Pets offer joy and companionship, but pet ownership can be a significant financial commitment. About one in four of my clients have a pet, so it is important that I can help my clients budget and balance care costs for their furry, scaly, or feathered companions with their overall household income and expenses. Fortunately, you can take practical steps to make pet ownership more affordable while ensuring your pet thrives.

Identify pet ownership costs

Pet-related expenses can easily blend into your overall budget, such as when you purchase pet food alongside groceries at the supermarket. To gain clarity on these costs, track your pet spending through receipts or online or in-app purchase history, or by noting price tags on packages.

Include not only food but also expenses such as veterinary bills, medications, insurance, licences, grooming, maintenance fees and recurring services such as pet sitting or dog walking. While some costs, such as extra electricity for cooling a fish tank or heating a reptile terrarium, may be difficult to pinpoint and might not become part of your pet budget, thorough tracking helps you manage expenses effectively.

Refine your pet budget

Tracking your pet expenses can reveal opportunities to adjust spending and make

pet ownership more affordable

. Reviewing costs often sparks creative, budget-friendly ideas, such as cutting back on non-essential items. For example, dog and cat owners may notice significant spending on toys, treats or comfort items, yet pets remain content as long as their core needs are met, regardless of cost.

Incorporating these insights into a dedicated pet budget helps you manage expenses effectively. Ideally, this pet budget should fit within your

broader household budget

, but starting with a standalone pet budget is a practical way to begin understanding and controlling these costs without feeling overwhelmed.

Creativity and DIY can cut costs

With the

high cost of living

, keeping pet expenses affordable without compromising their care and comfort frees up funds for less flexible expenses. To make budget-conscious, pet-friendly choices, carefully consider the different categories of your pet’s expenses.

Food is a major recurring pet expense, but there are options to cut costs without compromising quality. Buying in bulk saves money; split the cost with a friend if storage is an issue. Alternatively, opt for a budget-friendly brand with comparable nutritional value, ensuring your pet’s needs are met while keeping your wallet happy.

Providing your pet with quality food can lower long-term veterinary costs, a significant expense for pet owners. To make vet care more affordable, seek out community clinics, often supported by humane societies, offering check-ups and vaccinations at reduced rates. For kittens and puppies, low-cost spay and neuter clinics can save on surgical expenses. If you have multiple pets, inquire about multi-pet discounts for preventive care and for all pets, explore pet insurance to help cover emergency bills.

Spending quality time with your pet is one of the key benefits of owning a pet and you can save money by integrating grooming into this time. Invest in affordable tools such as clippers and brushes and learn to groom your dog or cat using free online tutorials, ensuring timely care while keeping costs down.

Keep cages clean and acquire basic nail‑ and beak‑trimming techniques to cut down on vet bills. For reptiles and fish, join dedicated online communities for expert advice on tank and habitat maintenance. With the right information you will avoid health problems and costly mistakes, such as using the wrong cleaning products, and keep both your pet and wallet healthy.

Save on pet supplies and enrichment with budget-friendly options. Create cat toys from household items (as long as these are safe), buy litter in bulk or on sale, bake homemade dog treats and repurpose cardboard tubes as toys for small, caged animals, keeping costs low and your pets engaged.

Instead of store-bought decorations, natural items such as branches for birds or rocks for reptiles can be cleaned and safely added to their habitats. However, investing in durable items up front for key components of their habitat can avoid costly ongoing replacements. If high-quality items are too expensive, explore second-hand options for quality items that keep your pet’s space safe, comfortable and affordable.

Seek side hustle options

Cutting pet enrichment costs can free up your budget for other expenses. For instance, skip gym membership and dog walking fees by exercising with your dog. Better still, turn your love for dog walking into a

side hustle

by walking neighbours’ dogs for extra income. If you have a yard, rent it out as a private dog park through platforms such as Sniffspot. Alternatively, use your expertise with high-maintenance pets to offer pet-sitting services, earning money from others with similar pets.

Managing

pet ownership within a budget

goes beyond simply reducing expenses. It is about finding smart ways to provide excellent care for your much-loved pet while keeping costs down. By adopting cost-saving pet care tips and integrating them with your financial plan, you will maintain your pet’s well-being and improve your own money management skills.

Mary Castillo is a Saskatoon-based credit counsellor at Credit Counselling Society, a non-profit organization that has helped Canadians manage debt since 1996.