When you’re making / updating your budget, remember to leave a spot for medical expenses.  These days, even with health insurance, medical care is very expensive.  Earlier this month, I had to visit the doctor because I had a 102+ fever for 4 days, along with a nasty cough.  It turned out to be nothing serious, but the last time I had similar symptoms it was pneumonia.  After that, I’m a little more cautious. 

Anyway, my co-pay for the visit was $25, and my prescription for a cough suppressant was $30.  A total of $55 spent that was not in the budget - ouch.  Not that it’s the worst budget over-flow I’ve ever had, but I’m more careful these days in general.  After going over my budget, I realized that I had precisely $0 allocated for medical expenses ( beyond health insurance of course ).  This is a problem for two reasons - one, the reason above.  Unexpected visits need to have a spot in the budget.  And two, my wife is currently on 4 prescription drugs.  They total up to a cool $80 per month in co-pays that is also unaccounted for.  I pick these up at the grocery store pharmacy, and lump them in with my groceries - oops.  That’s a poor job of accounting, and something that needs to be fixed.

Moral of the story

I’ll be adding $130 to my budget for medical expenses next month - to cover both doctor’s visits and prescription drugs.  Now I’ll know what to expect, and won’t be surprised to see these expenses come up again.  I suggest you take a moment to go over your budget to make sure you have a medical care line as well.

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