Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Details Matter

I just saved myself some cash by being a bit more curious to look at the details. 

My left eye has been irritating me the last few days. Originally, I thought it was my contacts and allergies not agreeing with each other. This sometimes happens, so I wore my new glasses (haven't mentioned that expense from last month). However, the irritation on my left eye continued. 

I could tell it had been a bit irritated, but figured in another day it would feel better. In fact that didn't seem to be the case, it still felt like something on my lower lid was rubbing up against it. Multiple times during the day I was looking at my eye to try to figure it out. 

Finally, the light and the angle of my head aligned just right that I was able to observe that an eyelash was growing towards my eye and rubbing up against it! My poor eye. I sure wish I had seen it earlier. But it has been plucked from my face and my eye is still irritated, but it will heal very quickly now that it isn't being rubbed everytime I blink!

I was about to make an appointment with my eye doctor. The fee for her time would have come out of pocket for around $80. I saved myself from spending that money by being just a bit more curious and looking at the details of my eye. 

I share because this can translate to so many areas of life, including finances. I know that when we were in the midst of our debt payoff, that every dollar spent and earned related to how fast we could achieve our goal. One less dollar spent, was one dollar more we could put towards debt saving us future interest charges. And it's never a one and done look for those extra dollars. I found I was always looking for ways to cut expenses, that over time added up. I kept looking at the details of what we were doing with our money and how we could make a shift to keep more for debt payoff. 

The details matter. Keep looking and digging. Keep asking the questions to find the answers. It's very rewarding when the answers reward us in ways we weren't expecting! 

Saturday, August 1, 2020

POP Contributions July

Contributions to our Pot of Possibilities (POP) for July! 

Paycheck 7 /1 $310    
Paycheck 7/15 $310
Total Interest $$97.87
US Bank $4.00
Chase Rewards $28.00
Amex Rewards $67.69
USAA ATM refund $3.00

July Total $820.56

YTD Total $5,413.72
New Big Goal Total $77,497.65

Interest was up slightly. Amex rewards were also up slightly. 

At the rate of $820/month, we will likely add another $4100 to the Pot by the end of the year, bringing our total to around $81,597. I might find some extra cash to round that to $82,000 or throw some other money in that could have been added earlier this year but didn't for various reasons. It's all in the same bank accounts, just a matter of how I am tracking it really. 

Did you find some extra funds to put towards debt or savings this month? 


July Interest Income

Interest rates are dropping, but the funds at NFCU are all in CDs locked in for another 11 months. I moved some cash sitting in a checking account to FNBO in June so that money is earning more interest. 

FNBO $26.06

NFCU $71.76
USAA $0.20
Total $97.87

Interest earned will be added to our Pot of Possibilities!