Sushi Money

     I grew up with the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared.”  Not that we can prepare for everything, but it’s usually in the back of my mind… this little voice whispering in my ear until I finally do something about it.  I won’t go into the other little voices I hear(!) but suffice it to say that I like taking care of little problems before they become bigger problems.  It doesn’t always work out that way however. 

Take last year for example.  We just moved into a new (for us) home in the country.  We live about an hour from a major metropolitan area, but definitely in the country… farm fields and forest to be seen for miles.  Winter in the midwest can get mighty cold, and one of my goals was to have a wood burning stove.  Not only do I enjoy the warmth of a wood stove, but I like the security it provides in terms of raw heat, whether you have electricity or not. So we purchased a nice wood burning insert for the fireplace, and I spent the Fall season cutting, stacking and procuring seasoned firewood. 

     It was not a little expense however… after installation the wood insert cost exceeded $3000.  I plunked it on the credit card before using a timely 12-month 0% balance transfer option for another card.  It took some rationalizing that buying the wood burning insert was something we needed… really it was something I always wanted.  And we enjoyed using it as winter grew colder.  Something we did need however was a good backup generator for the house. Power outages are not uncommon where we live, and we were fortunate to inherit an older Honda generator.  Being the practical “be prepared” kind of guy, I routinely started the generator once or twice a month to make sure it would be functional should we ever need it.  

     That day finally arrived with a monster ice storm last winter that coated roads, trees and powerlines with temperatures in the low teens and 20’s.  Ice and electric power lines do not mix well, and within 24 hours the entire metro region was in a series of outages that lasted almost a week.  Normally with power outages, we wait several hours to see if the power comes back on (as it usually does) before hooking up the generator.  That first day I filled up the trusty wood burning insert, and we stayed fairly toasty while burning wood with the residual heat inside the home.  As night came with the power still off, I resigned myself to starting the generator, but very glad we had it.  Out it came while I beamed with pride for my wisdom in making sure it was ready to run.  ”Time for some power!” I thought…  Or not.  After 30 minutes of yanking, pulling and a few colorful words, the dang thing simply would not start.  So it was going to be a dark night at the homefront!  

     That night I stoked that wood burning insert for all it was worth, and although much of the house was pretty chilly, we curled up in the living room and enjoyed the radiated warmth that only a wood fire and cast iron can bring.  There’s something very rewarding about fire in the midst of freezing weather.  Yes, we might have been able to pack up the car to drive for an hour and find a hotel somewhere, but that wasn’t a sure bet with all the power outages.  More importantly, the icy roads and snow coming down was a safety consideration.  With a family, animals and a house you’re concerned about, you try to stay around if possible.  There’s another motto that comes in handy… “Don’t make a bad situation worse.”  Driving was out of the question, but we actually enjoyed a comforable night with a toasty wood fire, albeit without the usual amenities of home.

     Fortunately, we awoke the next day to decent weather and improving roads.  I drove into a smaller town a half hour away to try and find some new spark plugs and starting fluid, and about midday arrived back at home. I finally got the generator started and we were off to the races.  But the thing about small portable generators is that it takes fuel for them to run… I had only stored a single days worth of fuel, not enough to run non-stop without multiple trips for fuel.  But it was enough… it lasted almost a day running what we needed in the house, while most of the house stayed warm enough with the wood stove. The power came back on briefly the second day… back off for another night, then back again “for good” on the third day.   No real crisis, but enough challenges to make us really appreciate the power company!

     As I get ready to pay off that credit card debt, I look back and consider how much it cost to purchase and install that stove.  And I’ve found it doesn’t really matter… what matters is the security we have in the form of something that serves as a “back up” to heat the home in winter.  Actually we use it almost everyday in winter to supplement heat and cut down the electricity bill.  (And it’s a clean burning wood insert with the highest EPA ratings for air cleanliness… you hardly see any smoke coming out the chimney as it reburns most of it).  I consider that stove one of the best “investments” I’ve ever made for the value it brings to our family.  And you know what?  I can see how an emergency fund serves a similar purpose.  It’s like having a “wood stove” or  “generator” in your bank account… ready in case you ever really need it.  Unlike a wood stove however, it shouldn’t be used regularly!  But it can supplement your financial needs when times get tough.   

     There’s another analogy worth looking at… paying down debt.  In many ways, paying off debt is similar to cutting firewood.  There’s an old saying, “Wood heats you twice… once when you’re cutting it, and again when you burn it!”  Paying down debt can achieve similar results… you’re “paying yourself twice” by getting rid of the debt burden and financing costs, while making room to use cash for savings at a later time.  What about the generator that wouldn’t start?  Well, I look at that like not having an emergency fund.  We take so much for granted that we don’t think of the unexpected.  We work hard to stay prepared, and rationalize that we don’t need to save so much money.  But we may not be as quite as prepared as we think, especially if we don’t have a fairly liquid emergency fund ready to meet needs in times of crisis or challenge.  

     What did I learn from that ice storm last winter?  I learned that spending money, even using credit wisely, to ensure your safety, comfort and security can be a pretty good investment.   And  that  “being prepared” is a positive mindset… yet even when you think you are, the unexpected can always happen.  Having the security of a back-up plan, and an emergency fund in the bank is also a pretty darn good investment!

1 comment - Post a comment

« One Word for Today… | Sunday Paper – Managing Money in College »