It’s official: Tim’s not going back to aqua therapy.
Insurance headache
The insurance customer service representatives can’t even find aqua therapy separate from physical therapy. (As I recall it wasn’t easy last time either.) And the physical therapy company they’re finding isn’t the one Tim was getting aqua therapy at.
And yes, company — singular. Multiple locations, one company. I was already 99% sure there was a similar setup with aqua therapy, so this pretty much confirms my suspicions. At least enough that I’m not putting any more time/effort into checking.
Meanwhile, Tim’s creakiness and pain levels increased on Thursday night, which is usually his second aqua therapy appointment of the week. Somehow I doubt that’s a coincidence. Furthering the theory, Tim was told by the masseuse that it felt like she hadn’t worked on him in three months… at his weekly massage.
So we’re getting a pool table.
A different kind of therapy pool
I’ve already mentioned that, counter-intuitive though it may be, pool seems to be helping Tim’s mobility. But we can’t afford for him to go out and play more.
Besides, he’s been having a hard time just getting a table at the current place. (There’s another nearby pool hall, but he had a bad experience. Plus the rates are higher.) He prefers to play at night, but the bar has a nightly tournament — after which, bar patrons swarm onto the tables.
This means that Tim has to time it right so that he’s not sitting for an hour or more waiting for the tournament to end (anywhere between 9:30 and 11), but so that there’s still a table when he goes in. It’s increasingly been a problem.
So… pool table.
So. Many. Add-ons.
We found a perfectly nice one for $999.99. But we needed a different kind of felt. (The fuzzy stuff can throw the ball off slightly, plus it’s different from what the bar has. So if he wants to practice for tournaments, we need the upgrade.) That was an extra $275. Plus $299.99 for delivery, assembly and leveling. Plus and tax. For a total of around $1,700.
On the ride home, Tim was enumerating the other things we need: a rack, balls, chalk, a break cue, cover (so that we don’t have to skin Patches for jumping up and messing with the $275 felt), etc. I had to tell him to stop for a bit until the screaming in my head died down.
I’ve already found a $42 cover on Amazon that one reviewer said was tough enough to stand up to his cat’s claws. So that’s not too bad.
We still need to find a standard cue, but we can probably find an affordable one at Big 5. Amazon has plenty of cheap chalk squares. Tim’s finicky about the type of rack, so that may have to be chosen in person.
The balls are a bit more confusing. (That’s what she said.)
We’ve been advised to get Aramith billiard balls because they create less friction and won’t leave “burn marks.” But there are four tiers. The nicest set is $300 — so that’s out. We’re not really clear about the difference among the other three.
Tim’s worried about the lowest priced set because the 4-ball is such a deep purple that he’d have trouble distinguishing it from the 8-ball. He already has issues with this in most bar’s sets. But the next level up is almost twice as much. Later today we’re going to another pool store (the one we bought from was clear across town) and see if we can get more information.
All in all, I’m expecting it all to cost around $2,000. Excuse me while I shush the mental screams.
How it’ll save money
Tim has already agreed to stop going to the bar if he gets a table of his own. (He’s always wanted one, so he’s ready to agree to anything to get one.) If he gets good enough, he may start going out to the tournaments to see if he can win anything, but those are $5. Not exactly a huge outlay.
Nixing those excursions means we’re spending around $20 less a night. Which means around $600 a month. Maybe a little less since he’s been having trouble getting to play, especially on the weekends. But nixing aqua therapy frees up $160 a month. So one way or another, the table and copious accessories will have paid for themselves in no more than four months. After that, we’ll save around $7,000 a year.
Of course, that’s only true if we actually save the money.
Currently, we’re living on an average of $30 a day, and Tim spends an average of $20 a day on pool. To make sure that the money we’re saving is actually saved, we need to try to keep living on $30. So starting with this next paycheck, I’m going to adjust the numbers.
