Breaking Even, Inc.

Story Of A Fort Kent Flood Victim

If Life Hands You FEMA Chicken Soup, Put It In Your Pantry

Optimism will always get you far. And so can a little sarcasm for that matter! The following guest post was written by one of my best friends, Robby. You can be Robby's "friend" and read his blog on his Myspace page.

So, I thought it would only be appropriate to write about the topic everyone is concerned with these few days....The flood! I for one, like Noah himself, predicted the flood would occur and had made preperations to build an ark...then I got lazy! j/k..No seriously, you can't have that much snow and not expect to see it turn to water.

4/30/08 Wednesday (4am)  My brother Derek says, "Robby, we got to get the BLEEP out of here!".  And the Grand Evacuation began...we grabbed our clothes, electronics, important papers, put stuff on blocks and fled to the higher grounds of Belone Hill (parent's house). Oh I got the cats too....in two trips...i couldn't find flav....

10am - pleasant street looks like the scene from the movie "The Day After Tommorow" when Jake gyllenhall is trying to get his friends to the NYC library for refuge. Of course you have your snoopy old bastards who clogged the main artery in Fort Kent just to "snoop".  I shouldn't complain....45 minutes is nothing to spend on Pleasant street....I was only trying to go find my cats..no biggy "Monsieur Nadeau" was curious about his AARP membership and felt compelled to try getting around town to the post office.

12pm - so the rumor that Maine Public was cutting the power in fort kent spread like wildfire....so...we went to Johns  Convenience and bought lots of useless coldcuts, water, flashlights...every other person in town had the same idea....cha-ching! for John's...they cashed in on the foolishness of we fort kenters!  I got a sweet meat and cheese platter though! YUM!

5/1/2008 thursday 12pm- so I went to my house via "big pickup" to assess the damage.  Not too bad....4 inches more and i would have had soggy furniture...it never made it into my house. Thank God! I then began the laborious task of cleanup....who comes down the street...an old lady from the American Red Cross....now I know they are here to help and thank god for people like that who will drop their day to help those affected by tragedy....but I don't need any more water...."Lady do you see my backyard?...Get me a beer!"...seriously though...i dont need anymore water...bring me some money!

5/2/2008 friday 3pm - The Department of Environmental Protection and FEMA made their preliminary rounds of the area.  A crazy weird guy with a truck load of what appear to be "gigantic maxi pads" drove in my driveway...reminescent of the way the storm chasers drove in the movie "twister".   He, essentially, walked right into my house and threw his maxi pads in my cellar...."nope no oil....why is your power on?!!" (really saying...are u stupid?)..I said...well this isn't MY house....my landlords fled...i dont know where they are.  "Here, take these pads....throw them in your cellar and don't drink the water!"

5pm- Laurie Lozier (a total sweetheart) asked me if I wanted FEMA foods from the Wallagrass school....now normally i would be like sure...but part of me today did not want to feel like a victim....I'm not broke or anything...I didn't even loose anything substantial....I'm just displaced!..but needless to say...i took them.... Holy Crap! FEMA feeds people well!  Its all organic food! Organic peanut butter, cereal, pasta, you name it! and i even got some sweet handwipes!  the ultimate though....24 cans of chicken noodle soup! SCORE!

well thats the timelime of significant events of my stint as a "survivor" of the great flood.   It had its ups and its downs...but at least everyone is okay....I can't move back till the heat, hotwater,  and electrical are fixed but at least my internet works!

I'll keep you updated with flood-related news as it happens. In the meantime, things to keep in mind when disaster strikes.

1) See the writing on the wall. If you know a disaster is coming (such as impending melting of the biggest snowfall on record), take steps to minimize the effects on your home and your life.
2 )Stay calm. It's best for everyone.
3) Know what you'd take if you had only five minutes to grab things. Keep a list, physical or mental, of where it is.
4) Keep some food (a few days worth) in your pantry to keep from unnecessary purchases (and in case FEMA takes a couple of days to get to you).
5) Rely on the help of family, friends, and FEMA. They'd do the same for you, right?
6) Stay optimistic. Robby has always had a great attitude and in coping with disaster, I bet it has come in really handy.

Top Image: Robby's house is the one behind the trees. Keep in mind he normally has a backyard.
Bottom Image: Robby's backyard. As he said "Maybe I shouldn't have raked my lawn. Oh well, at least I have firewood now!"

Best Advice You Ever Got?

A Little Philosophy About Money And Life

CNN Money recently had a slideshow of financially successful people all answering the same question "What was the best advice you ever got?" The answers are what you'd expect: kind of general, a little profound, and applicable to money and life in general. Here are a few favorites:

Focus on things you do different than others. (Peter G. Peterson)
Get out of your comfort zone (David Petraeus)
Always be the person who signs your checks (Tina Fey)

To be honest, a lot of other people I didn't know. A lot of older white guys who run large companies (at least I'm assuming, a lot of the companies were not recognizable to me). I would have liked to see a broader spectrum of different types of successful people.

