just the same way that we afford our babies, you budget and save for those things that you want/need and you put your dependants wellbeing before your own.
we do not live off credit and occasionally i will go without lunch to ensure that the children are fed (in the dark times)
we do insure, i shop around every few months to get good deals on insurance etc.
it depends on your priorities.
mine are my babies and that includes my furbabies

You can get a 15kg bag of dog food for about £10.00...so if you don't have pet insurance its kind of cheap...althogh the pet food I buy is on the expensive side

Lovely to hear that.

But when you say you shop around for insurance - be very careful. I don't think changing insurers every few months is a good idea. That is, if that's what you do! Try and find an insurer you like for your pets and stick to it, much less risky.

Love the thought of all the cats round the big scratching post!

I know the greyhound Rescues ask for a donation usually around £100 - £125 for that you get your dog, fully vaccinated, teeth cleaned and spayed or nuetered, worned and deflead. They also come with Collar, lead, muzzle and a bowl and some also give a coat and 4 weeks insurance.

Fantastic. You can't get better than that and they do a wonderful job, too!

Check my bank account - I'm not wealthy!

I will admit that a fair chunk of our money goes on animals, it's not just Max - it's the chickens as well.

Max's insurance has rocketed over the years as he ages, sadly we haven't even had our monies worth for a long time because we haven't needed to claim anything

His food is going up and up, I might have to put him on a starvation diet for a while!

His training, well, the less said about that the better. In short - he no longer goes

One of the problems with bigger dogs is it usually costs more, he eats more, he needs a bigger collar, stronger leads, medication per weight means we pay more, he needs a bigger car to travel in, a stronger bed to sleep on, tougher toys so that he doesn't just destroy them in seconds, the list goes on.

Like others have said, Dave and I aren't big party goers, we don't spend a lot on clothes, CDs, gym memberships etc, we don't go away on holiday really. Aside from our mortgage, the animals are probably our biggest expense. But then you could say that it is a hobby? A friend of mine works in London, she racks up loads of flexi time and then books last minute holidays here there and everywhere, they are good deals but she still pays a lot but travelling is her hobby. Another couple of our friends are into loads of sports and extremisms - stock car racing, climbing, adventure holidays etc, again they spend most of their money on their hobbies. My sisters spend most of their money on kids.

Just out of curiosity, is the specific mention of rehomed / adopted dogs in relation to your other thread.... (Although I think Scoop was adopted though was she?)

no i didnt elaborate, sorry. we stick with insurers for obv reasons but i change sky/bb/phone tarrifs if there are better deals my bb and phone is fab atm and sky gave me half price hd for 6 months ...you do have to be careful with insurers fo sho...
x

Batersea asks for £105 for their dogs they come microchipped/vaccinated and of course spade/newtered I saw a pug on their a while to buy one of those new it would cost £900 and up.

Ah, no problem - sorry - just wanted to be sure! Yes, that's another good idea to save money so that we have a wee bit extra to spend on our beloved babies.