Our $160 Adventure!

This post is sponsored by Vanguard, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

It's funny, looking at the "bigger picture", $160 really doesn't seem like a whopping amount - but it really is. That's gas for a road trip, a one-way ticket on a train, the amount of our water bill. It's also the difference between a day spent trying to channel her energy productively at home or a day spent exploring and learning a new place.

While there's a million ways we could have spent the day exploring in our neck of the woods, from children's museums to amusement parks, we asked Delainey what she wanted to do and she chose to go to ZooTampa!

Our "little" zoo isn't just a regular zoo, though - it's a whole trip around the world and it's also a place where animals are rescued, rehabilitated and cared for. With 56 acres of land there's a lot to do and see, there's interactive sections, there's meet and greets, there's even 'rides' & 'rollercoasters'- it truly is one of the coolest zoos we've ever been to.

On that note, we did a little bit of everything on our visit with our little explorer. From riding carousels & trolly trains to up close encounters with our favorite critters - our day was definitely full of fun.

There's just something so heartwarming about watching your kiddo brush the hair of a "kid" - a goat baby that is. She lit up each time we came upon a new animal, told us about her favorites, chatted about everything she saw, and was practically running from exhibit to exhibit to see all her "friends". It was a truly great day for all of us.

That's the thing, this $160 made for a day of happiness - but imagine how much $160 can ADD up overtime... that compounded amount could buy a whole lot of adventures, right? According to recent data, if you hold $10,000 in cash, you could earn around $170 in a year, at the current average yields of money market mutual funds. In a bank account, you'd only make about $10.* That means in a few years, you could have enough to fund a few plane tickets or even a cruise, just by switching how your funds are stored!

While $160 may not seem like a load of cash in the short term, it can add up to a substantial amount overtime. I've been doing a lot of thinking about money and choosing a higher-yielding cash account could allow me and my little crew to experience more moments like these, more adventures with my family, more time spent exploring.

To get the most out of our cash, it's important that we all assess our options and determine the best provider that fits our financial plan. Some companies, such as Vanguard, are built in a way that better aligns to the interests of it's investors. If you haven't looked at your cash investments recently, maybe it's time to ask yourself one vital question: "Am I getting the most from my financial provider?" If you hesitated, even in the slightest, I think it's time to learn more about Vanguard.

*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.