How to financially prepare to get a pet so you are ready

How to financially prepare to get a pet so you are readyHow to financially prepare to get a pet so you are readyAs you may have binnenseen in past posts or on social media, my husband and I are in the process of getting a puppy Dan has desperately wanted a dog for as long as Ive known him. I came to the desire more gradually. I grew up with cats and welchesnt around dogs very often, unless I was at one of my cousins houses. I also had a few negative experiences with big dogs when I was younger (and very small), so Ive always been a big hesitant when it comes to dogs. Dan wore me down over the years with his exuberance about corgis and now I want one tooA lot of the conversation around getting a dog has been related to money (can you believe it?). Since we were initially planning to buy a corgi from a breeder, we knew that it was going to be a decent financial investment. We also learned that dog owners typically spend around $1,600 on their dog in the first year of owning them. I wan ted to overestimate how much we thought we would spend and save it up ahead of time. This was because I didnt want to get a dog and then find ourselves in a tough financial spot as expenses built up.We also had a few changes to make to our house before we felt comfortable getting a dog. The fence in our backyard was rotting and falling over in several places. There was no way wed feel good putting a puppy back there without it escaping. So we decided to replace the fence before we got the dog. As you can imagine, this is quite the additional expense.Your situation might be very different from ours, but there are still many questions you should answer for yourself before you go to a rescue and pick out a new pet. The answers to those questions will determine how you need to prepare.Make sure you can afford oneJust like with having a child, adopting an animal might cost (much) more money than you were expecting. Do your research and find out how much it usually costs both up front and annually to care for a pet. You should specify based on the type of pet you want to get. From there, take a hard look at your budget and see if there is room for those costs. If the befhigung pet costs dont fit into your current budget, you have a decision to make. Are you going to delay getting a pet until you can really afford it? Or are you going to cut something else out to make room for those costs?Decide if you want to buy or adoptThis is a contentious topic with a lot of people. For many, it is an ethical question. Why buy from a breeder when there are countless animals out there who need to be rescued and adopted? Plus, it can be hard to tell if a breeder is on the up and up, or if they are operating a puppy mill. However, sometimes you know exactly what you want, and you wont necessarily be able to find that animal at a rescue.There is also a huge difference in terms of affordability. When you choose an animal from a rescue, the fees are going to be lower, and usually the pet is already spayed or neutered and given its necessary shots. When you buy from a breeder, the fees will likely be much higher, and wont always include neutering and shots. That means that on top of the fee, you will also have to pay to have these things done at your local veterinarian.Save up the first year of expensesLike I said above, weve seen that the first year of caring for a dog can cost upwards of $1,600. This can include adoption fees, neutering, veterinary visits, food, toys, treats, a crate, etc. Those things can add up very quickly. So its important to plan ahead and save up that money before the time comes. You dont want to get your pet and then realize that its going to break your budget to care for it each month. Take some time to save up the number you feel comfortable with before you adopt.Fund an emergency savings accountYou know I feel very strongly about you having an emergency savings account. Just like you need to have an emergency fund for your own expense s, youll want one for your pets expenses. If you were to lose your job, would you be able to pay for your pets food or insurance? If you had to pay the deductible for your pets insurance (more on that below), would you be able to pay for that out of pocket? These are the things you should save up for just in case you find yourself without an income. Include potential pet expenses in your calculations for your emergency fund.Build the costs into your monthly budgetCalculate how much you think youll spend on food, treats, toys, and pet insurance (more on that below) each month. Set up those costs as a fixed expense in your monthly budget. You can either set up recurring food deliveries so that you know exactly how much youll be spending on food every month. (Try a website like Chewy.) If you build these things into your monthly budget, you wont be surprised by them when they arise.Decide if you need pet insurancePet insurance is exactly what it sounds like. Its health insurance for yo ur pet. One big difference between pet insurance and human health insurance is that it doesnt titelseite pre-existing conditions. That means that youll want to get the coverage for your bet before they are even old enough to have pre-existing conditions. One friend of mine told me My dog had an upset tummy before insurance kicked in, and now every time he has an upset tummy vet visits arent covered.So youll want to decide early if pet insurance is something youd like to have for your pet. Usually, pet insurance doesnt cover normal preventative pet visits, but it does cover illness, injury, and other issues that can cost a whole lot of money. You will pay a monthly premium in order to protect yourself from huge vet bills later on. Its just like any insurance youre paying monthly for something that you hope you wont have to use. It can feel like a waste of money if you have a perfectly healthy animal, but your pet wont necessarily stay that way forever.Do your research. Compare the pr ices and offerings of several different insurance companies. See what they cover and what they dont. See what the deductible is, see what the maximum coverage amount is. See what your out-of-pocket maximum is. There are all hugely important, so that youre fully aware of what youre signing up for and can make the decision that is right for you financially.Dont buy all the cute items that you seeA few weeks ago, I told my husband that I was worried hed want to buy every artsy dog accessory he saw. Well, not too long after that, he texted me say that I was right, and that Instagram was targeting him hard with their ads. When I shared that anecdote with friends, one of them warned me not to buy too much stuff for a puppy. She said they will either destroy it or outgrow it. And this is an important thing to remember Its easy to get carried away when you have a cute animal at home and want to spoil it with all the shiny things out there. So make a list of the things your animal actually n eeds, and then you can buy other things as you can afford them.This article was originally published on MaggieGermano.