In 2024, we paid good sums of money to mechanics, to medical professionals, and to veterinarians. To mechanics, we paid about the same as we did in 2023. Medical expenses went up quite a bit. Beyond the usual check-ups, we had some additional matters such as my Mohs surgery and an appreciable increase in dental treatments for my wife and me. As to veterinarians, we had the usual expenses for three dogs, and we also had a teeth cleaning/multiple extractions for one. The same dog also had very expensive emergency care after we suspected he licked engine coolant on the garage floor. At least that bill came in under the original $10,000 estimate.
Of course on top of these out-of-pocket expenses, we paid an obscene amount for automobile insurance and health insurance, not to mention that portion of our pay that gets intercepted by the federal government to be redeployed specifically to the medical-industrial complex. On top of that, employer funds are likewise intercepted by the federal government and redirected toward the medical-industrial complex, and employer funds are used toward health insurance premiums, all of which indirectly is a cost to us.
As to vehicles, I am beginning to question the notion that owning cars and maintaining them is less expensive than leasing them and trading them in before they problems start, especially when I consider the value of time and serenity. For my vehicle in 2025, I’m hoping to get away with a tire rotation, oil change, air filter change, and cabin filter change. I had similar hopes last year.
In regard to medical expenses, there’s not much we can do other than try to take care of ourselves as best we can. More and more Americans are traveling to Mexico for medical care, particularly dental care. That is sad to me, but I can understand why it’s happening. As to veterinarian expenses, we have another dog on deck for teeth cleaning in 2024; hopefully, other than that, we’ll have nothing but the usual expenses.
With Love,
P. Gustav Mueller, author of The Present