Raising Money For Vet Bills

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Oh! I have never thought about some of these. -looks at post in ER- I should try some of these to raise money. Well we can afford the vet bills just not when we need to.

Selling crafts (Blankets, little mice, etc.)
Dog Walking
Car Wash
Animal Washing
 
Do you play scratch offs(instant lottery)? Well here we do. If I win more than the ticket cost I mark the date on the back and put it away. Yesterday. I won 15 bucks for a 2 buck price. Its in the lottery bin now :nod: where its not touched until an emergency comes up.
 
I recycle
So much money is taken out of my check each pay day
Money Jar
& how I get hammies is I save money I Get for occasions ..birthdays, etc ...instead of spending money on me I spend it on them!
 
I live in Greece, so amidst the financial crisis, there aren't really any people looking for paying someone to take care of their pets. I came across a site called Go Fund Me, and apparently random people help strangers raise money for a purpose. Lots are asking help for their pets there...I wonder is this site for real? Does anyone know if it's trustworthy? I mean, doesn't it sound incredibly unusual that there are people who spend their money on a complete stranger, who could as well put up a random picture of a pet and say ''please help"?
 
Salem The Rat said:
I live in Greece, so amidst the financial crisis, there aren't really any people looking for paying someone to take care of their pets. I came across a site called Go Fund Me, and apparently random people help strangers raise money for a purpose. Lots are asking help for their pets there...I wonder is this site for real? Does anyone know if it's trustworthy? I mean, doesn't it sound incredibly unusual that there are people who spend their money on a complete stranger, who could as well put up a random picture of a pet and say ''please help"?

There are gullible people out there but... I have seen many people get aid from a community even when they were strangers. We have to put faith somewhere. It's like when I give the guy on the street $5... I don't know what he'll do with it but I will not regret the act of donating.
 
Here's some of the stuff i used to do to raise money for my hammies! (Only had rats after I started working lol)

1) Mystery Shopping, I signed up for mystery shopping indicating pets, food and stuff, got me and my lovelies some freebies on the way as well, wasn't paid much per assignment but it was better than nothing!
2) Craft sales, I did cross stitch for geek art and sold them in the school fair
3) Participating in flea market sales, our school often had flea markets where booths were rented for free to the students
4) Did homework/assignments for others, I know this is horrible! But its just one of the ways :p
5) Setting aside a dollar for every 10. I set aside a dollar for every 10 dollars I got, it was one of the small ways to kinda save for a rainy day.
 
Thanks Jo, things are alot easier with a job though I must say. Its difficult to have pets on a budget.
 
This isn't really a way to get money when you don't have it, but what I do is save monthly.

I make certain I have at least $100/pet before getting them (ex. if I have 3 rats, then I'd make sure I have $300 for emergencies before getting the rats. Then, I put aside $50/pet/month. I don't know how many times this plan has saved my butt in the past.

With my first two rats (which I had found abandoned in my apartment's laundry room), they weren't in the best of conditions, and blew about $250 from my rat savings that was originally intended for my future rats from CCH, lol.

Same with my dog; he didn't need to go to the vet as often, but the one time that dental surgery was recommended, I had roughly $1500 saved up, which was enough to cover everything. :) It's best to be prepared and have at least some money, rather than nothing to go by.

I know that some people give their rats like... Fish or bird medicine? I guess because they're cheaper. But honestly, they're only temporary fixes... And instead of spending $10, $20 on temporary fixes, why not put that money into the vet savings for future use? ^^
 
This has become a majorly important topic for me since I too barely scrape by each month. Since being laid off a few years ago, I have tried to make sure that I always have at least $1,000 savings that I do not touch. Sounds like a lot, but really, that money would only get me through a few months, so I've pretty much trained myself that if it hit the $1,000 mark, I'm officially in the danger zone. That alone ensures that I have a few months to try and get back on track if I get hit with every expense imaginable at once. & these past few months, I've lost one part time job & walked away from an unhealthy one, added to mondo vet bills, so now I'll really be putting these recommendations to the test. :giggle:

For my own ways to scrape up & keep cash:

-find a hobby you enjoy (making items, cooking, gardening, petsitting/dogwalking), and try to find a market for it. Luckily, I've found that I truly enjoy sewing. & even though I don't make a ton doing it, I have made enough to barely scrape by. So, when I am able to add that to a few day a week part time job, the pressure is eased financially and I still get to spend a large portion of time at home doing something I enjoy. Honestly, I'd love to find some neighbors looking for a dog walker (since I walk every day anyway), but have yet to be so lucky.

