I did some poking around a couple of hardware stores today and found out what a local homeowner could do to resolve the problem with at least the sump pump, and possibly the refrigerator, when the electric goes out.

• Free: Keep a bucket near sump pump. Now that handy man neighbor helped us pried the lid off, we can get into the well and do bucket dumps as necessary. (I saw other homeowners doing this Tuesday.)
• About $25 or less: Water alarm to keep near sump pump, so that we know when to start the bucket brigade.
• About $150: Water pressure backup system for sump pump. We have city water, so this could work. The problem is our water line is about 30 feet away from, and around a corner from, the sump pump. It’s going to take more time and money for us to pursue this option than just buying the equipment.
• About $200 to $250: New sump pump that has a battery backup system. The problem that the hardware store people pointed out is that the battery power could run out given the length of time it has taken some residents to get back into service during this week’s outage and previous outages. And my husband and I are thinking if we have to spend that much money, we may as well go to the next step up:
• About $300 to $600: Get a small fuel-operated generator. Our sump pump does not need to run constantly. About two hours of generator power on Tuesday and two hours on Wednesday kept our basement dry. It would be entirely possible during an outage situation to take turns with what appliances we have plugged in. Then we’d be able to keep the refrigerator going along with the sump pump … and maybe anything else we’d need a couple of electric hours to run.
• About $4,000: Get a whole-house generator that could run off propane, or in our case, natural gas. “You won’t even know the power is out,” a sales rep told me. However, she hasn’t stepped up to that equipment yet either. It is hard to justify that expense unless there is a medical necessity or one lives in an area that is at high risk for outages.

After I made this post, here is the other scenario that has come up: handy man neighbor is buying his own generator. I found that out when delivering a gas card today as a thank-you for the generator power. And they offered to share a line again during the next emergency.

We held up very well during two previous outages that lasted 10 hours (ice storm in 2002; and 2003’s big blackout).

You’ll find recommendations on line Ready.gov and American Red Cross. What are some of the things we have?

• AM / FM / Weather band / TV audio radio. It takes AA batteries. The weather band doesn’t pick up very well in our neighborhood; and the TV audio reception may disappear with digital conversion in February. But WJR Radio in Detroit does a great job with reporting and announcements during regional disaster situations. So this radio is a very useful item.
• Two flashlights. One takes C batteries, one takes D batteries.
• Camping lantern. It takes eight D batteries.
• Plastic “school box” that holds assorted fresh batteries for above equipment.
• A plug-in telephone that will still make phone calls when the power is out (modern cordless phones are quickly useless).
• Car power plugs for two older iPods and one laptop computer (however, we did lose wifi Internet connection after the brownout went to blackout.)
• One big ice chest and about four smaller coolers.
• Battery backup on the alarm clock.
• Several assorted plastic “ice blocks” that hold the cold very well when they are frozen.
• Camping stove with a propane cell, along with a camping cookset that will work on the stove.
• Backyard grill with a propane cell.
• Folder that holds a street map of Monroe County along with emergency planning handouts from American Red Cross, Ready.gov and Monroe County Emergency Management.
• Scanner-type radio. It was purchased for use at NASCAR races but also replaced an obsolete police scanner. The best thing is: we can listen to Monroe County Central Dispatch call out the fire departments. The worst thing is: the internal batteries last only eight to ten hours and then we have to recharge the unit by plugging it into an electric outlet.
• Glow sticks, matches and candles (although we haven’t used them this week).
• First aid kit.
• Tents, sleeping bags, spare blankets.

Here’s what we didn’t do, or have, that would have been helpful this week (other than running a generator)

• Install a battery backup for sump pump.
• Car power plugs for husband’s iPhone (neat trick: he was using the iPhone connection to get on the Internet) and my cell phone.
• Replaced the battery on alarm clock before it died.
• Put all the plastic “ice blocks” back in the freezer before the power went out (we took about half the blocks out awhile back to make room for food, but neglected to put them back in later.)

I’ll come back later with a discussion on what food items you want to have in your pantry in case the power goes out.

But here’s a tip for those of you who have kids in tow, or are limiting your trips across town:

It’s the preparation, not the shopping time, that makes a difference.

Today I had to go to Keybank. There are two Keybanks on opposite ends of Monroe, so I always try to combine another errand when I’m doing my banking.

I went looking through the drugstore fliers to see what deals I should mop up before the next week’s specials kick in. We needed toilet paper and I noticed CVS had toilet paper on sale, so that store ended up being my choice.

