An old expression from childhood, but very applicable today! We've had 15 inches of rain at the house, a tree is down, and a bit of repair work to do.

The expression is basically another version of penny foolish, pound wise. Not investing in the important things that may catch you short in the end.

Six years ago, we weren't really into putting up the bricks, figuratively or literally. New house, looked pretty solid. We did all the right things in planning, house was nowhere near flood plains, high enough, good swale, and not the highest point around (lightning).

The first downpour, and we realized the weather stripping around the front door looked perfect...except the rain came right through, and onto my wood floors! We, in our 24/7 work ethics, shoved towels into the cracks, wiped up the floor as often as possible, and kept saying we would "get around to it".

Loads of wet towel laundry later, time passed, and the door frame rotted out. Again, a bit of packing tape around the door as a short term fix...that was retaped over the days, then months, then years...

The basement...well, it's in ground. Nice and dry...except that when a downpour comes down onto the concrete exterior staircase, all that water makes a nice river down. There is a drain at the bottom, but it has to be cleaned out of debris. And, let's face it, 15 inches flows down to form a pool several feet deep.

Over the last two years, we've done a bit of "investing". DH removed the old door frame and replaced it himself. We changed the weather stripping. All the window caulking has been redone. DH has created an UGLY tarp system to flow the water over the stairs; it only gets put up when downpours are predicted, and it works extremely well.

DH received a wet/dry vac for his birthday, which works great for water in the basement; it also does a great job vacuuming the deck. Yes, the outside deck. All the little leaf and debris that accumulates between the boards can silt into a concrete that holds water, and rots out the deck. Even though we have Trex, it's not invulnerable. So, the gunk is vacuumed out.

In the end, we have spent a bit. We have saved ALOT. One nasty storm...and we did NOT lose our computers through a power surge through the modem or other lines. Since this has happend 4 times previously, four computers that could not be repaired...and phone lines, and water leaks, paint, so many little things.

Floods are free. Watering my garden, free. Saving the house...those few "bricks" were priceless.