Duluth Wet Basement Recommendation

If it's coming in through a standard non-opening window I recommend you head over to Marshall's, you buy a tube of caulk and caulk the window.

A bigger window:  is there water collecting on the ground outside the window? Is there sediment coming in with the water or is it a trickle?  Are the gutters clean? 

From there, well, that's beyond me. But you can save a pretty penny by cleaning the gutters, caulking (or glazing) the windows and adding a downspout extension to move water away from the foundation.  Also FWIW: the part of our basement that really only leaked when the 2012 flood happened leaked for us last night. Yes, we should do something about it. No we don't have 5 grand to solve the big problem there. So we mopped up, cranked up the dehumidifier and moved on.

I think I've got my plan of attack. The water running off the side of the house has channeled its way down the side of the foundation and flows very nicely into the galvanized well. I'll be digging out the well to get it seated nicely against the house to re-caulk the well and also add a bit of grading away from the house. At first glance it looked like I had sufficient grading, but most of that grade was built up with landscape rock.

Sounds like a plan. Consider adding some drainage tile to help pull water away from that well.

(I only offered non-contractor names because you said it was your first house....these are regular Duluth problems that almost every homeowner deals with in this town).