• To keep a medium sized, mixed breed, spayed female dog the yearly cost will be approximately $1,196.00 per year (this does not include emergency medical care, initial vaccinations, obedience classes, the cost of fencing, or bed).
• To keep a spayed female, domestic long haired cat, the yearly costs will be approximately $899.00 (This does not include emergency medical care, initial vaccinations, the cost of an outdoor cat run or bed).
• To keep a domestic rabbit the yearly cost will be approximately $449.00 per year
• To keep a domestic guinea pig the yearly cost will be approximately $420.00
• To keep a domestic hamster/rat/gerbil the yearly cost will be approximately $225.00

None of these include one time costs for things such as vaccinations, collars, cages, feeding bowls, care products (brushes, clippers, etc). And of course any medical costs are not included, as they vary depending on the health of the animal.

A lot of people do not really think about the ongoing costs of a pet. And if you have a pet that does such things as destroy your property by chewing or messing in the house, then these costs only escalate. Also consider the impact that a pet will have on your lifestyle. Pets take care. They do require a lot of time and energy, and while that might be very worth it to some people, not everyone realizes the true commitment it takes in terms of personal time and effort.

If you decide to have a pet, also consider the long term health care costs. If your pet is a larger animal, such as a dog or cat, then the veterinary bills as the animal gets older can be considerable. Put this into your budget! There is pet health insurance available, which in many cases is a good idea (I used to have it for my dog). You could also self insure through a savings plan, such as putting $25 or $50 a month aside into your savings account and have it allocated to pet costs for the future vet bills.

Always plan your budget thoroughly, and remember each cost that you have!

Of course most people don’t do such serious mistakes in their budget – at least if they have one. And everyone should! Usually if someone blows their budget it just means that there is going to have to be some tough scrimping in another area in order to make it – and it’s often the savings or emergency fund that suffers. This isn’t good for the future, is it? If you don’t pay yourself first, then how are you going to be able to have the eventual financial control and freedom that most people want?

So How Do You Stay on Track?

There are multiple ways that people use to motivate themselves to stay on track and keep their budgets in line. One person I know keeps a small notebook in her pocket (really small), which she uses to track everything, and she has kept this for years. A new notebeook every month, since they only cost her about 25 cents each. In the front is her list of things that she needs to track when she is out and the amount that she can spend for the month. She has a little separate section in the book that she uses for each category, and she keeps a running total. This woman is, of course, hyper-organized. But she also has the lifestyle of anyone I’ve known in her income bracket (she’s in a very modest income bracket), simply because she is able to stick to her budget so well.

Other people will allocate an amount, such as with the envelope method (without the envelopes), and when it runs out, that’s it for the month. Still there is also the issue of tracking, and a lot of people end up “blowing the budget” because they don’t track. One should always keep track of the budget and spending! It’s important that this be done, because it is way too easy to blow it.

A lot of people will only add things up at the end of each month and then realize where all of the spending has gone. Sometimes this is when the budget goes over in some areas – usually because of how the money is spent: through credit cards, or having your savings lumped into your spending account, giving you easy access to it. Don’t do that! Keep your savings separate, and only use credit cards for emergencies or automated payments that you pay off every month.

Tracking on a daily basis is important, so find a method that suits you. Whether it’s the notebook method or simply having your own version of the envelope method, track your expenses to that you don’t falter in sticking to your budget!