enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Robert and Carolyn Hatch and their daughter, Samantha, represent the average Maine family in many respects. And like many such families, they are finding it more difficult to cover the rising cost of bills for basic necessities such as food and heat.

FALLING BEHIND: MAINERS COPE WITH THE SLOWDOWN

TODAY: Inflation in basic commodities of life – especially food and fuel – is squeezing many family budgets dry.

MONDAY: Mainers are falling behind on bills such as car payments, utilities and credit card debt.

TUESDAY: Foreclosure and mortgage delinquency rates have hit record levels in Maine.

WEDNESDAY: Small businesses are finding that Mainers don't think this is the time to be opening their wallets, and that has implications for the broader economy.

THURSDAY: Some individuals and groups are finding a silver lining in the slowdown.

FRIDAY: The next few months – as Maine enters its crucial summer tourism season – will reveal just how big an impact the economic climate has on jobs and overall economic activity.

SCRIMPING TIPS

1. Shop with a list.

2. Pay bills online.

3. Resist buying a product by first trying it.

4. Clear your clutter and sell it.

5. Seek refunds if you get poor service.

6. Stop watching commercial television.

7. Cancel your magazine subscriptions.

8. Plan ahead for anticipated purchases.

Source: Naomi Graychase, a Massachusetts journalist who grew up rural Maine in the '70s and '80s. She writes a blog on thrift. It can be found at graychase.

First of six parts

NEWCASTLE — Gasoline or pizza?

Tired after a day of working overtime, Carolyn Hatch really wanted to pick up pizza for her family's supper one recent evening. But the fuel gauge in her three-year-old Jeep Liberty told her to make a different choice.

The next morning, pizza money went to feed a thirsty Jeep.

Fast food is a budget buster these days at the Hatch home. So is grabbing a morning coffee and a doughnut in town. Or hitting a movie with daughter Samantha.

A family vacation? That's not even on the radar screen. A family outing is a trip to Sam's Club in Augusta, with plans to be back by supper.

Carolyn and Robert Hatch aren't poor. She's a housekeeping supervisor at Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta. He's an established building contractor and volunteer firefighter.

The Hatches are solidly middle-income Mainers. In a typical year, they handle the car payments, home improvements and routine bills that support their way of life.

This is not a typical year.

As an expensive winter melts into an uncertain spring, middle-income Mainers such as the Hatches are caught in a vise. Higher prices for energy and food are squeezing them from one direction. A shrinking economy – at home and across the country – is closing in from the other side, prompting people to hunker down and reset priorities.

Maine retailers report a drop-off in spending. Polls say residents are deeply pessimistic about the economy, and most shoppers plan to delay major purchases.

Bankruptcy filings are up sharply in Maine, and the number of people falling behind on their utility bills is surging. Mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures stand at record levels for the state.

In recent weeks, a parade of residents served by various government programs has made passionate pleas in Augusta. These are among the most vulnerable when state revenues slow and the pressure's on to cut spending.

'AVERAGE' EARNERS FALLING BEHIND

Less visible, less vocal, is the average Maine household, defined as two adults and a child with a median income of roughly $44,000 a year. A draft study by the Maine Public Spending Research Group, which advocates lower taxes, shows that this income hasn't been keeping pace with rising expenses since at least 2006, well before the most recent price surges.

"People are either going into debt or they're sacrificing – doing without – to make ends meet," said Pat Hart, the group's executive director.

At the Hatch home, driving newer vehicles, building an addition on the house, even picking up a pizza once a week used to be the aspirations and comforts of a hard-working family. And they were achievable, until this winter.

Sitting in their half-finished addition earlier this month, Carolyn and Robert Hatch spoke about their diminished outlook and the steps they now must take to make ends meet.

"It takes a while to get back to living comfortably at this point," Robert Hatch said. "You need to re-evaluate and adjust to the conditions."

Robert Hatch has been in construction most of his adult life.

He doesn't advertise. He never needed to. His skills command more than $25 an hour, and most winters, he finds indoor remodeling projects to keep the cash coming.

Not this winter. The housing bust has big contractors competing – and low-balling prices – for the smaller projects on which Hatch depends. So he's leaving his business card around town and trying to persuade clients with fair-weather work, such as siding a house or reroofing a shed, to move up their schedules.

"I hate to beg for work," he said, "but I haven't had the phone ring in a while."

Robert Hatch has a stack of bills on his desk. Every day, he studies them.

Record heating oil...