Most of the advice that was stated came from fathers or bosses. I wish I could remember advice my father gave me. He was pretty tight lipped on finances in general. (According to the New York Times, it's a movement among young people to not keep their finances to themselves but with the popularity of personal finance blogs, I'm highly doubting it's just younger people.) I had long wanted to pick my dad's brain for financial advice in particular because he ran a successful business and was loved by his family and community at the same time. How did he build his money early on? What were the best things he did for the business and for his life? But sometimes you can't wait too long to ask... As far as bosses, I do remember an old boss who taught me how to "manage up", meaning to manage yourself when your direct supervisor can't or won't give you feedback.

The slideshow is a little superficial but does the job of getting your mind going on what you've gotten for financial advice (both good and bad).

What I always keep in mind, in finances and in life: 1) Everyone is doing the best they can. and 2) If it will make a good story, you should try it.

(And from the Freakonomics blog, some computer-related proverbs for these technological times.)

Have you gotten any really good advice? Maybe CNN Money forgot to ask you but I certainly won't.

Five Tips To Commerce-Free Days

Going Whole Days Without Buying Anything Is Really Empowering

I was baking a cake when I lived out on Vinalhaven a couple years ago. An angelfood cake. From scratch. I didn't realize a springform pan was required until I was halfway through the recipe. What most of us would do at this point is run out and go buy a pan. But on a little island, there is no kitchen store. There was, however, Carla.

I called around amongst my friends for a springform pan. My friend Liz was living with Carla, who had enough cake pans for a cake pan museum. She even asked me what kind of springform pan I wanted. Incredible.

So on Vinalhaven, even when there were days I could have easily bought something, I was forced to improvise or wait until the next time I was in Rockland. There were multiple days were I bought nothing, often at least 3 or 4 in a row. I decided to carry on this practice into my non-island life.

Commerce-free days are days when I don't buy anything. Not a coffee, not a tube of lipstick. You'll be amazed when you see, "Wow, I've gone two days without spending any money!" You feel so disciplined and self reliant. Here are a few of my favorite tips to a commerce free day.

1. Make your own coffee/tea/iced tea/work treat. When I first moved to a town with a coffee shop, I got one everyday. It was a dollar and something I really had missed having access to. Then I realized one month that I spend $30. On coffee!

At the beginning of April, I bought a pound of my favorite coffee from my local coffee shop (in case you're curious Rock City Coffee's Jet roast) and some creamer. I used the french press in the company breakroom to make coffee whenever I felt like it. It's been over a month and about 1/4 of the bag is gone. I think I'm getting my money's worth, not to mention the chance to peruse a magazine while it brews.

Your weakness may not be coffee. But make that reward you give yourself during your work day something you can make yourself. (You'll see it really add up at the end of the month, trust me!)

2. Borrow, don't buy. I'm not a baker. I needed a springform cake pan once, so why go out and buy one? Borrowing from neighbors, friends, and the library is not only economical but a great way to meet people or learn more about people you already know. (For example, in talking to Carla, I found out why my baguettes never came out baguette-y... I apparently need a form!)

3. Have someone teach you. Michaela and my mom taught me to use a sewing machine so now I don't need a tailor. Sean taught me how to beat eggs to stiff peaks by hand so I've never bought a mixer. You are surrounded in your life by people who know how to do things. Rather than paying someone to "just do it", learn the skill yourself. Family and friends also accept a currency that is appreciated by many of us: pizza and never-ending gratitude.

4. Lead yourself not unto temptation. Don't shop recreationally. Stay away from stores, both online and in person. Make yourself stick to the list if you go in a large store where you need just one or two things. Do what you have to do to avoid the commercialism if you are tempted, even if it means taking a different route home from work to avoid stripmalls or taking your credit card out of your wallet before going with a friend to your favorite store.

5. Do what you have to do. This is your personal journey but if you need to buy cold medicine to sedate you enough to sleep through the fog, do it. Commerce-free days should allow you to think about your purchases, not to make you completely miserable.

I urge you to see how many commerce-free days you can get in. Try it in May then look at your budget at the end of the month. You may be amazed by yourself, which you probably should be more often. I mean, you are pretty great, and you don't need extra stuff to prove it.

Photo: No Willams Sonoma for you on your Maine island of choice.    

A Fort Kent Flood Update

The nation has turned its eyes elsewhere but Fort Kent continues to deal with record-high waters in a flood that resulted in the final (though likely partial) melting of a record snowfall.

My family helped to evacuate some of the people. As my sister said in an email to me:

"It was so sad, I can't imagine everything those people lost.  We have a lot to be thankful for.

The water is going down.  They have yet to decide if they'll reopen Main Street tomorrow.  Justin got power back into the store (Quigley's Building Supply) late this afternoon, so they are going to attempt to open in the morning.  I've been out of school since Wednesday and we'll be out again tomorrow.  There is significant flooding in Frenchville too, near Rosettes.

Justin has been helping around town, its almost 9:30 a.m. and he's still unloading donated bottled water down at Shop and Save. (Officials) are concerned that some of the private wells will become contaminated.  Town water is still safe, so we're lucky.  He's using the forklift to unload pallets donated by Hannaford. 

This town really makes me proud.  It is unreal how people came together....Luckily the only damage has been to "stuff"...all replaceable (except household memory items). 

