Creditcardfree's Personal Finance Blog

I have to take a break from blogging here at Saving Advice, most likely through the end of the year, potentially longer.

I love coming here to talk about personal finance and give advice to others climbing out of debt. It's such a joy to see others finally get that they can take charge and make positive changes in their finances when before they were overwhelmed and at the end of their rope. They realize that the only one that can fix it is themselves. They deep dive into asking questions, reading and listening to others and taking actions to make the change happen.

I love the community we have and how supportive we generally are with each other. Because of the times we are in, the conversation has shifted. This is fine as I do respect each person to have their own journey, perspective and be able to talk/write about it. Our military family believes in free speech, even if we disagree with what is said.

I find myself frustrated and stressed on the topic of this virus after spending much of my free time in the last five years researching infectious illness, vaccines and natural health. Just like deep diving into all things finance there is so much to know on all these topics, much of it not out in the mainstream news, or even in many doctor's offices. Much of what we know about the body, such as the microbiome and virome are not yet in clinical practice despite the amazing knowledge that science is providing on health. In fact, it is said the clinical practice is 17 years behind the research.

I have read books, package inserts for drugs and tests. I read published medical literature, and listened to many, many license medical doctors on YouTube as they explain their research. I personally have no fear on this virus, and yes, two people I know have been diagnosed with it and at this point all have recovered. I have a much deeper understanding of what is going on than what the news and government agencies are telling the masses. The government is not my doctor when they fail to discuss nutrition (Vitamin D, anyone?) in depth as a way to prevent chronic illness, when they fail to do inert placebo studies on vaccines(read a package insert at the FDA website) and when they manipulate data (not just this virus). It's such a big topic, and ultimately it is not really my job to explain myself or convince you of anything. I do hope you respect my right to say it and don't feel the need to label it as hearsay, misinformation or conspiracy, as those are only meant to control and distract. Those words only divide and separate us. They stop us from listening and investigating.

If this rushed vaccine comes to market, the military is very likely to be some of the first to get it. It would be very rare to have the option to opt out and get to stay in the military. We are watching this closely, and it ultimately will be my husband's decision if he gets it and finishes the three years he has until he reaches 20 years of active service and can retire with a pension. If he decides the risk of this rushed completely new type of vaccine is not worth it for his individual health, he will leave the military early without a pension. This will shift our entire financial plan. Maybe that is what life has in store for us, maybe not.

If you followed one of the vaccine trials for this virus, all the monkeys who received the vaccine, and then were challenged with the virus, all got the virus...no protection at all. This is happening with the dengue vaccine in Africa too. Scientists have been trying to make a coronavirus vaccine since the 1990's. All have been unsuccessful because of this result mentioned above, death has even been a result when challenged with the virus in mice. So if this product never comes to fruition, what will you do to protect yourself? What options do you have other than what have already been given? Something to consider and investigate I would think.

I would like everyone waiting for this rushed vaccine to also know that all manufacturers for vaccines have no liability for injury and death from their product. The only product in the United States with this protection. This has been in effect since 1986, it's called National Vaccine Injury Compensation Act. The history on how that came to be is quite interesting.

I've said enough. This is a BIG topic, there is no way I can tell you all I know in one blog post. But do know that yes there are other points of view average citizens and thousands of medical doctors, virologists, and epidemiologists have on this. There is also major censorship going on of these voices. Science is never settled and discussion, discovery and debate are part of the process.

Just like taking control of debt or our finances, I believe our health is the same way. There is so much to know and understand. I truly wish everyone health and wellness and honestly see that in time this virus may bring about a new way of managing health that is better than the old ways we have been taught.

For now, for this season, I need my own little corner of the internet that will keep me calm (low stress is part of health too). However, I still need to write! I will post my regular content at my financial blog,

Our Money Blog. You are more than welcome to come visit me there and follow our journey adding money to our Pot of Possibilities. A pot that might be needed sooner than later to pave a new path in life. It's going to be an amazing ride either way!

Happy Independence Day!

Over a year ago we bought our daughter a used Subaru to drive. She had her license two years prior, but never had a need for her own vehicle. The purchase price was around $11K and it has a been a really great car so far. We put $3K down and she used the proceeds from a UTMA account she had which was maybe $3400. I'm being lazy, I don't remember all the exact numbers.

We did take out a small loan ($5,700 at 5.75%!) because we did end up buying a more expensive vehicle than we originally planned. The cars we found we could buy for cash, were just not good to buy for a young person living across the country from parents, at least in our minds. The loan was to help bridge the gap so that she could take over payments when she got a job, and at the same time get some credit in her name. She is still looking for a full time job in her field, but has an internship that increased her hours recently.

We are pondering paying off the balance of the car which is owned jointly between her and my husband. The balance is $4,293, with three years left. We have so much cash and now earning very low interest rates. We would then have her pay us back with interest. I'm thinking 3% interest, and we are open to a longer payment term if she wants. A lesson in how that changes the payment and the total interest she pays would be good I think. The vehicle would be owned jointly until the loan is paid back.

I will be running the numbers and offering her a proposal. I think she can start making the payments even on her low income since she is currently staying with my parents. Such an interesting time we are in.

Our power went out last night for the third time in the last four months. We never know how long it will be out. One of those recent times it was out for 21 hours. At a minimum it is inconvenient, but usually longer than four hours, food has to be tossed, so we lose money when this happens.