-enjoy being a cheapskate. this got easier as I got older. I've learned to live without the frills. We have our dsl (needed for my business), but beyond that it's just the basic phone/long distance, over the air free tv, and library for our cds/books/dvds (which is unbelievably up to date with new releases, I always have at least 10+ great things to watch). Our food is mostly local/organic/bulk, very little junk food. Clothing "splurges" range between $20-$60 at goodwill, and I'm always thrilled with finding new-to-me great conditioned items. & craigslist when I'm looking for something in particular.

- Change jar. We drop our change into it year round, and use that money for our "black friday" fabric shopping. Or an emergency if it was ever needed.

- haven't had much luck here with this, but I've heard other areas do well with yard sales. I myself prefer to save myself the time & just list on craigslist. I figure it'll hit a wider audience as well.
 
I prefer to find a crappy vet let her neuter my boys, screw it up, go broke for two months then wait a year and get money!

So kidding but I couldnt help myself.

I prefer to keep money aside, my vet fund has its own bank account. i put so much a check in there for the critters. I put the rest in our house account. I can usually keep money in there but i have had a lot of expenses lately so i am hoping once these neuters are done with I can start to save again LOL
 
lol @ peggy!

Same here... I panic if my savings account goes too low. Dog walking and even doggy daycare would be something I would totally consider if I was needing extra cash.
 
I have insurance for my cat (who is still perfectly healthy since I got her 8 years ago ... I think I'm getting screwed with that :p) so at least I don't have to worry about that and then for each rat (how I wish there was insurance for them ...) I set aside a dollar per day. Now that's only feasible for smaller number of rats of course but when they hit the 2 year range when problems start to arise, there's usually no problem covering the bills and saving something like 3 to 5 dollars a day is not all that hard. Just putting aside change is enough. The most I've spent on a rat (excluding things like cremation) is about $1,500 on repeated surgeries and ER visits and since some rats are totally healthy and never need to see a vet right up until the end, their amount adds to the pile for those that do end up requiring a lot of care.

I honestly only wish it was possible to get Baytril somewhere because frankly, I don't know how many times I know exactly what the rat needs due to a URI flareup and I end up going to the ER because I don't want to wait and it's $200 for $20 worth of meds and being told what I already know and I can either do that or wait for the regular vet but if there's a URI I don't like to wait 24h for an appointment and in the end all the transportation stresses the rat out and that certainly doesn't help :gaah:
 
RKEM have you talked to your vet about giving you Baytril to have on hand? You could also buy it from a few websites that do require your veterinarians consent, but if your vet is willing to agree.

You can also get 100ml of 10% baytril from an online pigeon supply store without a script.
 
Well my vet will readily trust me with Baytril I think but she gives me the mixed stuff which has crappy shelf life. Do you know of any of those pigeon stores that ship to Canada? Basically I'd need it in the case of URI or when I need to wait a day or two before I can see my preferred vet.
 
If you can talk her into giving you pills you can mix it on your own. I would do that it is actual baytril if you get it from the vet.
 
I love this thread... Ima kid and didnt realize id go from paying a vet bill for a rat who passed in sept.. To buying a new rat whod have a similar problem... I have 50$ so far but need rest asap.. Thinking of asking for some money form my aunt for a bit .. The vet told me to feed her ensure Plus just tokeep her hydrated and her engery up ( shes small but still more engeric than the rest of my ratties)
 
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