I just did something really stupid.
I had Microsoft Money open to balance my checkbook when I thought: hey, I wonder how much I've spent on the cat since she was diagnosed?
Some things are better left alone, know what I mean?
But what's done is done and I may as well blog about it. So here it is, in all its glory, the current total of what I've spent since that fateful day last September when Isabella was diagnosed as a real "sweetie:"
Vet expenses: 1286.92
Insulin: $349.50
Syringes, lancets, test strips & miscellaneous: $350.87
Food & litter: $477.38
Pet sitter: $116
(Notice there's no category for meters. Though my current stockpile of blood glucose meters has reached the embarrassing total of eight, I haven't paid for any of them. At least something about feline diabetes is affordable.)
For a grand total of: 2508.67
By way of comparison, and because I'm obviously a glutton for punishment, I also checked the amount spent during the previous two and a half years:
Vet expenses: $1276.56 (cancer surgery)
Food & litter: $430.13
Total: $1706.69
Isabella's little bout of fibrosarcoma two years ago almost disguises the fact that I've spent more on food in ten months than I did the whole previous 30 months. Of course, that dry food may have been cheap but it's the cause of this whole diabetes gig in the first place.
Yes, feline diabetes can be spendy, but I think I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping costs down. I shop hard for cat food bargains, I buy supplies online, get free shipping when I can, and I try to minimize vet visits. In the early days of diagnosis, I was at the vet so often my credit card company would call and check on Isabella if they didn't see any veterinary-related charges for a while.
OK, I'm kidding. But that's how it felt.
My constant effort to sniff out bargains is why I get boxes this size from the online diabetes supply house, Hocks.com:
I'm buying syringes by the case to save on shipping.
Now my curiosity has been satisfied. I know what Isabella's diabetes has cost, financially, anyway. So what did this exercise teach me?
Leave the report function of Microsoft Money the hell alone. And I still have to balance my checkbook.
2 comments:
You're a brave woman Nancy. BTW, I gave up my objections to Walmart when I found that I could buy syringes and test strips for half the cost of Hocks--even with free shipping.
Here in sunny California I can only buy syringes 10 at a time unless I have a prescription. At least I think that's the deal. It would be worth a run to WalMart to check, I guess.
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