The Furry Side of Finance
Pets are cheap love.
Although an unexpected vet bill or chronic health condition needing a special diet can be expensive, we get a lot for very little money when we love an animal.
How little?
The folks at the online money management system, Mint.com, created a nifty infographic. Mint gets its data from people’s actual spending as reflected on their credit and debit card receipts. So their numbers should be pretty good (at least for Mint users).
For less than many people spend on low fat, mocha drinks in one year, you can enjoy the love of one large dog.
Now how’s that for a bargain?
How much do you spend on your pets? Is it more or less than average? And is it worth the cost?
This is so fun! We do a monthly feature on dog budgeting and use mint.com!
They don’t have a space for “training”. Considering my pet is also my hobby, I spend quite a bit each month on training classes, fun match fees, etc. Dog sports are not cheap. But since that is as much for me as for my dog, perhaps it doesn’t count. If you take all that out of the equation, I think I am actually below average. The biggest expense, of course, is food. And I can’t exactly cut back on that!
Cool graphic. Thanks for sharing it!
Who would have expected we’d be spending more on recurring medical costs than food for our large dogs? I guess we’ve been lucky, because our food is definitely outpacing our medical expenses for the boys. **nocking on wood**
Based on this, Felix is actually two great danes hidden in a doodle suit.
Hmmm… I guess it depends on the month. Lately, we’ve spent exponentially more than the chart!
I am happy to know that I live in an area where humans spend more than the national average on their 4-legged friends. 🙂
It’s worth any cost. But I’m sure I spend more than the graphic says on toys and treats … and what about Beryl’s coats and collars? If that’s miscellaneous I’d be way up on that too, especially as that’s 0%:)
I think we spend more, mostly because we feed raw and they are both big dogs. But they are worth every penny!!
I guess I need to start putting my expenses in my mint.com account, then I’ll know with certainty what I spend on them. 🙂
That graphic is really cool! I think I’m probably above average, but our girls are pretty darned spoiled. I doubt they have a collar or photo props budget for their graphic!
Perhaps I’m about normal… Dog shows are a big expense for me, especially considering I sometimes travel up to 16 hours for special shows… So not just the show fees, but all the travel and accommodation expenses associated.
from our experience with Rufus, vet bills can be a killer. the rather large amount we spend on buying fresh meat, bones, vege and supplements for Georgia will hopefully work out in the end to cut down on her vet bills. we can only hope 🙂
anyway, perish the thought that we should stinge on our Princess! though her bed is getting kind of tatty. lucky i’m handy with a needle, sort of, in an untidy way.
i’m rambling. off i go. have a great weekend! do you celebrate thanksgiving?
I just remembered that I have FIVE. I’m off to have a cry.
Ha ha! I’ve gone off the scale this month because of a horrible accident BUT… it is worth every penny. And there will be more pennies over the next few weeks. Lots more pennies. All well spent.
I really like this graphic! I wonder if it would be the same for us pet owners in Australia.
H.