Metal Mouth

Posted on January 18, 2005 2 Comments

It’s official: I’m getting braces. And oral sugery.

I’m not sure how other 25-year-olds would take this news, but my response so far has not been good. I’m trying to stay positive and see humor in the situation, but this is truly a financial blow. Spending $5,000 on something I don’t even want (my teeth look fine!) feels like I’m getting the rug pulled out from under me.

The budgeting breakdown is not that bad if I get a decent raise this year; my insurance happens to be pretty good and will cover some of the cost of braces and most of the surgery. The initial blow of $800 in one month hurts, but then it’s $126 per month after that. I only wish I had put money into my flex-ben account this year.

The big problem here continues to be the challenge to save money in your 20′s without financial support from family (which is quite common in Chicago, from what I can tell). To start out in debt with no savings puts me at a severe disadvantage in terms of a budget, and also creates a problem for wealth accumulation: no matter how great you are at budgeting expenses, it takes money to make money. Every time I think about my braces, I’ll know I’m that much farther back from making any major investments. Plus, they look really terrible.

It’s not the end of the world, I know. Could you just keep reminding me of that?

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Comments

2 Responses to “Metal Mouth”

  1. sung
    January 19th, 2005 @ 2:53 am

    Hey I started from nothing as well. If I can do it, you can do! It’s not the end of the world!!!!

  2. Michael
    January 20th, 2005 @ 6:28 am

    Hang in there. Perhaps it will help to think of this as a challenge? I’ve had to do that a time or two, believe me.

    You may want to look around your cityscape again: Things could be much worse for you, I suspect. Many people out there would LOVE to have your problems, rather than the ones they already have. Just rework your plans and budgets, and then stick to them. You will pull through this, and be stronger for it.

    No, really. You will.

    It’s Your Money!

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