Unexpected expenses

[midnight]

I know that I'm supposed to have money set aside for unexpected expenses and I try, but sometimes they catch me off guard. I had to take my car in and the bill came to $400. This happened at the same time as me cracking a tooth and having to have a root canal and other dental work that drained another $500 from my account.

I think it is dental work that is what hurts my unexpected expense budget the most. My dental plan at work sucks and I end up having to pay for most of it. It kills me everytime.

The car I can kind of predict that it will need to be repaired from time to time, but how do you predict dental work?

[mom-from-missouri]

You can't. All you can do is treat your teeth right and hope for the best. For awhile I had 2 dental plans, because mine at work was so terrible. I think the other one was from J C Penney?? It ran around $7 a month and acted like a supplemental to mine from work. When I changed jobs and got better dental I dropped the supplemental one.

[PrincessPerky]

Teach your kids young!!!! Yes a 2 year old does need to brush at least nightly, preferably more often! Not that the 'brushing' they do on their own will have much effect but the habit is instilled young, very young. And keep it up! We make bedtime teeth a family affair so it is fun and not a chore. (and so mommy and daddy will remember :0.) Also flossing, DS and DD love to get some floss and use it on their teeth, I use a little mini flosser if there is anything there, but they get the habit of getting floss EVERY night. I still have to work on the rest of the day. (My one year old does too, but her brush is all rubber, too many gums to irritate with a bristle brush.)

I know that wont really help you out, but remember when your mom told you to go brush your teeth? She should have said to floss too . And more than just nightly! For anyone who can credit their upbringing with good dental care, go call your parents and say thank you! they have saved you hundreds in dental fees! For the rest of us, we should prolly call and thank them for trying, it ain't that easy.

And use mouthwash if you are prone to infections and arn't getting said teeth out (that would be me and mywisdom teeth, they will just have to wait)

Also dental schools offer cleanings for like 20$ which is pretty worth it compared to a root canal or worse later in life. I don't know if they offer anything else though.

[zakity]

We try to have about $1000 put back for surprise things. It covers most anything that will pop up. When it is depleted, we pay it back so that we always have it.