To spend £4k on this?

[setitup]

For background I’m 28 and on £40k. My bills are quite high (I have my own house) and I don’t have savings. I’d be able to afford this using 0% finance over 24 months. The deposit is £750 and monthly repayments around £130.

I went for an Invisalign consultation, the cost will be £4k and will require a fixed wire retainer (a permanent metal wire on the inside side of both my arches).

The result from Invisalign will be slight, it’s more widening my arches which is why the fixed retainer is needed, but my teeth are already quite straight so it won’t overall be noticeable. I do think I’d like the end result.

Aibu to go for this? I’m not super keen on the fixed wire retainer but it’s also a treatment I’ve wanted to do for ages

If it won't be noticeable and your health wont benefit from it then I'd say there was no point spending £4k on it.

There will be a difference in the before and after but it won’t be a drastic change

Save the money for 24 months instead of using finance, then see how you feel about spending it.

If I had no savings, I wouldn't do it now. I would wait a couple of years to have built up at least 3 months salary of savings, ideally 6, and then to be able to pay for it in full.

(I had my eyes lasered around that age, and I paid in full.)

I don't understand what widening your arches means?

If you have no savings, it sounds as though £130 a month is actually quite a lot of money to find from somewhere else in your budget? Else you’d already be saving money? In that context, can you really afford it?

But ultimately, if you have £130 a month to spare and this is what you want to spend it on rather than felt tip pens and cream buns, why not? It’s your money, if you think the results will be worth £4,000 to you. It’s not something I’d be interested in personally, but there’s clearly a reason you’re considering this over having some savings and if it’s going to markedly improve your self esteem it’s probably well spent.

If you were unable to work for whatever reason do you have employment insurance so that all your bills would still be paid for the 2 years? If so I would do it, if not I wouldn't.

I say go for it . I spent money on laser eye surgery and it was the best money I spent. If it is something you have always wanted to do you will never regret it. I would do it now while you are just you and have no one to answer to (as in a partner where you need to consider each other and weigh up financial constraints).

@ComtesseDeSpair I’ve been on a few holidays recently and have bought new furniture and have generally not prioritised savings. I think I’d probably be able to comfortably save £300 a month if I monitored what I was spending

I don't understand what you want to have done. It's presumably cosmetic in which case I'd say don't do it. I think less than perfect, interesting teeth and smile are a joy nowadays when so many people go for the perfect smile amd whitened teeth option.

I can understand spending money on this if it will improve your confidence etc, but if the results will be slight and barely noticeable, is it worth 4k? Sorry if I've missed something but I personally can't understand spending this amount for slight/barely noticeable.

I would do as others suggest. Save and then see if you still justify it.

What would you do if car failed AND Boiler failed AND your roof leaked in the same week?

If your teeth are already straight , then I’m assuming you’re looking at approx 4mm of pushing your teeth into a slightly wider position . Will you honestly commit to wearing the retainer overnight for a year plus , otherwise they are just going to move back anyway . Not something I would pay £4k for after seeing my daughter and all her friends ditch their retainers too early , but maybe you are more committed.

Fair enough, it’s a bit of a unique situation; my teeth don’t show that much when I smile as my top lip covers them a bit, so this treatment would be to widen my smile and lengthen my teeth so they are more visible. At the moment I’m not confident at all, I never smile etc. the treatment won’t completely fix my problem but it will be an improvement. Plus afterwards I could get teeth bonding which would get me where I’d like to be (not included in cost)

God this society's obsession with cgi perfection is exhausting

I’ve had Invisalign and got good results.

But with no savings, when your teeth sound fine already, I wouldn’t.

Wait a year, see if you can save the full amount in that year and focus on things to build your self esteem. Then you might decide you don't even need it after all.

If you don't think your teeth are wonky or unsightly, and you have no actual dental need for it, then I'd say it's a lot for a very minor improvement.
But if you lack confidence in your teeths appearance or have difficulty chewing/ cleaning etc then I guess it's worth it.
I needed 4k worth of dentistry (non cosmetic) last year, I was terrified but I'm so pleased I went through with it. My teeth are much healthier and look better. But I had severe damage, decay etc.

With barely any change and no savings then no I wouldn't consider this. I'd get myself some savings first.

I had extensive dental work, at 3x your cost. I can say that the only one who will notice is you. No one noticed my fixed teeth (they weren’t outwardly awful before, but had a lot of issues that people couldn’t easily see). I feel 100% better, I smile in photos, it makes a huge difference to me. I consider it money well spent. Do it, but only if you don’t care if others don’t notice/comment.

I find that a good way to consider the value of something is to imagine you can have the outcome, or the money. I.e if you could have the teeth you’d end up with, or 4k to put in the bank (as if it was coming from somewhere else) which would you pick?
seems an awful lot of money to me if the results won’t be significant.

I would save up an emergency fund, then save for this purchase.

Depends how much this bothers you. I had fixed braces as a kid, didn’t continue the retainer and they went back slightly. No one else really noticed but I did and it bothered me. So a few years back I paid about the same for fixed clear braces. It was only about 8 months, and for me it was well worth the money because it bothered me. They are still straight thanks to the fixed retainers.

again no one else noticed, but I do in every single photo.

It’s such a lot of money to spend on something purely cosmetic that absolutely nobody else will notice. Is there nothing else you would prefer to spend it on that would bring you more joy? Holidays, getting work done on your house, treating family or friends to something nice?

Try this book before you make any decisions about your teeth. Might save you a lot of money.

https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/dr-melanie-fennell/overcoming-low-self-esteem-2nd-edition/9781472119292?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADZzAIC_MWYGoQI-w0o2fC0RVy59S&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5PGfjfu6hgMVEZNQBh1TWQAtEAQYASABEgIm1_D_BwE#GOR008596922