4 pounds at a time

Like many people, I gained some weight over the holidays. I doubt the reasons for my weight gain were the most popular reasons, which I assume to be holiday parties, holiday get togethers, and more holiday parties. The truth is, I had a lot of free time on my hands. December is almost always a slow month in my line of work, and that was compounded with the problem that my client list had been dwindling, slowly but consistently, over the course of 2007. (That is a topic for another day!)

And you know what they say about idle minds and the devil's playground: they are one and the same. With all this free time on my hands, did I take the opportunity to exercise? To cook healthy meals? To buck the norm? Why, no. I spent that time wallowing in my worries, rather than concentrating on any kind of personal development. I was insecure about my situation, I got myself caught in a rut, and it was a mistake. Once 2008 rolled around, I took the opportunity to try to kick myself in the pants and turn things around.

I have been doing many things on my personal development road (including concentrating on getting this blog up and running), not just dieting. This entry will focus on the way I'm going about taking off those devil pounds. Here is a list of the things I'm focusing on to achieve my goal:

1) I don't have a goal weight. I started this process at 154 lbs. I know how I looked and felt the last time I weighed 132 lbs, which is the least I've weighed during my adult life. It felt great. But I am far more athletic and have more muscle mass now than I did then, so I really don't have a solid idea of what weight will make me most comfortable. I think somewhere around 140 will feel about right (maybe ... 135?), but we'll see when we get there. So I'm playing it by ear.

2) I do have a goal pants size: 8. (According to Banana Republic it's 6, bless their heart, but every other brand I wear runs smaller.) It's only one size down from where I am now. But I *barely* fit into my current pants, so let's call my goal size one and a half sizes down from where I am currently. My height is 5'9" and I know enough about my body to know that I would need to starve myself to fit into a 6. (Size 4, according to BR ... 4?! I don't think I wore a 4 even when I was in fifth grade.) So, size 8 it is.

3) I have motivation. Several things to motivate me, in fact. One is that I'm participating in Hustle up the Hancock on February 24, and the better shape I'm in for that, the better off I'll be. Another motivating factor is the stack of size 8 jeans in my closet. I don't think I need to expound there. My health is my most important motivating factor. I like to feel good, and I want to live a long, healthy life. Exercising will help achieve that end, as will eating less. Eating *better* is also something I am trying to do, but simply decreasing my calorie intake (and cutting out much of the junk food) is an excellent step as well.

But I also have a motivating factor that is much more instantly gratifying, is tangible, and is material: I am using a rewards system. One sad truth in my life is that my drawer of workout gear is filled with spandex and nylon that I have accumulated over the past, oh, twenty years. I haven't bought anything new in literally years. Things are falling apart, things have built-in odors, things have deteriorating elastic. But exercise gear is so darn expensive that I've long considered it a luxury that I don't need to indulge in. I have become completely utilitarian in that area. Which I think is a good thing, but the fact is, I'm running out of comfortable and useful clothing to exercise in, and I think this is the perfect opportunity to buy some new togs.

So here's the system: for every 4 lbs. I lose, I get to spend $50 on exercise clothing. I chose 4 lbs. because, well, 5 is too many, and 3 is too few. I'm pretty darn sure I won't lose over 16 lbs, so that's a maximum $200 I'm spending on myself, and that seems like a good, heavy but not crippling, rewarding number of dollars. (And if it turns out to be only $150, all the better for my bank account.)

If you've ever shopped for exercise wear, you know that $50 won't buy you a hell of a lot. So for this type of attire, I shop sales. I am currently making my way through several dog-eared pages in a recent Athleta catalog, creating my wish list. I also have a Champion catalog whose line tends to be lower-priced to begin with. And after that, perhaps I'll actually (gasp) go out and hit some local stores to peruse their sales racks.

So here I go. When I reach my first goal of 150, you'll be hearing from me again, and getting a look at my first reward. I can't wait to post about it!

Pet health insurance - a luxury item?

I have pets. If you knew me in person, you would also know that "I have pets" is an understatement. In college I started keeping reptiles as pets because they were allowed in the dorm and because I thought I could use them as a way to distinguish myself. It worked. But when you keep reptiles as pets, you tend to have a tank full of them (or more than a tank full: CAGES full). And if you care about them enough, you tend to have a thick file of their vet bills.

