My animals cost me $134.00 per month!

Boy oh boy $134 per month on pets sounds like a lot of money when you write it down. But if you check out the picture of me and my puppy I’m sure you’ll understand.

Xena (named by someone else) is our darling Saint Bernard. She is a lightweight weighing in recently at 55kg. So you can imagine how much she eats! The cat on the other hand doesn’t eat nearly as much! But the real killer is the accommodation costs when we go away.

Why did I tell you this? We know exactly how much it costs to look after the dog and the cat – including food, accommodation and vet bills – because we have looked at the numbers.

The beginning of the year is a very good time to review your plans for the year and of course you must review how you will achieve your plans. This means checking out your numbers.

To make sure you have an accurate picture of spending it’s good to look at the past. After all, the past reveals the future.

Go through your previous bank statements and credit card statements to itemise and calculate your cost of living and the cost of your lifestyle. The easiest way to do this is to use the wisemoney Revealing Your Financial Future worksheet (PDF file – 242 KB).

My wife Kathy just completed this exercise for our family. It must have been a quiet day in the school holidays because she went through 12 months of bank statements and credit card statements. It’s given us a true picture of what it costs us to live, including holiday accommodation for our pets! Now, the challenge is to control our behaviour to stick to the plan!

What’s the benefit of this?

Completing this will increase your ability to work towards and achieve your goals. How much are you prepared to work for what you and your family really want?

Phil Strong
CEO Wisemoney