I'm feeling quite overwhelmed for the last week or so, what with being short-staffed here at the newspaper and having one person out of vacation for a while.

We typically work on the next week's edition, so that by the time people are reading one newspaper we're already producing the next one.

However, we also know that there is always another edition looming. That's why I try to keep a list of current things to write and do that I update constantly. If this were a factory and the news our product, then the conveyer belt must stay full at all times and the packaged product at the end must be ready to read by the same time each week. While that is an over simplistic explanation, the problem with that is that the stuff keeps on coming even if there isn't anyone here to catch it.

Sometimes I feel like throwing up my hands and running away, but it all seems to get itself worked out despite my own personal doubts and difficulties. After all, as anyone could easily explain, it isn't just me doing it. However, we all tend to look at things from our own perspective, not the true 'big picture' that is much more difficult to see or even envision. There are other factors and uncertainties affecting life that are definitely on my mind as well. Some of those include the downward spiral of our local, state and national economy, the apparently dismal job market, a lack of stability and my personal uncertainty about the future. I recently made an announcement that it was time to move into a more conservative financial mode, which seems to be the trend for families nationwide. While the budget is stable so far and all is going on as planned, I always try to look at the worst possible scenario and act as if that is the one coming, while hoping and praying for the best one. I'm sure some of you might call that a lack of faith and you might be right to some extent. But I don't find wisdom in extravagant spending with the possibility of changes in the air.

We've looked at cutting costs across the board, but haven't come up with any real significant savings. There again, it's hard to save significantly when one is looking at a budget that's fairly conservative to start with. It isn't like we're getting spa treatments, taking expensive vacations every year or buying a lot of luxury items.

Along those same lines, we've also agreed to look through our 'treasures' to see which of them we no longer want or use. For instance, we have an extra vehicle, some unused furniture, an air conditioner and an extra set of appliances. There are some things that I've not mentioned that are far more valuable to me personally, but most of those things aren't really all that valuable to anyone other than me.

Meanwhile, this has turned out to be one of our most expensive months on record. Odd how that works, isn't it? Just when I try to cut back, I end up spending even more than before. However, that only happened because I had a dent repaired in the car and a new tile floor installed in the house in Piney Creek. Houses are hard to sell without floors and cars are hard to sell with dents. Repairing even modest damage and a little paint will set you back over $600. Doing something with the house is key to my financial plan for the future, or moving there and selling my other house.

Wow, trying to be conservative is really expensive, I thought. Maybe that's why I'm unaffiliated.

This led to another realization, sometimes saving money now doesn't mean savings over the long run. For instance, cutting back on maintenance will cost more later, so I never cut there. However, I did decide to cut back on the insurance a few years ago. I've learned that not carrying full coverage insurance is only a savings if you don't wreck. Actually, I did the calculation once and decided comprehensive and collision insurance will pay for themselves provided I have a significant wreck every three to five years.

I subsequently only kept the 'full coverage' on our newest vehicle and have hit a deer and bumped a tree during the ice storm this winter (the dent I recently had repaired). Both those mishaps of course happened in the vehicle that had only liability insurance. It just goes to show you that playing the odds isn't always a safe bet.

Then again, maybe there are no truly safe bets in this world. Especially when it comes to insurance. Since insurance is something people buy in hopes that they never need it, I suppose it is fine that the insurance companies have the same hope. In the end, it truly is little more than a legal gamble. I guess one has to decide which is cheaper, paying for the repairs or paying for the insurance. I drove my truck for years with a big dent in the side and never fixed it. Then again, it's one thing to have a beat up work truck that you haul firewood in and quite another to have a dent in the car that you have to drive every day.

Maybe next time I'll either get the insurance to cover everything or avoid driving a family car in an ice storm. History should likely be my best predictor of future actions, which doesn't bode well for me or the car—just wish us both well.
 

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