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Originally Posted by claire
I'm weighing the cost of condoms over the long run vs. a vastectomy. We can buy condoms in bulk through our food co-op, which makes them really cheap, but still, who wants to use condoms forever?
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From a money perspective, the vasectomy is definitely the winner! The operation is simple and relatively cheap. And it's even cheaper if insurance covers some of it.
Figuring you're an average married couple and would have a need for condoms twice a week or so, that's about $30 a year assuming you get a pretty good bulk price of $.25 each. If you've got about 30 years to go until menopause is completely done, that would make the cost of condoms about $900, not adjusted for inflation.
While on paper that sounds cheaper than an out-of-pocket vasectomy, you'd need to figure in at least a couple of pregnancy tests per year, and very possibly a couple hundred thousand for another baby! With normal use condoms are only about 77% effective. They slip, they break, they leak, and they sometimes get forgotten or used incorrectly.
Plus, as you say, who want use them forever! It's nice to be able to be spontaneous and to not always have to stop and suit up.