A truth universally acknowledged, we make plans & God laughs.
A fundamental reality that applies to everything, including our finances.
This week North Country was rocked with two winter storms, one with hurricane level winds and another with snow and blizzard conditions. Our village lost power and internet for much of the week and we will be forced to contend with the damage for a long time, some of it likely to be buried under snow and dealt with in spring.
We are very fortunate to have a generator and experienced very little damage beyond a few broken chairs and loose shingles. Others, however were not as lucky, and dealt with all the inconveniences a power outage creates including no heat in wintertime upstate New York.
While I certainly am not thankful for the storm, this event reminded me why this place we live is so special—why it’s the best place I’ve ever been and the only place that has truly felt like home.
The morning the storm passed, I walked around our village to survey the damage. Other villagers were already milling about cutting up downed trees, helping move debris, and planning how to help those severely impacted. A good friend texted me about putting on a breakfast at the local American Legion for those out of power—perfect timing as I had three dozen chicken eggs to use! Another dear friend hosted a board game day in her shop to liven the mood. The Department of Public Works manager and I chatted about the storm while he worked on fixing a downed drain. Everyone was doing their part and doing so joyfully.
It’s so easy to want to live in a place when it’s at its best and most beautiful. But the true test is whether you want to live in that place when it’s at its harshest and hardest. Sackets Harbor is the place I call home because even at its worst, it’s the most wonderful place.
Here are some shots from around the region.
Little video I made :)
Financial Derailments Are North Country Winter Storms
Nothing like a Biblical storm to remind you sometimes even your best laid plans can go awry. Last week was supposed to be my first full week back after being sick for over a month and suddenly, two of the days I had no internet—forcing me to work on puzzles and read books instead of seize the New Year with a vengeance.
This applies to everything, and often, to our finances. How many out there are simply going through their weeks and months feeling confident with their finances only to have hurricane-level destruction displace their best-laid plans?
The winter barrage we experienced reminded me that in bad weather and finances:
No matter how much you prepare, you are never ready enough.
You are not an island, and you will need help from others to navigate this life.
You are never as ready as you think.
As I mentioned, we have an automatic home-backup generator, and 99.9% of the time it comes on in about three seconds after the power goes out. Well, during this recent outage the power went out and while we heard the sound of our generator kicking on and running, nothing was being powered in our home.
Being unprepared for this scenario, we had to wander around our house in a frenzy looking for our flashlights and calling the manufacturer’s 24/7 phone support to see if they could magically fix it. Keep in mind, this is all while 70-mile-an-hour winds are happening and the entire region is pitch black (we live in the sticks). After about ninety minutes on hold, my husband worked with a very nice lady who walked him through the process to connect the generator to our home. Turns out, this is a blip that happens enough there is a step-by-step process to get it resolved.
We had spent all this effort and money to install a top-of-the-line generator for the power outages our rural region often experiences. We thought we did our job and prepared—but it turns out, things went sideways the very second our backup plan failed. We had relied so much on this fancy generator that we hadn’t even thought to make sure flashlights were easily accessible. (Note, rural living is a constant reminder how little you actually know about anything.)
Whatever Comes Your Way, You’re Going to Need Help
In our situation, without the patient lady at Generac to troubleshoot our generator failure, we would have been dead-in-the-water for over two days with no power.
There will be a time when you need something, and you will be forced to rely on others to help you. Our village pulled together to help those around us who did not have the good fortune of power during the storm.
When it comes to finances and catastrophes this is key. If you have a family, you will need help from all members when things go sideways. You may need support from your community, church, or friends—whether it be outright financial assistance, or just emotional support, financial catastrophes require help.
Knowing You Cannot Prepare For Everything, What Is To Be Done?
As with weather causing unpredictable catastrophes, things can happen to you financially that you never considered. Of course this does not mean you shouldn’t prepare, but it does mean even in preparing you may have to think on your feet and quickly change course.
Here is my best advice to prepare for the unknown and unexpected:
Have little to no debt. The less you owe others, the less outlays are required when things go sideways. If you have consumer debt, personal debt, student loans, or really any debt outside of a mortgage—it’s time to get serious about paying it off.
Establish an emergency fund. You need to make sure you can get through six months of life without having an income. It may seem unlikely this is necessary, but job loss, disability, market declines, and black swan events in an ever increasingly dangerous world make having some money stashed vital to getting through whatever event—outside your control—comes your way.
Live below your means. Make sure your lifestyle costs a lot less than your income. You should be saving a large amount of your income with the excess, and if a sudden financial shock happens and you need every penny to sustain yourself, it’s going to spiral very quickly.
Help others, know your neighbors, build a real community in your physical location. There will be shocks you cannot get through alone. Maybe it is a representative on the phone, or maybe it is a church or a local community group. But, going life alone—even with something as seemingly personal as financial adversity is not the road to success. Build relationships now—when things are sunny and bright—that way when the storm hits you are ready.
As I finish this, the storm is still brewing outside. We are warm and cozy inside with all the lights running and the internet still giving us a peek into the rest of the world. I am hopeful this storm will pass this week without any other misery for us or our village, but even if it does not—we are as ready as we can be!
Nice writeup. Glad you are so happy in Sackets Harbor.