So once I was out of college and on my own, I sometimes investigated pet health insurance. I remember filling out several give-me-a-quote forms online over the years, always eventually letting the cookies expire.

Why didn't I decide to try pet health insurance? Two reasons:

1) I couldn't decide which pets to insure. As I said, I had quite a few. It would have been nothing more than gambling to choose one or two to insure, as I believed I loved them all equally. And spending money each month on a half dozen animals (or more) hardly seemed like it would be cost effective in the end. (In hindsight, I now know I was correct.)

2) Pet health insurance has always smacked as a luxury item to me. I always had this idea that the people who had health insurance for their pets were the same people who took their dogs to psychologists, who had in-home groomers and unnecessary dog walkers (unnecessary because the owner didn't go anywhere during the day; I should note that I am in favor of hiring dog walkers when it's called for). Not that I've ever been against pet pampering, or luxury items for that matter, but I like to pick my luxuries carefully.

And then two years ago, something extraordinary happened: I got dogs. Oh the cuddly, unconditional loving world of dogs! How did I survive my first 33 years without them? The nuzzling, the licking, the jumping, the smiling, the running, the snuggling, the DOGS! (And I pamper them, and they have a wonderful dog walker to pamper them on the days that I go to work.)

Ahem. I am actually coming to a point, honest.

How did I decide to try pet health insurance?

1) I spent a lot of time thinking about it. As with every major financial decision, I believe individuals should always take their time, analyzing every angle. I personally thought about pet insurance for many years, between 5 and 10 of them. This may be an extreme length of time to make a financial decision, but it worked for me.

2) I waited for a catalyst. In my case, getting dogs was the first part of my catalyst. I kept pets for many years, but bringing dogs into my home is what made me realize just what I was willing to spend on these animals if they ever had problems, and to start seriously thinking, again, whether to take some sort of preventive measure. I needed a reason to make the leap. And then, as the second part of my catalyst, I spent an extraordinary sum of money on one of my dogs late last year that made me seriously worry about my financial health. I realized that this is why people buy insurance. It is not a luxury item, but an expense that is supposed to help pet owners stay in good financial health. Because of the issues I've already touched on, I don't think every pet owner needs health insurance coverage for every pet they own. It is not always a sound financial strategy. But if you have the right pets, and the right catalyst, I started to believe it might in fact be a good idea.

3) So I did the math. And here I will share it with you:

I brought my first dog into my home in August 2005, and the second in December 2006. Here is a breakdown of my veterinary costs for each dog:

Dog 1 (29 months of care)
Physical exams: $272.50
Vaccinations: $333.50
Tests (routine blood, fecal, heartworm, etc.): $367.40
Heartworm/flea preventive: $203.59
Dental cleaning: $376.75
Medicine: $256.92
Injuries: $248.70
Total: $2059.36 (avg. $71/month)

Dog 2 (14 months of care)
Physical exams: $58.00
Medicine: $29.80
Heartworm/flea preventive: $114.35
Total: $202.15 (avg. $14/month)

Some notes on the breakdowns:
1) I lumped all treatments for injuries into one category just for classification purposes; I did not break out each injury invoice into tests, meds, etc. I can use this information to help predict what I might spend on unforeseen injuries in the future.
2) Dog 1 has had worse luck in every department than Dog 2, accounting for much of why she has cost more, but Dog 2 is almost due for her annual physical exam and vaccinations, which will bring her monthly average up a significant amount. There is nothing inherently less healthy about Dog 1.
3) Heartworm/flea preventive costs are what I paid for them; they still have several months of preventive meds left, so each dog's average cost will actually decrease with each month. (Everything else being equal.)

Then I went to a pet health insurance web site, and decided which level of coverage to investigate.

First, I should say that I chose a certain insurer simply because a veterinarian friend has told me they are the oldest, most popular, and most financially secure. I needed to keep that decision simple.

So the insurer offers two plans: Standard and Superior. The Superior plan offers a higher benefit maximum. I again decided to keep this decision rather simple, and opted for the Standard plan without doing any actual math. The benefit maximum is $9,000, which I decided was enough. Choosing the Superior plan's $14,000 benefit maximum didn't seem to justify the higher premium, as I am on a pretty tight budget. $9,000 is an awful lot for young, healthy dogs; even if something catastrophic does happen, the plan will still save me $9,000 so I'd regard it as a win. In a year I can go back and discover whether I made the right choice or not.

