There's an old saying... "In America, they have bad hair and great teeth. In Britain, they have great hair and bad teeth".
Well, I must be half British, because I have bad hair AND bad teeth. I don't know whether I'll go bald before or after I get fitted with dentures. On the upside, at least I won't worry about carrying a comb anymore. But to the point of the article...
The only thing more painful than getting your teeth worked on is shelling out for the bill. And those bills are high, people. We're talking a little over $1,500 for a single crown. That's just the last bill. The one before that was over $2,880. That was for a deep cleaning, a previous crown and a filling.
But I'm not here to rant about the outrageous costs of American health and dental care... even though it is outrageous. What I do want to talk about is the epiphany that I had after paying it. The thought was "I just spent $1,500 on something I did not want to have to pay for... what could I have bought for myself that I actually would've enjoyed for that same amount?
I could've bought a top of the line, or at least fairly decent laptop gaming computer. Or even a quality PC gaming rig.
I could've bought several round-trip Amtrak tickets to visit family.
I could've gone on a vacation somewhere in America, at least if I was careful with the hotel rates.
I could've gotten an Oculus Quest 2 VR headset. Or a Nintendo Switch. Or hell, BOTH of them. Not that I really need them or have plans to... but I could have.
I could've watched a lot of movies at the theater.
I could've invested it in my brokerage account, if I was really getting serious about it.
Above all, I could've moved the hell out of Florida to some state that doesn't feel like the surface of the sun eight months of the year.
Now just imagine what I could've bought for the combined total of the last two dental bills ($4,380). Like taking an extended vacation in Iceland, a country I've badly wanted to visit again since I was stationed there back in 93'-94'.
But I eschewed all of these things because I was always afraid of running out of money. I actually did run out of money once, and had to get city assistance to pay for a portion of my rent that month. Thankfully, I found a job not long after that unpleasant situation, and it hasn't happened since. Later I went into debt a couple of times (medical and student loans), but I've managed to pay both of them off.
Don't get me wrong, being frugal is a good thing. It's way better than being a spendthrift, which has been an epidemic in America for some time. It's not to be mistaken for being cheap, either. Cheap is when you buy low cost, inferior quality goods and services for the sake of saving money. Frugal is only spending what you need to, but when you do spend, it's on high quality goods and services that suit your purposes.
But I realized that I was getting to the point of becoming a miser. While I'm in no danger of becoming the next Hetty Green, I did want to enjoy the money I have a little bit more. Life's too short, and at 52, I have way more years behind me than I do in front of me. Call it a midlife crisis if you want. I don't care.
So when I take that next train trip to visit relatives, I think I'll spring for the roomette. Yeah, it's only a 6-7 hour trip, but why the hell not? At least I'll be comfortable the whole way. There's a big appeal of having your own room, complete with a shower bathroom. Not to mention not having to sit next to someone you'd really rather not have to deal with in the cramped seating arrangements.
On the next flight, I want to try the business class seat... or at least anything that's above coach. I've looked into the first class seats, but those are a little too posh even for me.
And yes, I know; "all seats arrive at the gate at the same time". I get it. But I'll be in a much better mood when I arrive in business class than the people in coach will, especially with the more comfortable seats, better food, more legroom, nicer people (staff and passengers alike) and the lack crying babies, mothers screaming at their kids and fistfights between low-class passengers.
When that Oculus Quest 3... excuse me... Meta Quest 3 (stupid name) comes out this fall, I think I'm going to get that. Yeah, at $600 it's an expensive toy, but it's still cheaper than getting a crown. Like half as much money, and twice as much fun.
I'm not going to do all these things at once. That would be stupid. I'm just going to save a bit, do one thing. Save again for a while, do the next thing. I just want to get them done.
Preferably before I go bald and have a mouth full of dentures.