I looked through the rest of the flier, circled items I hoped to get, found coupons to match in my coupon box … and went to CVS on Monroe St. on my way home from Keybank on S. Dixie Hwy.

I spent $22.11 on a total $41.74 in merchandise.

I came home with four 9-packs of Charmin toilet paper, two bottles of Dawn dish soap, one pack of C batteries and one can of apricots. Every item on that list was featured in the sales flier that expires today. I also had $3 CVS Extra Care Bucks and $3.15 in grocery coupons, which is how I got that total to $22.11.

Because I met the requirements for two rebates, I was given $11 in Extra Care Bucks back at the checkout, good on my next stop to CVS.

Now while this isn’t as grand a total as some CVS fanatics can put together, this does go to show how a fully stocked coupon box and five minutes of planning before I run an errand across town can save a lot of money.

I didn’t know before walking in the store whether I could come up with all of the qualifying items for the rebates I was seeking out.

If not, I was going to buy one package of toilet paper with one coupon and my $3 CVS Extra Care Bucks on the sale price, which would still have been a good deal.

• Ciolino’s has bananas at 49 cents a pound, garden fresh pickles at 99 cents a pound and fresh romaine lettuce at 79 cents a head.
• Hi-Lite has Eckrich franks at 89 cents a pound, Duncan Hines cake mix at 79 cents each, Peninsular sugar at $1.39 four pound bag (limit two), Spartan butter quarters at $1.89 a pound.
• Danny’s has lemons at 69 cents each, hamburger patties at $12.95 for five pound box, Coke 2-liters at 10 for $10.

Now, frugal shopping students, this is your assignment this week: study all of the grocery and drugstore ads that have been distributed since Saturday and stock up.

You buy extra supplies of hot dogs, hamburgers, butter quarters and hot dog buns and freeze them. You buy a couple extra boxes of cake mix, some extra cases of pop, and an extra bottle or two of barbecue sauce and put them in your pantry.

Don’t you dare assume the prices you see this week because the grocery stores want your Memorial Day cash will carry through the summer.

They won’t.

If you think the weather is nasty now, southeast Michigan is expected to get a big snowstorm on Friday. Did you see this notice?

Friday is payday for a lot of local residents, including my husband. Thursday is my payday.

If you are living paycheck to paycheck, I certainly hope you use direct deposit. You may wish you had that service on Friday.

Yes, even with direct deposit, I still go to the bank and / or credit union on most paydays to pull out cash or transfer funds. But the advantage is that my paycheck is ALREADY in the bank, even if my other errands are delayed for a day or two. I can write a check against it, pay a bill on line, whatever.

The alternatives for cashing a paycheck are certainly not as convenient when you have to deal with bad weather.

“Please keep the money, I don’t need it. Please give it to a wife of one of our soldiers serving our country,” one poster wrote.

Here’s what someone else wrote, “Look, if you don’t agree with the program, don’t spend the money. Send your check back to the government. Donate it to charity. Invest it for your children’s future (you know, the ones who will be inheriting all our mistakes).”

Given what’s going on in southeast Michigan, it’s a pretty good guess that a lot of local families will use their checks for immediate needs such as a major purchase that they’ve had to postpone, paying off medical bills, paying off credit cards, catching up on overdue mortgage payment, or setting aside funds to help get through a layoff or early retirement.

But if you really don’t NEED the money, or don’t want to keep it, it is a good suggestion to donate the check to a worthy cause or charity of your choice. Many of Southeast Michigan’s non-profits, especially those whose core missions are to help needy families, have been struggling to keep up with demand for their services during the past couple of years. They will be grateful for the boost in cash flow.

I don’t use all the features, and I’ve got some serious debugging to do in my database with entry errors I made in the past. But the software helps me balance the checkbooks and compiles reports how much we’ve spent on what. And that is pretty useful assistance.

The blogger at I’ve Paid for This Twice Already uses a different spreadsheet-based system that works for her.

Now, computer software is not the only way one can track household expenses. Here are some low-tech / low expense options:

• You’ve probably heard of the “envelope” method? Lots of financial experts have referred to it. There’s a stack of envelopes, each marked with a budget item. On payday, one sorts the money into the appropriate envelope. Gas money here, grocery money there. The idea is you stop spending in a particular category when you run out of money in that envelope; or make a quick decision as to which envelope to raid. The problem is: most people don’t spend money on a cash basis any more.
• What about tracking by paper? For several years before I put personal finances on a home computer, I used a notebook and worksheet method promoted by Christian Financial Concepts, now known as Crown Financial Ministries. The problem is: the paper method got way too complex for me to track after I got married again and went from single parent finances to a two-income / two-checkbook family. (CFC now offers both paper and electronic versions, if you like their system.)
• And have you thought about a dry erase board? Seriously! Ana at DebtFree Revolution came up with a dry erase board system that works for her and her husband. She likes the fact that the monthly income and expenses are easy to see at a glance. The problem: “Our budget board is all quite simple, immune to software glitches and hard drive crashes … but not immune to cats’ tails LOL.”

