EAST MACHIAS – A few years ago, things were going along just fine for Norma and Randy Stoddard, financially speaking.

They weren’t millionaires, but both had $15 per hour jobs at the Atlantic Salmon of Maine processing plant in nearby Machiasport, an income that allowed them to stay ahead of their bills and provided a general sense of fiscal security.

They had bought a fixer-upper home in town and then took out a second mortgage to help pay for renovations. They don’t have any children together, and so there were no extra mouths to feed. Life was good for the 40-something couple.

But overtaken by the uncertain economic climate of the United States, of Maine, and especially of Washington County, the Stoddards’ status quickly changed.

The salmon processing plant closed in late 2004. The couple’s jobs, along with 17 others, vanished. Their bills didn’t.

The Stoddards have since found jobs, but neither makes more than $10 per hour – not quite below the poverty level but not comfortable.

Their plight underscores the notion that it’s not just the poor who are struggling this winter.

The Stoddards also are among a growing number of Mainers who make just enough money to disqualify them for assistance programs but not enough to avoid struggling from week to week.

“We can’t get food stamps, fuel assistance, any of that,” Norma Stoddard said recently. “I don’t begrudge the families that are getting assistance, but what they’re getting [my husband and I] are paying for.”

The Stoddards aren’t the only Mainers who have lost jobs in recent years. Maine’s overall unemployment rate has jumped from 3.3 percent to 5.1 percent from 2000 to 2007, according to statistics from the Maine Department of Labor.

Those numbers are slightly higher than the national average, but in counties such as Aroostook, Washington, Hancock and Piscataquis, the unemployment rate is well above 7 percent.

Those numbers don’t tell the whole story either, because some of the new jobs that are being created to replace those that have been lost don’t carry similar wages. The Stoddards can testify to that.

Moreover, the state’s wages are not increasing at the same rate as many residents’ expenses. Maine’s per capita income in 2006 was $32,348, a 3.4 percent increase over the 2005 average of $31,252, but still well below the regional and national average.

Statewide statistics also are not reflective of the northern and eastern-most counties whose employees don’t make nearly as much as those in Cumberland and York counties.

The average per capita income in 2005 (the latest year for which county by county figures are available) for Cumberland and York counties, for example, was $38,122 and $31,426, respectively, while in Aroostook County it was $25,923 and in Washington County $25,094 the same year.

Most agree that many essential expenses have increased at a rate higher than 3.4 percent, and the numbers support them.

According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.21 in February, up from about $2.50 a gallon at the same time last year. Maine prices were in line with the national averages.

The statewide average price for heating oil, according to Maine’s Office of Energy Independence and Security, was $3.37 per gallon for the last week of February. Kerosene came in at $3.78 per gallon, and propane was $2.97.

During the same week last year, the average price of heating oil was $2.35, kerosene $2.75, and propane $2.54.

John Kerry, head of Maine’s Office of Energy Independence and Security, said the increases came fast for many Mainers.

“There are basic things people can do, like insulate their home better, be more prudent in consumption and be more aware of their usage,” he said. “One of the key components of what we do is to educate people on the impact of their lifestyle on their energy use.”

Similarly, Fred Bever with the Maine Public Utilities Commission, said bills such as electricity, water and phone, have increased with the spike in crude oil prices.

“Of course, things like water and telecommunications are harder to track because there are so many companies, but I would say increases have been common certainly within the last year,” Bever said.

And the state and the nation’s energy dependence has forced the cost of everyday staples like food to rise in line with everything else, Kerry said.

The Stoddards readily admit they have kept a closer eye on their consumption trends, particularly this winter.

Between two jobs, the couple grosses about $41,000 a year. Knock off about 20 percent for taxes and Social Security and the take-home is closer to $32,000.

The Stoddards’ primary mortgage is $587 per month and their secondary mortgage runs another $300. Randy Stoddard’s new job is at Cherryfield Foods about 35 miles away from the couple’s home. He spends about $60 a week on gas.

Norma, who works closer to home, drives an old beat-up car that the couple bought for $500. She said she prays nothing goes wrong with it. Her husband drives a used car from Linnehan’s Credit Now in Ellsworth, which costs them $84 a week.

And then there’s the wildcard: heat.

Norma estimated they use 100 gallons of heating oil each month from October to April, costing them nearly $2,000 for the season. The couple bought wood in the fall to supplement their oil costs. It helps a little, they said, but not enough.

They also have credit card debt, most of which accumulated during the couple’s unemployment period.

The numbers just don’t add up to make ends meet.

To make matters worse, Norma Stoddard said, when she appealed to her town for general assistance she was told she and her husband made too much money. Similarly, Stoddard said she was led to believe that if they sought funding from statewide programs they would be passed over for more needy families or rejected outright because they make too much.

It’s a byproduct of trying times and leaves the Stoddards in a pinch.

The couple currently is behind a few months on their second mortgage. It’s not enough to threaten foreclosure, at least not yet, but it has been a stressful few months, Norma Stoddard said.

They get heating fuel in small quantities. They shun most extravagances. They don’t have cable or satellite TV. Their phone is restricted to local calls, so when they have to call elsewhere, they use a calling card. They don’t have cell phones or even a computer.

Kerry said many Mainers are beginning to look at their energy consumption and their lifestyles, but for some, it’s not as simple as flicking a switch.

“From a policymaker’s point of view, you have to change the hearts and minds of consumers,” he said.

Norma Stoddard said she doesn’t know what will happen for her and her husband, but she’s hopeful they will get by.

“But people need to know that it’s not just the really poor and destitute who are struggling,” she said.

erussell@bangordailynews.net

664-0524

Maine income

Here is a county by county rundown of Maine’s per capita income in 2005, the Maine Department of Labor’s most recent figures for individual counties.

Statewide $31,252

Androscoggin $29,542

Aroostook $25,923

Cumberland $38,122

Franklin $25,517

Hancock $30,422

Kennebec $29,422

Knox $31,624

Lincoln $30,891

Oxford $25,089

Penobscot $28,711

Piscataquis $26,090

Sagadahoc $31,163

Somerset $25,369

Waldo $26,717

Washington $25,094

York $31,426