I almost made it until the end of January without needing to use my credit card! I broke a tooth and needed an emergency dental appointment. I only had 51p left in cash as I'd spent some cash on a bottle of wine and crisps (potato chips if you're outside the UK) the other night as a treat. Oh the irony that I broke the tooth munching on a crisp!!!! Sadly the tooth had to be removed this morning as it wasn't saveable.
I can't complain as it only cost me £13.38 (good old NHS!) but I had to put it on my card. I also needed to get some stronger painkillers, cost £2 (Tesco own brand.) Co codamol and not the above drops! 😂
So I guess spending £15 over my budget this month wasn't too bad.
Ouch! We have excellent healthcare in Canada (free except prescriptions/private hospital beds/ambulance rides) but it doesn't cover dental although they are talking of adding a basic dental element. That would have cost about $250 CAD to treat (approximately 145 pounds)
ReplyDeleteThe NHS isn't perfect but it seems to be working well in Scotland. We have free prescriptions here but not in other parts of the UK. My dental practice is NHS so costs to the patient are low but you can pay for an 'upgrade' on some things. I'm slowly replacing my old metal fillings with white ones and paying the extra.
DeleteI feel your pain with teeth, I have managed to lose fillings in two teeth since November, and could not get NHS dentist in Yorkshire, although we were put onto a waiting list just before Christmas. I went back home to Hampshire a couple of weeks ago, and managed to get emergency appointment at my old NHS dentist, who put temporary fillings on both; this cost me £22 then literally an hour later, hubby messaged to say that we were top of the list and could now be taken on by practice in Pickering! Went this week, and it will cost me another £65 odd to get one tooth sorted. I think we will be moving to Scotland fairly soon!!
ReplyDeletePlenty of dentists up here but NHS doctors' waiting lists are full!
DeleteSorry to hear about your tooth, I know how painful it can be, I have 2 back teeth missing and I remember the pain, hope you feel better soon.x
ReplyDeleteThanks. It's not too bad now. Toughest part was going back into school afterwards and teaching! I'd already told the kids yesterday where I was going (to get a broken and infected tooth removed) and one wee girl asked in all seriousness "Are you going to die?" Kids, eh?
DeleteWell done on the budgeting. Our pensions don't come in for another week :( I'm currently mulling over whether I need to use my card to buy some fresh stuff like salad etc to keep us going. We have plenty of 'meals' in the freezer but I like to have salad a couple of times a week and for some reason, sods law?, we have suddenly run out of all the fresh veg! It's not the end of the world as we know it but its annoying when you feel you've done so well isn't it. Will you have to have your tooth replaced? Thats when the real 'expense' of dentistry starts. My friend is getting a crown replaced and it will cost her £400!! Eek. xx
ReplyDeleteYeah, not the end of the world. I'm going to try again this month.
DeleteI'll probably get a plate as it's the second tooth I've lost, in the same place and in the same way. Clearly my teeth break easily so going forward I need to be more careful how I eat! An NHS plate is a couple of hundred pounds but a slimmer one with colour matching teeth (?!) is nearer £800. Think I'll be doing the NHS one!! xxx
That's not bad spending at all, well done.
ReplyDeleteAnd a cheap tooth at half the price … as my Nana would have said. Last time I broke a tooth it was on popcorn!! One of the un-popped bits in the bag that I accidently tried to munch on in the cinema. That one cost me over £300, in emergency repair and then crowning (we can't get a NHS dentist for love nor money in this neck of the woods.
£300!!! My previous dentist was a private one as there were no NHS ones locally where we lived. Here you can only register with one if you live in their catchment area.
DeleteWell done! I think a broken tooth is a very reasonable thing to overspend by a small amount.
ReplyDeleteI live in the US and am always in awe of your medical costs in the UK. A similar event here would cost about $750 US (about 570 pounds - not sure how to get the pound symbol, sorry). We have dental insurance through my husband's employer so we would pay 20% but that can add up very quickly. My mother's implant cost $4000 when she needed that. I'm very grateful that we have the money for these things.
Well done with your January spending! I hope your mouth heals quickly.
Lea
Thanks, it's a wee bit tender 2 days later but healing nicely. $750 is a lot of money for a tooth extraction and blimey, $4000 for an implant!!!
DeleteWe pay for the NHS through our taxes and it's free at the point of contact. For accidents and emergencies it's outstanding. But waiting for appointments for 'non urgent' treatments can take months.