Regardless of the details on how you track your money, once you get started you will find many, many reasons to keep your household financial records organized. Once you realize where all your household money goes over the course of a month or a year, you may be able to provide your own “expert” answers to routine family financial questions such as:

• Can we afford a bigger house payment?
• Do our expenses make sense with our income level?
• What month will the next car insurance payment be due, and what other expenses will need to be re-arranged during that pay cycle?
• What did we spend on the expense categories that college financial aid applications are asking about?
• What debt is the most logical one to pay down or pay off first?
• How much money should we budget for the medical Flexible Spending Account during enrollment season?

My mother and I also were talking about the water situation off and on yesterday through e-mails, and she reminded me that the water I keep in the storage container for emergency use needs to be dumped and refreshed on a routine basis. I have done that, but don’t remember the last time it was done. I’ll take care of that in a day or two.

I didn’t tap into the new water jug I bought yesterday, so I’ll also put that container in the basement for now and use it later.

I was going to Kroger anyway at lunchtime, so I kept to those plans. One of the employees was quite pleased with the bottled water supplies he had set up in the aisle for a promotion that started today, and said to no one in particular “Do you think we have enough?”

I looked at him and said “Did you know the city has declared a water emergency?”

He didn’t know that. But when I asked where the “big jugs” of water were, he sent me in the right direction. I got a 2 1/2 gallon jug of water for $2.79. We already had a 3-gallon camping jug filled with water in our basement as part of our routine disaster preparations at home. I hope that’s enough water for now. I really dislike the idea of “buying” water when it’s perfectly drinkable from our tap.

Then again, … how long will that water last?

If you are in search of bottled water (cheap), I grabbed the sales fliers I had sitting next to my grocery list so I can point you in the right direction. Please add to this list via the comment section if you have any more resources to share. As luck would have it, I dumped a huge bag of newspapers and magazines down the recycling chute at the office this morning … which included all the sales fliers I didn’t plan to use this week.

I hope those of you who need bottled water today will find what you’re looking for!

• Kroger has a bundle promotion this week where, if you spend $25 in groceries, one of the promotions you can take advantage of is a 24-pack of individual serving size water bottles for $2.99, limit 3.
• Rite Aid has Poland spring water 1.5 liter and 3 liter bottles on sale. The listed price is 99 cents — I’m not sure which size that applies to.
• Walgreens has buy 2 at 99 cents, get 1 free on a gallon of drinking or distilled water, limit 3. There is also a coupon in the Walgreens flier for 2 for $5 on Pure American single serving bottles, limit 4.
• Meijer’s 10 for 10 sale this week includes six-packs of Meijer spring water.

There also are lots of other, umm, “beverages” on sale this week in Monroe-area grocery stores. Just remember that, when you don’t have running water, you don’t have a working toilet …

Think of this product like travel insurance: what are the financial problems that would result if you had to cancel or reschedule the wedding ceremony and reception?

If you are planning a low-budget wedding, this may not be a concern. But the more you spend on wedding expenses, the more you may want to consider such a policy.

To compare, my daughter travels by air quite a bit by herself. Most of the time, she travels on low-budget tickets paid by a family member or on behalf of a volunteer committee that she serves on.

If a $200 family-paid airline ticket is not reimbursable, well, that’s annoying but not budget-busting. And her volunteer committee takes care of its own budget.

We don’t buy travel insurance for those trips. It’s not worth the money.

On the other hand, I most certainly paid for travel insurance when my daughter went to Japan for three weeks in summer 2006 with Monroe’s sister city program. She had saved up her money for a year to make that trip. But in the meantime, her dad / my ex-husband was serving in Iraq at the time with the Army. So I had to realistically consider the expense and logistics of getting our daughter home on short notice in case of a family emergency.

A $37 travel insurance policy that was in effect during her trip to Japan gave me peace of mind.

If you do want wedding event insurance, this should be one of the first purchases that you arrange for. The insurance is meant to help reimburse you in case of lost deposits and expenses, and there are often time limits as to when those policies remain in effect.

Previously on this topic: reception sites on a budget?

Next on this topic: another local bridal show

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