Roundup and Link Love – It Could’ve Been Worse Edition

A tree limb fell on my house during the ice storm that hit our area on January 27th resulting in some minor damage. Thankfully no one in my family was hurt. The real concern in the days that followed was our lack of electricity. Thousands of people were stranded in all electric homes with no heat while the night time temperatures plummeted into the single digits and seemed to stay there. Our power was finally restored on February 5th … 10 days later! Like the title suggests, it could’ve been worse (11 days?). I’m thankful that no one in my family was injured and that the damage was something that I could repair myself.

So what did it cost? I’m still tallying up the expenses, but here are just a few.
Generator – $893
Three nights in a hotel – $248
Eating out most meals – $235
Loss of food in freezer – $200
Propane for fireplace – $219
Fuel for generator – $65
Damage to home – $675 (more to come I’m sure)
Cleanup in yard – $350
TOTAL – $2,885 and most probably isn’t covered by homewoner’s insurance except for maybe the housing damage (and that is less than my deductible). Will let you know how State Farm reacts … but I’m not holding my breath.

Here are a few pictures:

At least there were some great posts to read this week! Here are some from The Life Skills Network and beyond:

• Is Frugality the Anti-Stimulus Plan? at Frugal Dad. Stimulus isn’t what the economy needs … it needs some common sense. Unfortunately, common sense isn’t so sommone, especially in Washington, DC.
• target=”_blank”>How to Forgive Yourself and Others at Mark and Angel Hack Life. Forgiveness is the best way to insure that you don’t become the bitter old person everyone avoids.
• Getting Out of Debt Part 2 at My Dollar Plan. Madison lays out the sensible way to get out and stay out of debt.
• Creating a Good Life with Back to Basics Living at My Supercharged Life. Jeff hits the nail on the head with some key points on getting the most out of life without being shackled by “stuff.”
• Simple Ways to Boost Your Brainpower at On Simplicity. Goodness knows, I could use all the brainpower I can get. I could also use a little manpower getting my yard cleaned up after the ice storm!
• Relinquish Your Power On The Things That Don’t Matter at Simple Mom. Nothing like going without power for 10 days to make you realize that certain things really don’t matter.
• Flight of Talent? at All Financial Matters. Count on JLP to bring some sound reasoning into any argument, especially the one about limiting executive pay at bailout firms.
• In What Was The First Piece of Financial Advice You Ever Received? at Cash Money Life, Patrick poses an interesting question for me. I guess MY first piece of financial advice came from my Dad who related the cost of purchases into the number of hours he had to work to make that purchase. I was about 14 at the time and I remember it having something to do with a washing machine.
• Over at the ABC’s of Investing, you can read all about Recessions. There’s a lot of meat in this short post and it’s helpful to understand what a recession is and what politicians attempt to do to make it go away. Ironically, we’re doing the same things that Herbert Hoover did in 1929. Didn’t work out too well then …

Hope you enjoy the links. I’ve got MY work cut out for me.