Frustrated Tight budget? Here are some tips.

[PiggieGuinea]

I decided I would share the tips I have learned over the years I have had guinea pigs to maximise the amount of money you spend on them. I will also share some I found on here but thought I would put them in one place for you guys.

I want to start out by saying if you can't do these things then you shouldn't have cavies. And if you know something bad will happen and it will be for a long period, lets say a loss of a job, put all the money away that you are able to without it affecting your life too much. If you think you will run out of money before something good happens, lets say a new job, then ask if someone could watch and pay for your pigs for a little and say you can pay them back when you get the money. I did that with my best friend, I had just lost my first job, and I asked if she had a steady income for them, she said yes, as long as I would pay her back, so once I got my new job, at my first paycheck, I paid her the money she had spent on my piggies for me and got them back. (Warning- She was my best friend and would've helped me as much as she could. Don't get in trouble with anyone. We were very close)

* Put away $15- $30 every paycheck for vet visits and rough times.
* Create a plan, ask family and friends if they can help if something happens.
* If something bad does happen, don't take out all of the money saved up, you might need it for a vet visit.
* Ask around grocery stores for outer lettuce leaves and '"bad" veggies. Grocery stores don't use these as they look bad.
* Buy in bulk. 50 lbs of KMS hay is $30 plus shipping.
* If it is growing season, also ask farm stands for "bad" veggies.
* If you have to, cheap pellets and cheap hay (Kaytee is good for this. Store brand is also good)
* Grass from outside. Start introducing it immediatly if something bad was to happen, so then your pigs will not get sick if you run out of hay. Also make sure the grass you feed is untreated.
* Veggies are normally cheaper than pellets, so you can go pelletless if you have lots of veggies
* Grow your own veggies


Leave any other tips you have below. So all of these are in 1 place.

 

[Hhbean]

Weighing your pigs every week can save you tons of money. You will catch illnesses sooner and hopefully get them into the vet! If you catch the illness in the early stages it could cut down on the amount of medication and vet visits required to get them healthy again.

 

[Piggy_]

I used shredded paper as bedding from businesses (who usually throw it all out after it's shredded- picked up big rubbish sacks full every visit!). That was before I decided to switch to fleece but for those paying for laundromat, if times get tough that might be an option

 

[BSPELL]

My local dollar store has fleece baby blankets, plus a multitude if other things to use in the cage. So $10 can fit you with a LOT of piggie goodies . But really, I'm taking the advice of weighing every day, because the vet is really the biggest expense.