That said, chaos rules the lives of the chronically ill, and getting paid only once a month makes financial experiments dicey. So I’m going to keep enough for $280 a week in the secondary checking account. We’ll try to live on $210, but we’ll have a safety net if things implode.
Chaos
Speaking of chaos, we have to move a bunch of stuff around. And maybe a week to move it in.
We have to nix the dining table. It’s fine, since we never use it. Well, other than to toss mail or business cards on. In the few spots of clear space, the glass was coated in dust.
I cleaned it off, took some pictures and threw it on Craiglist for $30. We could probably get $50, even with a few imperfections, but I wanted it gone. Someone is supposed to pick it up this afternoon.
This also motivated me to call the water delivery service to come pick up its bottles. (We’re loving the reverse osmosis system, by the way!) Maybe we’ll get a deposit back. I can’t remember if we paid one or not.
The biggest issue is the cat boxes. They’re large currently in the corner of the dining room. Which isn’t as gross as it sounds because a) they’re Booda domes and b) we never eat in there anyway.
Point being, they can’t stay there. Which means we have to move things around in the living room. All while Tim’s pain levels are high and I can’t lift anything too heavy in case I’m pregnant. The fun never stops at Chez Perry.
But it’ll all be worth it. Beyond saving $20 a day, Tim will also get to play more often. This should increase his mobility and decrease his pain even further. We hope.
Have you guys invested in unusual health equipment? Or just paid a lot of money in the short-term to save in the long run? Anyone know anything about Aramith billiard balls?
spiffi says
did you look for a used pool table or equipment?
Abigail says
That needs a multifaceted answer:
1. I looked at used tables at places that sell pool tables. They were all high-end models so even used they started at more than $1,800.
2. I looked at new tables online for better deals but we couldn’t see the tables and, more importantly, the lightest one I saw was around 300 or 400 lbs. So we would have had to drag it inside and then put it together, with Tim’s bad joints causing extreme discomfort crouching and kneeling and my fatigue and fear of lifting much weight lest there’s a zygote on board.
3. A used one locally would have all of the above issues PLUS getting it home. We’d have had to rent a truck and get the thing into and out of the truck. Best case scenario, it’s already put together and we still have to somehow muscle it into the house. Worst case, it’s broken down and we still have to lift various components and put it together (with all the previously mentioned problems).
And with the latter two, you’re still looking at needing someone to come out and level it professionally (to my knowledge they won’t put a table together for you, so we’d still be on our own there) and very likely still have to refelt it.
In short (too late), there were copious reasons a used table or one online wouldn’t have been a good idea.
Punkin Pye says
Abby, I know absolutely nothing about pool, but I looked on Ebay and saw that there are a lot of used billiard balls for sale. Maybe you should look them up.
Kat says
I definitely fit the spending more now to save in the long run category this month. Poking around craigslist a week ago, I found an ad for a liquidation sale at a local baby outlet. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to look, so my mother came with and we decided to poke around. First indicator that this would be different- it wasn’t at the local outlet mall. It was located in the warehouse sector of the city, and it turned out to be the distributor warehouse. Which meant that prices were already below normal outlet mall prices. The second thing we discovered was how many of the specific items we were looking for they actually had. Yes, I spent close to 1000 dollars. That got me every piece of new furniture I needed, the car seat and stroller combination we wanted (the one recommended most by the manufacturers of all three cars), the ‘do not buy used’ equipment, and much more. By much more I mean I also got the next level up of car seat (something we would need within a year), and other ‘do not buy used’ equipment for the next few stages of development, which should carry us through until about age 3. We have a very large attic, and I can wrap things up against dust. All of the stuff is rated for 5 years at least, so I’m happy.
Then again, I’m not a stranger to “unusual” health related items. Most people don’t consider UV films for their windows and blackout curtains health related (migraine sufferers might on the blackout curtains). We’re actually constructing a covered patio outside that will have UV protection so I can play with kiddo outside of those protections. Just because I need to avoid the sun doesn’t mean his ability to play outside should be limited to times where his father can take him out.