Definitely something I hope to never see again..."

FEMA assessment could start as soon as Monday, according to Senator Susan Collins.

In the meantime, photographs were taken by my mother and brother-in-law of the destroyed lumberyard and they are hopeful insurance will cover the losses.

Please continue to keep the small town of Fort Kent in your thoughts... It's been almost constantly in mine these last couple of days.

Fort Kent Maine Floods

I never thought I'd see the day when Fort Kent, Maine would be number 7 in Google searches. Fort Kent, Maine is my hometown. Most of my family lives there. And it's flooding.

I called my family and they are ok. The lumberyard of the family hardware store is a total loss but it sounds like they had insurance. My family members helped with the evacuations and said the water was rising pretty quickly yesterday while they were doing that.

The sun is out today though and it seems like the water is receeding. My mom said this whole thing has prompted people to think of rebuilding the International Bridge, which has apparently been swaying. The dike kept the water from spilling over onto Main Street by a few inches (at least, in some places). For awhile, everyone was in suspense because it could have gone either way.

My friend Roland sent me this photo via email. The next day, I saw it on the front page of the Bangor Daily News.

Please keep Fort Kent in your thoughts. I sure am.

A Theoretical Birthday

Today would have been my dad's birthday. He would have been 52 years old. I would have been calling him about the time that I am writing this. We would talk for approximately two minutes. I would have asked him what he was going to do special for the day. He probably would have said he was going to work though he would come home early and my mom probably would have cooked him a nice dinner, like steak or a roast chicken. He would ask me how I was and I would say I wish I could have been there for his birthday. I would have meant it. We'd have joked a bit longer and then I would have hung up the phone and gone about my day, probably calling again later in the evening to see how his birthday turned out.

Instead, I have to create a new ritual around his birthday, now that this is my dad's "theoretical" birthday. A couple people have asked me if I'm doing anything special for the day. I think I've decided I should maybe take the day to do things that he would have done. Little things done consciously so that I'll remember him.

The white wine is chilling now (though I can't bring myself to drink it with ice cubes). I'll pick up a Snickers bar today to put in the freezer at work. I'll put on my "Life Is Good" t-shirt and sweatpants when I get home from and maybe grill on the back deck. I'll sneak Sadie a good size chunk of food while I'm cooking. I'll have the chilled Snickers bar/white wine combo for dessert. I'll watch some Harrison Ford movie that he would have liked or maybe just put on some rock music from the 70s. At the end of the day, I'll lean back and think of how lucky I am. Because that's what he really thought, and because I am so happy that I got gratitude and a positive outlook from him.

That's how he felt about life, and that's how he felt about money. He believed in being generous and enjoying simple pleasures that don't cost a fortune. So I'm going to take time to salute that today as my daily thought on personal finance.

Tomorrow, back to personal finance completely but for now, this is all I can think about. I hope you understand and have gotten the very smallest of somethings out of this post. Happy Birthday, Dad!   

Personal Finance For Kids

What's Out There For The Youngest Consumers?

We can talk about today's kids wanting everything right away all we want. We can talk about young consumer spending power, how they are getting into debt with credit cards, how they are lagging in test scores. We can read studies or books (like this or this) to figure out how kids spend money or change their spending habits. I'm not sure how true any of our negative speculations would be.

First of all, kids are pretty smart. Just have a conversation with them. Today's kids are more culture, media, and technology saavy then I probably ever will be. Second of all, is there any good literature or program out there for kids to learn about money? It's a tough topic that can easily turn boring for any parent. I feel like if there was some great idea out there, I may have heard about it.

I've begun collecting links in a sidebar on this page linking to good resources for parents, teachers, or kids about money, personal finance in particular. Teaching someone (or yourself) to manage your money is like learning to do laundry: it's part of having an independent life. That's not to say kids should be completely on their own but think about if you would have known a little more about money when you started out... See what I mean?

I remember when I was about ten (see dorky picture above), I watching an HBO special about how advertisers make things look better then they really are. It changed my life, and that's not an overstatement. To see the "tricks" advertisers did to make food look good or products seem cooler then they were changed my perspective. With this program and reinforcement from my parents, I learned to look for the small writing and developed a healthy skepticism. (I wish I could remember what it was called!) One article in my list talks about how to make even very young children aware of the messages they are recieving and more importantly, to analyze them.

Older kids can learn more by playing with money and understanding what it can and can't do for them. I long dreamed of having virtual stock in high school economics but it never happened. I felt truly jipped of an American high school experience. But horray for the internet because if I were in high school now, I could play it on my own. Older kids can also learn good habits like paying bills and having a relationship with their bank (my bank knows my name and will gladly sit down and go over for a third time how a money market account works...yours should too).

Anyway, if you have a great resource, book, idea, blog post, article, anything about personal finance for kids, I'd love to hear about it. And if you have kids, what are you doing with them to instill good financial values? If you're a kid, what can adults do to help you out?

Whether you have kids or not, I think we can all agree that as a society, we need to help enforce good money habits with the kids we meet and be an example. Because they may look a little nerdy now but someday they just may be the author of a financial blog you're reading!