the life of your loan.  More importantly having a paid off home is one of MoneySeason.com 7 points of financial freedom and one of the top things you  can do for your retirement.  If you do not own a home this check would make a great contribution to a Roth IRA. 

The second incremental check could go towards an investment in your family or yourself through travel.  When was the last time you experienced something new, learned something new, and got outside of your comfort zone?  These are all reason why travel is another of our 7 points of financial freedom and the secret bonus is great way to make sure you always have money to take advantage of this opportunity.

After talking with a dozen managers in 3 different industries I have been unable to figure out if it is blatant manipulation, poor decision making or fragile psyches that lead women to cry in front of their direct supervisor (or in some cases their clients). More times than not, manipulation is the driving force with a touch of poor decision making that brings the individual to the point where tears are the best way they believe to produce the results they desire. 

Subtle manipulation plays a part in many interactions on the job or in our personal lives.  The problem with crying on your 9-5 is that it is not subtle.  I have been in (and heard about dozens more) many situations where I have been giving coaching or enforcing a rule with a female subordinate where they start crying because the interaction is not going in a positive direction for them.  This could be a bad performance review or being told that you will not receive as aggressive of a raise as you anticipated amongst other things.  Whenever I have been involved in these types of interactions I have always held my ground in terms of my original decision or content that I came to deliver so the tactic has never worked on me.  Yet, what it did do is ruin a portion of my day as I sat in disbelief that somebody would go to such extremes as to manipulate me emotionally, I often replay the event in my head numerous times marveling at the level of unprofessionalism that was displayed.

Crying is always a losing tactic.  In many cases you will not change the outcome that caused you to try this tactic but you will create a negative image of yourself with your boss.  You will lose the support of somebody who may have been an overall proponent of yours.  In the situations where you are able to wear down a new or weak manager you will actually create a situation of dislike.  Everyone needs to understand that there are many ways a manager can affect your career outside of promotions.  These could include pay raises or redirecting resources that can lead to opportunities for development.  For example, Say your name comes up for an opportunity but your boss shoots you down telling his supervisor that you lack the business acumen (crying on the job shows poor business acumen).  Many times people wonder why they do not get ahead in their career, forgetting about the activities they indulged in that have created a negative image. 

J.B. Money Prognosis

1.  If you are a supervisor who finds yourself in a situation where your employee is crying the best thing you can do is immediately end the meeting or interaction until a time that the person crying can approach you with more professionalism.  Trying to reason with somebody who has worked themselves into frenzy will never give you the ultimate outcome.  Ending the meeting also establishes and maintains your authority.  

2.  Pregnancy often times can put your hormones out of whack and cause you to be more upset than normal.  Towards the end of your pregnancy and when you first come back from maternity leave make sure you never initiate a confrontation until you know you can do so as a professional.

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