I know you’d already reeling under the expense of the pool table, but would one of those inflatable hot tubs be a solution for your backyard? I imagine you could set the temperature, and then just not use the jets. They have ones that supposedly seat 8, which could mean they have enough room for Tim to move around in.
Abigail says
Don’t know about inflating ones. I did take a quick peek at therapy pools. But it becomes the same issue: maintenance. I can barely keep up with getting the yard guy out, and I really hate the idea of adding hot tub/therapy pool maintenance to the list of monthly expenses because we have a habit of well-intentioned buys that don’t get used. So for now we’ll see how the pool table does, with an option for a hot tub or other item down the line.
Congrats on the amazing low prices. All that for $1,000 is pretty amazing. Hell, a stroller/car seat and one or two other pieces of furniture is usually that much! And… he (!!!!!!)
Aliyyah @RichAndHappyBlog says
Wishing Tim the best in terms of the new pool table helping his mobility.
And I didn’t know you have cats! I have one too. I keep her litter box in the bathroom. I’ve been considering getting one of those self-cleaning ones but don’t know if it’s worth the cost. Plus my cat has some odd litter box habits.
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Abigail says
Yeah, the main bathroom may have to house one of the 2 boxes. When we had two cats (wah!), we got a second box after Patches polluted the couch a second time that I fell down on the scooping. Now that it’s just Patches, two boxes gives us extra leeway in how long between scoops. I’ve heard mixed reviews about automatic cleaners. Some people rave about them. Others say they’re more hassle than they save. But I think the majority are in favor of them. I guess this is when customer ratings come in handy.
Impossible Girl says
A friend of mine has 5(!) cats and she has a couple of the automatic ones. Overall she likes them as they keep up with the uh… output pretty well. But one of her cats is an asshole and likes to stand by the box when it is cleaning and then jump in and jump out to start the process over again (it works by sensing pressure), over and over and over….. of course in the middle of the night. Hers is pretty loud so no idea if there are quieter ones.
Abigail says
Okay, first of all inre: asshole cat: hahahahahahahahaha
Second of all, I find that having two cats is having a lot of cats. How in the hell does anyone deal with 5? I think she must be a far more patient person than me.
Impossible Girl says
He really is an asshole, picks fights with the other cats, destroys their toys, etc. He was the king of the house for a long time so we’re pretty sure he doesn’t like having to share his realm.
And she has a soft spot for unadoptable cats.. for as long as I’ve known her (10+) years, all of her cats have had something “wrong” with them… a disfigurement or disease that makes them unpopular at the shelter. Basically she calls them up and asks if there are any cats in need that no one wants and boom… new cat. She was up to 11 at one point until her wife threatened divorce.
Abigail says
Yikes. Good for her wife! There was a cat that came around our place a lot when we first moved in. I was sorely tempted, and Tim was even willing to relent. But I didn’t want 3 cats. Besides the problems that can come with a stray (as Patches proved, grumble grumble).
Maja says
The balls are confusing! Hehehe! 😉
As for paying for something weird in the name of health, I’m in the continual process of upgrading my wardrobe (even though that money would have been great to save). It’s been going on for a few years now, and I’m nowhere near done because
1.) It’s taken me a long time to figure out more or less what I like/need and what works for me.
2.) Even knowing more or less what I wants I struggle SO MUCH with finding it!
I thought about learning how to sew, but the thought makes me want to cry and curl up in the fetal position, so that’s a no. If I had more money, I maybe would have hit up a tailer just to get it over and done with.
