Whenever a pets gets sick, it's understandably a worrying time as they are part of the family, and until you know what's wrong, there's not a lot that you can do. Unlike humans, it's not as if they can tell you what the problem is so it's down to your intuition to know what's wrong with them.
Where vets are concerned, they can be expensive though, and a lot of people won't take their pets to the vets unless it's absolutely necessary. While I understand that way of thinking and I'm sure we all like to save money, by doing that and waiting, you could be contributing to your pets illness, albeit unintentionally.
I've been lucky with my dogs, and they've hardly ever been sick so I've never actually needed to take them to the vets. If ever that day comes though (and I'm sure it will) I won't hesitate to take them as their health and happiness is more important than money to me.
It would be interesting to find out if certain breeds of dog are more prone to illness than others. Is there somewhere that we can find that information out? Maybe if there is, then people could know what sort of budget they'd have to potentially set aside, depending on what breed of dog they get.