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"Root Canal" Budgeting by Nikki Willhite My husband recently retired. It was early, sudden, and unexpected- for health reasons. We thought we had more time to save for retirement. Unfortunately, we didn't start early enough, and we were not prepared- financially. Nothing beats the power of compound interest. So what do you do when you suddenly find your income severely diminished? You have to make some difficult decisions as far as cutting expenses. We have always had to be careful with money. We don't go out to dinner.  I have never even had my nails done. If these were the kind of expenses we had to cut, trimming our expenses would have been a lot easier. We had to look over things like our insurance policies. We agonized over every decision, but did what we felt we had to do to live within our means. A few weeks after we made our changes, I had to have a root canal. I have to admit, I am more nervous than the normal patient when it comes to dental work. I have only had one other root canal, and I had it done by a specialist under sleeping sedation. With our new financial circumstances, this was no longer an option. I had to let my regular dentist do it, wide awake. The day before the procedure I started freaking out. I googled root canals, and got varying stories of success and rather unpleasant experiences. By the time I went to bed I was a "mess", and couldn't get to sleep. I lay awake tossing and turning, imagining the worse, trying to think up ways to avoid the procedure, and feared that even if I made it to the appointment I might bolt out of the chair. However, when morning arrived, I dutifully got dressed, went in and had it done. All that worrying....and it didn't even hurt. Geez! The moral of this story, besides assuring people that root canals are "no big thing,"  is that when you have a change in your income, you must cut your expenses, no matter how difficult or scary it may seem. If you don't do it, you will increase your debt month after month, and end up in a very bad place. Life as you know it must cease when the money is gone. You are not "entitled" to your previous life, when you no longer have the money to sustain it. "Root Canal Budgeting"...it's not as painful as you think it will be. Do what you need to do for the financial security of your family. About the Author: Nikki Willhite, mother of 3 and an interior design graduate, has been writing and publishing articles on the topic of frugal living for over a decade. Visit her at www.frugalhappyfamilies.com - where you will find hundreds of frugal living tips and articles. Frugal Happy Families- more than just money!

 

 

 

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