Now, I’m not a fashinista at all, and I hate shopping with a passion (mainly because I rarely find anything I like). But I notice quite a bit of improvement in my moods, and quite a bit reduction of my stress when I have something comfortable to wear that I feel good in. I also struggle with long term illness (improving slowly though), and anything that improves my quality of and reduces my stress I’m all for! I think it’ll help my health and energy levels both short term and long term. And also, truly, sometimes not having anything that I’m comfortable wearing can be the tipping factor in wether or not I can do stuff. I have to consider wether or not I have the energy to handle the thing I want to/need to do, and if I also have to wear pinchy clothes or clothes I feel gross in or whatever, it can really be the straw that breaks the camels back you know, so that it’s all too much to handle and I just can’t do it.
Maja says
oops, sorry for the typos.
Abigail says
I get that. I’ve gained some weight since going back on sugar. This used to be considered me being thinner, but I’m self-conscious at this weight now and how clothes fit. Having something that makes you less conscious of your body is huge for people with chronic illness and/or depression. Like you said, it’d be great to have that money in savings, but depression and other emotional issues can be costly in other areas. By mitigating the symptoms, you’re keeping yourself in line in other financial areas.
Taylor Lee @ Yuppie Millennial says
Huh, I would have never guessed pool could help with mobility issues! The initial expense up front does seem daunting, but, like you said, hopefully the payback will come pretty quickly.
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Abigail says
Yeah, I’d never have thought of it either. Luckily, Tim’s ADD means he sometimes thinks (very) outside the box. And yep, here’s hoping for fast payback. Our bank account — and therefore I — will be much happier when that happens.
jestjack says
Man….couple of things. One of my darkest days when I found a “slate pool table” set up in a tiny second floor bedroom in one of my rentals. This thing was heavy and huge. I was overwhelmed…..thought for a minute. Then put it on Craigslist for $200 and sold it in an hour to a guy who sets up and repairs pool tables for a living. Quite the relief and I was lucky. Those guys took that table apart and were gone in 20 minutes…. I will tell you in this neck of the woods I see pool tables all the time on CL and elsewhere for free. Man ….$1700….that’s a lot $….hope he gets some use out of it and you don’t go crazy with the balls clacking together in the DR…..
Abigail says
Yeah, that’s well and good — if you can get it out and to your place (even the pieces are going to be tremendously heavy, and I’m trying not to lift almost anything more than a couple of pounds). And get it set up again. And probably refelted. And professionally leveled. And you want to make sure it’s the exact size Tim needs (7′ playing area). But also one without a ball return because that’s another thing that can break.
I definitely thought about used. I thought hard about it. There were simply too many logistical problems. (Also, I just checked Craigslist and even on the “by owner” page, it’s almost all dealers. The five or so that were available by a regular person were the wrong sizes and still around $700.)
Emily @ JohnJaneDoe says
Probably a good move not to go with a hot tub. We have one we got off Craigslist for Jon’s back and neck pain (not debilitating, but aggravating). We used it for a couple of months before Jon realized it needed a lot of repairs and cost a lot of electricity. While Jon’s handy enough with electronics to fix the motor and heating element, he had more trouble with the seals. Darn thing has sat unused in our back yard for over 5 years.
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Abigail says
I hadn’t even THOUGHT of repairs. I was just thinking about the fact that Tim wouldn’t be able to put in the necessary chemicals, and I’m not great at getting around to things. Speaking of which, I really need to change the air filter in our HVAC. I’m only about three months overdue on that.
Donna Freedman says
One of DF’s sons got a free hot tub from someone. You can guess why it was free. Yep, because it didn’t work. So it sat in the back yard for some years before his son finally got a guy to look at it.
You can guess what happened there, too: It would have cost a fortune to fix.
Last summer his son and one of my nephews took it apart with an axe and a katana, then hauled the pieces off to the dump.
A former co-worker said one of the biggest mistakes they ever made was buying a hot tub. They sound great, she says — sitting in superheated water on a zero-degree night, watching the aurora borealis! — but the reality for them was they were always adjusting the chemicals, or forgetting to adjust them and having water issues, and the cost of heating the thing on those zero-degree nights was pretty high, and and and and and…
Ultimately they got rid of it.