The remaining decision was whether to choose an optional well-pet rider. This rider covers routine costs such as annual exams, vaccinations, fecal tests, x-rays, heartworm/flea preventive; in short, routine treatment for well pets, plus the stuff that most pets have to have done at some point, short of care for serious, unforeseen events. I definitely wanted one of these riders because even routine vet care is expensive and I am *guaranteed* to have to pay for routine vet care for the rest of my pets' lives, regardless of whether they are ever injured or sick again. A Core and a Premier rider are offered, the difference being that the Premier offers a slightly higher benefit than the Core, and it also offers spay/neuter and dental cleaning coverage. I decided to go with the Core rider because both dogs' teeth are currently in good shape, and both dogs are already spayed. The benefit difference is not large.

So I got a quote for insuring the dogs at these levels of coverage.
The dogs are the same breed and about the same age.

Quote for insuring one dog only:
$29.50/month (or $330/year, which averages to $27.50/month)
Note: the yearly amounts are due in full at the beginning of each year; I have supplied monthly averages just to be able to more easily compare premiums to each other and to my actual costs.

Quote for insuring both Dog 1 and Dog 2:
Dog 1: $29.50/month, or $330/year (which averages to $27.50/month); annual multi-pet discount of $8.70
Dog 2: $27.92/month, or $311/year (which averages to $25.92/month); annual multi-pet discount of $7.75
Average payment for both dogs: $56.05/month, or $624.55/year (which averages to $52.05/month)

The annual payment is a better deal, but is a yearly savings of only about 7%. And that does not take into account what I could earn on my money throughout the year if I choose to pay monthly instead of annually. So I decided to look at the monthly option, figuring that I will likely earn the difference in interest and through other investments over the course of the year.

So I was looking at paying $29.50/month to insure one dog, or $56.05/month for both. Looking at the math I did above, you can see that $56.06/month is a savings of about $29/month over what I've averaged in vet payments since I've had both dogs. Even if the insurance plan saves me only 50% of my vet bills, I'd still come out ahead. But again, my current tight financial situation came to mind and I was afraid of the $56.05 figure. Maybe, I thought, all my big expenses were behind me. Maybe the dogs will be injury-free for a while. Maybe I could just insure one dog, and spend only $29.50/month. But is choosing to cover just one dog really the right financial choice, saving $26.55/month? How could I even choose which dog to cover? Insuring only one dog seemed to go against everything I thought I had already figured out.

But I thought about it some more, and focused on two points:

1) Late last year, the doctors performed every test known to man on Dog 1. She just had a dental cleaning, many blood tests, and she isn't due for her annual exam for some time. And her rabies vaccination is good for 3 more years.
2) Dog 2 is due for her annual exam and vaccinations soon.

I decided to get pet health insurance for Dog 2 to test the system. I've heard mixed reviews on pet health insurance coverage over the years, and this seems like a good opportunity to test out the claims process. I'll even get some pretty instant gratification on this, since Dog 2 will visit the vet soon. (There is a 14-day waiting period for the insurance to kick in, but we don't need to go in quite that soon.)

So I am going to keep an eye on the dogs' veterinary costs over the next few months to a year and do the following:

1) I will see if the $9,000 maximum benefit was the right choice. Of course there is no way to know if this will be enough forever; Dog 2 might cost me next to nothing this year and then break the bank next year. But at least we can find out how the first year goes.

2) I will learn whether the Core rider that I chose was the correct one. Should I have opted for dental coverage and a higher benefit? For this problem, I decided that the Premier rider is coverage I can add later if their teeth seem to be getting grungy or if my first claim doesn't pay as much as I thought it would.

3) We will see if the interest on my savings and my investments earn more than what I would have saved by paying the annual rate.

4) Lastly, after a few months of experiencing Dog 2's coverage, I will decide whether to add Dog 1 to the plan.

Luxury: something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary. I do not *want* pet health insurance to be "necessary," but now that I have my reason to try it, I hope that it does its job. I will of course report on this matter in the future. For now, Dog 2 is looking at me with her deep brown eyes, feeling secure that she will experience continued health!