On Sunday we had a little over a foot of snow fall here. After a day off on Monday we had a little less than a foot of new snow on Tuesday. The area behind where we park one of cars (at the top of our very long and steep driveway) has over four feet of snow accumulated; this is a spot that does not get much sun.

We have had our place here since 1998 and my wife had been coming up here before that since 1982 when her parents bought a cabin up here which they still own. In all that time there has not been this much snow in the month of March. Two years ago we had snow over Memorial Day weekend so we get plenty of snow but not this much this late (this is not a global warming post).

After the snow falls I shovel it. We park one vehicle up top and leave one at the bottom of the driveway. So shoveling consists of shoveling off the deck, then the small pen, then the path to the driveway, then I walk up to the top of the driveway to shovel out the car up top, then I work my way down our driveway typically making a two shovel-wide path for each tire so that whatever is parked below can get drive out without slipping. By getting on this at the right time of day the temperature usually allows the shoveled spots to melt completely.

Now we are not supposed to get this much snow in March but regardless of when it snows the shoveling has to be done so that we can come and go safely and easily and so the smaller dogs can move around.

The point is to make a comparison to saving money. You have probably seen this article from CNNMoney which cites a study that says 43% have less than $10,000 saved. 43% of whom you may ask and according to the article they surveyed 1153 people as young as 25. The article did not say how many of the people were younger than 30 so while I'm not sure the 43% is useful we all know that people do not save enough money.

Clearly saving money is not easy and the generally deteriorated financial condition of the last couple of years makes saving money even more difficult but saving money must be done in order to have a chance of of having a financially secure future.

Like shoveling snow, saving is difficult but has to be done. I imagine that the typical person reading this blog knows this and does save some money every month but if you read the CNN link above it seems pretty clear that most people do not save in a meaningful way. Maybe this would motivate you to try to spread the word but if not you can at least take responsibility for your own proper saving and avoid the future hassle and worry that so many folks appear to be headed towards.

A quick comment on the snow shoveling; it is a fantastic workout. At some point in the future I'll need to put a blade on the front of an ATV or pickup truck but not yet.

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