Am I the only one who’s bank account starts looking a little ragged in January?
Christmas is always a bit of a blow. Especially because my job doesn’t do end of year bonuses, they do profit sharing, which (if we get it at all) comes at the end of January. Ya know… after you need it. Christmas has always been there though, and always makes a dent in the wallet. Not exactly unexpected. Yet somehow over the last few years the stars have aligned in such a way that A LOT of my other expenses seem to hit somewhere in December or January too.
First there’s the truck and trailer registration renewals – both due in December. With that comes the truck inspection, and I usually tack on an oil change while I’m in there because let’s face it, I put so many miles on that truck that I basically always need one. So kiss a couple hundred bucks goodbye here (assuming the inspection doesn’t find a problem that requires even more money to fix).
Then of course there are all the membership fees. USEA, USEF, and GHCTA for me. I did USEA in November, hoping to get a jump on the pain, but I haven’t done USEF or GHCTA yet. Bye $95 to USEA (membership plus $10 study donation). USEF and GHCTA can wait a little longer because for real I just don’t even want to think about giving more money away right now.
There’s also my USRider membership… I’ve never actually had to use USRider’s services yet, but I haul a lot, I usually haul alone, and I have an old trailer. I feel much better having it. Go ahead and tack on another $150 that’s due by February.
Henry’s insurance needed to be done, so I’m currently waiting on the invoice for that. I got a pretty good rate thanks to Blue Bridle, but still. There goes hundreds more dollars.
His shots, coggins, and teeth are due in January too. And technically his SI injection, but he feels pretty good right now so I’m opting to play it out and see if all the strengthening exercises we’ve been doing can help him go a bit longer between injections. Shots/coggins/teeth are expensive enough on their own, so throw a few hundred more into the fire. Oh, and I’m going to ask for an Adequan prescription, so yeah, add a few hundred more.
And just because I was already feeling light-headed, Henry has decided to very suddenly present with ulcer symptoms. Like for real, this horse had zero symptoms a few weeks ago. Then he had two minor “colic” episodes right after breakfast within one week of each other, decided he was girthy, and started grinding his teeth. I’m not shitting you, all that happened at once. Of course, he is the world’s least stoic horse, so all I can guess is that he’s just started feeling ulcery but clearly he thinks he’s dying. Because drama queen. And we all know how much ulcer meds are, right? Yeah… bye-bye to even more hundreds upon hundreds of dollars.
Plus the cat just got spayed and the corgi got his teeth cleaned. I’m thankful that our small animal vet is very cheap, because that ended up only being a few hundred for both. Still, though. Byeeeeeeee money.
Oh right, guess who’s due for shoes in 2 weeks? What’s another $150 at this point?
January sucks. I’m not doing this right at all.
breedrideevent.com 
Check out Abler products for ulcer treatment. I used the granules and it is way more affordable then ulcer guard.
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I second Abler! Truby had horrible seasonal ulcer problems when she lived in PA, and there was no way I could afford regular treatment. I used the pills and it WORKED!
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I bought the same generic omeprazole that I used in 2015 (it worked great!), but I did have to buy a week’s worth of ulcergard to get him through until it arrives. Ouch.
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What’s the generic you use? I’m giving Stump ulcergard right now with his antibiotics and I will have to get the CWD repaneled for Maestro so $$$ bleeding.
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Abler
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oops, ignore my reply….I read it wrong the first time
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I feel slightly less poor after reading this, but Jan & Feb are months of not insubstantial financial hits for me, too. Also no way around them. Yay, animals!
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I’m dreading my invoices coming in. For the past 4 months (this month included – and look it only JUST STARTED) I’ve had a vet bill every single month and I’m just about panicking looking in the future for all the things I’m going to have to start shelling out money for. I guess after so many years of pleasant horse ownership where nothing went wrong it’s my time to start having shit happen. But nope – not just you. I feel that everyone tends to take a hit after the holidays.
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Just add buying a new horse to your list, and I’m in the same boat. And my year-end bonus doesn’t get paid out until MARCH.
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You’re not the only one! After all the vet bills from his lameness and holiday gifts, Ax had a chiro/acupuncture appointment the day after Christmas and the guy wants to see him every four weeks for who knows how long. So much for saving money in 2018!
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My bad months are January and April. I’m trying really hard not to spend money but then these required expenses keep popping up!
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Half my year-end bonus went to my 4 figure vet bill that was just for preventative stuff! Why do I have four horses?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!
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Your January sounds like my May-August, where all that plus more is due. I feel your pain. Fingers crossed H feels better. Ulcers SUCK.
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I’m going through this too. And I haven’t even considered all the membership costs. Also instead of ulcers, Jack has decided that skinny is en vogue, and so all my money is going towards new expensive foodstuffs to fatten him up. Ugh.
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This is why I do registration renewal as early as possible, coggins/shots in Feb, and teeth in April. Spreads the pain out and gives you time to recover in between. But the month after Christmas is always uncomfortable no matter what. I was going to suggest trying a bottle of EquiBrew for Henny…I don’t give it every day because too pricey but I give it after deworming to help Clay’s gut flora rebuild, and one bottle lasts a long time that way. It is SUPER for horses who are prone to ulcers or have sensitive digestive systems in general. Clay is picky but he slurps this up (mixed with his grain) like it’s his favorite beer. 😀
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Glad I’m not the only one on the struggle bus. Ugh.
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I didn’t need US rider until after I cancelled my subscription… so keep that one around haha. I’ll always have it from here on out.
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i somehow managed to time everything all over the place but january sucks – shots and coggins and christmas. blech.
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They say money talks, but all that mine ever says is “goodbye”. ;O)
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These couple months are definitely the worst of times financially. I’m shelling out literally thousands of dollars just in heating fuel. Badger’s new shoes cost $425 every FOUR WEEKS (he’s so lucky he’s cute). And I haven’t bothered with memberships yet since no one wants to show anyway. I may have gone a little cray-cray at xmas too. But hey, at least most of it was spent on the family right?
USRider is pretty fantastic. I haven’t (knock on wood) used it while hauling yet, but I did use them last year when my car got a flat on the way home from VT. It has no spare, so I had to get a tow. It was a Sunday around 3 pm. They called around, found me a place to go that was open AND had the tire I needed, plus arranged the tow truck. Whole ordeal took maybe an hour and I was on my way. Only cost me what the tire cost. Definitely worth the cost.
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I hear ya!! We also don’t get bonuses but have the profit sharing. I was hoping to have a big chunk of my show bills covered by that but apparently we have not done very good this year and I will be luck if my bonus will cover 1 show. Meanwhile I am salivating at hearing friends who are getting bonuses of over $10,000!
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