Now to be fair, I’d never done anything like that, nor wanted to, until I participated in an escape room for a surprise birthday party in October. I was with about 10 other adults, and we were blindfolded and split in half – each of our groups locked in a different dungeon. We had to free each other and escape the dungeon. It was insane! I was super nervous for it but I knew it was in good fun and I could laugh and deduce and all around enjoy the experience. And by the way, we DID make it out of there! Flash forward to the weekend. I wanted to do a family experience that would cost $160 exactly.
Enter, a kid-friendly escape room!
Oh, what fun! My kids were super intrigued by it and both love wizards so we chose a missing magic wand themed escape room. Now I couldn’t take pictures or videos IN the escape room, so as not to ruin the fun for other families, but I was able to share photos before and after – especially when we ESCAPED! And escape we did! Des was truly scared we wouldn’t escape and would actually never escape, but he was later able to see that the whole day was for fun, and for family.
Let’s talk about the value of $160.
I think that was the key part in it. We pick and choose what we do as a family. Obviously we have a budget and also want to give the kids meaningful experiences, but not necessarily expensive ones – at least not every day. They had to learn that this was truly something special. We set a budget of exactly $160 and stayed within budget as well. It makes me think about how much thought goes into how we spend money. According to recent data, if you hold $10,000 in cash, you could earn about $170 in a year, at the current average yields of money market mutual funds. In a bank savings account, you’d only make about $10.*
Why $160? While it may not seem like a lot to some, it adds up over time. If I chose a higher-yielding cash account it could allow me to experience more of these fun and memorable moments. I think it’s important to assess my options and determine which provider best fits into my plan, in order to get the most out of my cash. Some companies, like Vanguard, are built in a way that aligns to my interests better. Have you looked at your cash investments recently? If not, maybe it’s time to ask yourself some important questions. Are you getting the most from your cash? Does your financial provider have your best interests at heart?
Vanguard does.
Rather than buying toys that would be forgotten this weekend, I invested my $160 into my family and an experience. I love that the memories of this experience are precious, and you can’t put a price tag on that. Vanguard believes that cash accounts are not created equally, and I do too. $160 can be used in millions of different ways. This is what we chose:
So, what would you do with $160 with your family?
This post is sponsored by Vanguard, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.
*This illustration uses 1.69% average yield for money market mutual funds and 0.09% national average yield for bank savings, both as of 9/30/2018, according to cranedata.com and bankrate.com. These rates are not guaranteed. Vanguard is owned by its funds, which in turn are owned by their investors. All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Bank deposits are guaranteed (within limits) as to principal and interest by an agency of the federal government. There may be other material differences between products that should be considered before investing.