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Abigail says
Yeah, that’s the worry here. We don’t even keep up on BASIC stuff unless it reaches a crisis point. So something to do with chemicals… We can just drive the 3 miles to the gym we get into for free thanks to Medicare.
Abigail says
Haha, well it wouldn’t be as big a deal if we had more padding. But Tim’s teeth will take up all but about $3,800 of what’s in the bank right now. So $1,700 is HUGE. But we’ll just have to focus on returning the money to the account as best we can. In the meantime, life will be a lot easier if Tim can be more mobile.
Prudence Debtfree says
2/3 of your daily expenditures have revolved around pool? Wow! This table is a good move! When we got married, we didn’t register for a set of china dishes; we registered for a pool table and accessories. People bought gift certificates – and covered the entire cost. That table has been used on a regular basis over the years. Having friends and family over is going to cost less than a night with them on the town, and having things like a pool table or a ping pong table (or both) helps make the nights at home more entertaining.
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Abigail says
Well, 2/5 but yeah it was a strain and it still didn’t get him enough play time. Here’s hoping this does the trick physically. And maybe he’ll end up winning some tournaments. But really I’d just be happy with a husband in less pain.
Melissa F says
Hi Abby, I am glad to hear that you and Tim came up with another option for therapy and hope it works out well for him. Maybe you will enjoy it too. I use to be on a pool league and play in tournaments many years ago, so I can understand Tim wanting the better upgrades since he is the one that will be dealing with it on a daily basis. It is cheaper to buy the better things from the start. I am learning this now. I try to save a few dollars and end up buying the better “whatever we are talking about” later only after wasting money on the cheaper version. Then my husband ask me if it was worth it to save those few dollars-LOL! Of course, a lot of times the cheaper version is fine. At the time I had a Meucci cue which I paid about $500 for at the time and I just couldn’t use any other after getting use to it. All in all, the price doesn’t sound too high, especially for the delivery and set up and if it helps the pain, that will be worth it and then some! Maybe down the road he can find someone to sponsor him in the tourneys, paying his entry fees and a little extra to wear some advertising. Wishing you both all the best. Take care.
Donna Freedman says
Buy it right, or buy it twice. Or, as my dad says, “Buy once, cry once.”
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Abigail says
Yeah, I’ve definitely been guilty of the idea that cheaper is okay. I try to take a more balanced approach to it. Which is why I think we’ll get the mid-range balls, though if we CAN get organized enough to go talk to a shop owner near us… Well, more information is usually better.
Donna Freedman says
Hee hee, you said “mid-range balls.”
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Catseye says
I’m glad Tim is getting that pool table if it will help with his mobility issues. I’m thinking you could play each other, that way you could definitely get your money’s worth out of it.
As for cats, my last one died around 3 1/2 years ago and I haven’t gotten another one. I wanted to wait until I’m working full time again and besides, I have less room in this apartment than I had in my old place. There’s literally no place to put a litter box. Also, I’ve never had more than 2 felines at a time, so I can’t imagine dealing with 5 of ’em without losing my mind. ;o)
Abigail says
Yeah, he’s hoping I’ll get back into playing pool again more too. Which makes sense, if I don’t have to leave the house to do it.
I’m sorry to hear about your cat. I agree that it’s smart to wait until your money situation is a little better. Patches likes to have something go wrong every 3-6 months, and getting it checked out/dealt with usually runs $150-250. It’s a good thing she’s cute.
teinegurl says
I agree with an earlier commentor screw frugality! If my memory serves me well tim doesn’t ask for much gifts, things, etc. so If pool makes him happy & helps he get whatever he wants!
Abigail says
Well, these days he doesn’t ask for much that he doesn’t pay for with his fun money, anyway. And in the end we’re saving oodles of cash over time. So it just makes sense.