Any of these can seriously affect your finances.
If serious Sickness, Injury, or Disability enters your or your family's lives, chances are your budget and finances will be affected. Hopefully you have savings to help cushion you through the difficulty of things, but whether you do or whether you don't, changes in health status are also a time to rework your budget.
Here is an overview of adjustments to make to your budget when sickness, injury, or disability affects your household finances:
Loss of Income
If the sick, injured, or disabled person was working before the troubles began, in all probability, there is a loss of income for the short or the long term. It's important to address this decrease as soon as possible and to adjust your budget accordingly. The last thing you need is for life to get more difficult by going into unnecessary, budgeting is most important when funds get tight.
Improving Lost Income
Investigate any and all streams of income that you may be entitled to. This can include insurance payouts, medication rebates, and settlements, these are a few examples of increased income. If you are struggling with how to access these funds during trying times, seek knowledgeable help from service providers such as social workers (many hospitals have social workers that offer practical support through illness/injury). Once you have secured entitlements and any other increases in income, adjust your budget plan accordingly.
Changes in Expenses
Sickness, injuries and disabilities almost always create changes in expenses. Some expenses may go down: perhaps you won't be driving your car for a time, or your extravagant weekend nightlife will come to a pause, or any other number of regular day-to-day expenses will decrease as your lifestyle slows down. Unfortunately, there are many expenses that are likely to increase because of sickness, injury, or disability.
Examples of Increased Expenses
*This has been written for an international audience for which there is a wide range of variables on what is and isn't covered between different health care systems. Some examples may or may not apply to you, give the list a read anyways to get your mind thinking about expenses that may be relevant to you.
- Medications
- Deductibles (Health Care Insurance systems)
- Supplements, Specialized Dietary Items & Health food items
- Braces, Foot Supports, and other Bodily Injury support
- Alternative Healing Services where applicable
- Transportation (for medical care etc)
- Lodging (will you need to see specialists far enough away from home you'll spend time in hotels etc?)
Budgeting for Illness, Injury, and Disability - Summary
+++ In a Nutshell box here +++
When health issues come down hard enough to impact your income and your expenses, it is very important to reconfigure your budget accordingly. The last thing you need is money stress during the tough parts, and it's the last thing you'll need once you recover (or in the case of disability, adapt).
If you want to avoid financial difficulty during an already trying time than a budget is more important than ever. If you have an existing budget you'll need to modify it, if you're starting a new one the principles are the same.
Additional Reading and Resources
General Injury/Disability Budgeting (From Canada)
Creating Your Budget After Cancer
Budgeting Considerations for Chronic Illness
Budgeting When Your Child Has a Disability
Money Management With a Disability (From Canada)