We all hopped in the van and headed to Home Depot. My husband had one generator in mind when we went, but turns out they did not have that one in stock. We ended up with a Ryobi 4000 Watt Inverter Generator which was priced at $549. Home Depot offers a 10% military discount which usually offsets the sales tax. My husband picked up a gas can as well. We used to have a few when we had a mower and a snowblower, but all of those were donated when we moved a year and a half ago. Total cost out of pocket at Home Depot was $563.11

We came home and the power was back on! 😀 From the clocks it appeared it probably turned back on ten minutes after we left or about an hour after it went out. Of course, we would rather have electricity working in the home than rely on a generator! We have no regrets that this small outage pushed us to finally pull the plug and make the purchase. A purchase that we expect we will use and gives us peace of mind in the future.

I hope you are all healthy and safe! Enjoy your Independence Day and if you can take time to watch Hamilton and or read up on the Federalist Papers, which are essays that explain a lot of the thinking by a few of our founding fathers as they promoted the ratification of the Constitution. Even I need to brush up on the details, as it has been awhile. Here's a brief

article to get your started but it's much more in depth than covered here.

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

Paycheck 6/1 $260
Paycheck 6/15 $260
Oldest Allowance $100
Total Interest $92.85
US Bank $12.32
Chase Rewards $17.87
Amex Rewards $51.39
Discover Rewards $0.37
USAA ATM refund 3.50

June Total $798.30

YTD Total $4,593.16
New Big Goal Total $76,677.09

Potentially could have included an Army Travel payment made to us this month which was over $1000, but for now we are holding it seperate for some potential expenses. I may reconsider however!

It's time to report interest income. Interest rates are far lower, and we lost a great rate when a recent CD matured.

FNBO $27.20
NFCU $65.43
USAA $0.22
Total $92.85

That's about $70 less than last month. Interesting times. The good times don't always last do they? However, we are very grateful for what we do have.

These funds have been added to our Pot of Possibilities!

It's the time of the month where I redeem credit card rewards and add them to our Pot of Possibilities!

I redeemed the following:
US Bank Visa $12.32
American Express $51.39
Chase Freedom $17.87
Total $81.58

Our US Bank Rewards will drop next month by about $8 since I will no longer use for our cell phone bill. We have been able to use a credit card to pay our rent the last three months, as the office staff has waived the associated fees since they are not working on site.

I decided a couple months ago to stop messing around with Swagbucks. It is a bit of a time suck, although I did limit the time I spent on it. I decided I do not support their advertising content, that I am clicking on to raise it's prevalence to the public. I can find other ethical ways to bring in another $300 a year. It was a good run of bringing in some cash however and I am thankful for the times it helped us out.

Everything seems up for review these days!

My husband returned home on Saturday from his three week trip. I'm very glad to have him home once again!

He has submitted his travel claim voucher and it is waiting approval. Hopefully we will have funds by Friday or very early next week. The portion coming to us is $2,066.58, which is per diem and mileage. He spent $927.07 in a three week period. So after paying those charges off we are left with $1,139.51.

A nice little windfall that is tempting to spend on a few things we have been talking about for awhile. Of course, I do like the idea of putting some or all into our Pot of Possibilities, which if we do put some there, will be reported at the end of the month.

Yesterday, I switched our cell phone plan to their lowest cost unlimited plan, which ended up saving us about $22 a month. I did have to switch to paying our bill with our checking account. I had been using our US Bank Credit card to receive 5% back, however the math still worked in our favor to switch. I think I had seen this offer before, but the math didn't seem to add up in our favor. I'm wondering if something else changed or if I just didn't do the math right last time!

I may close the US Bank credit card if I can figure out if another one of our credit cards gives 5% back on internet. I think one of them does. That will be the only charge going to that card, so I'm interested in consolidating if I can and still be getting decent cash back.

We also get Disney+ for one year for signing up for our new cell plan. We will use it I'm sure, but I wasn't wanting to add another streaming service when it first came out. The value of that is $6.99 per month, so definitely a nice bonus.

The other financial change is setting up some new Certificates of Deposits. I'm not thrilled with the rates as they have fallen. But I we have a lot of cash on hand and I have to have it earning something! I opened one for $25K, and will probably open a second one in a week or two for a similar amount. We decided we didn't want the a large $50K CD, as the interest rate doesn't benefit us. Instead we will have two $25K CDs, as a way to keep our options open a bit. I locked one today for 1.25% with Navy Federal. I unfortunately missed their last 'special rate'.

I started a batch of sauerkraut yesterday(first time ever) and today I began working on growing a batch of sourdough starter (also my first time). We all can grow and learn anything at any time.

Have you found a service to change or stop recently? Have you ever made any fermented food?

Our youngest daughter had her four wisdom teeth extracted last week under anesthesia. Our insurance covered all but the anesthesia, so our portion was $651. I think this is in line with what we paid for our older daughter. She has breezed through recovery with very minimal pain medication. The opioid med made her nauseous, so I picked up anti nausea medication which she took once. And after that first day she has taken just three ibuprofen. Swelling continues to go down each day. The medications were all generics and under our insurance varied from $1.60 to $2.44! Glad those didn't cost much, because they are all going to be tossed soon.

In other news, my husband is still not home from his work trip. It has been extended another 1 to 3 weeks. We are not happy with how the military has handled their personnel during their CV mission. The only positive is that we might make more money because of per diem...all though I think my husband handles stress by eating...so lots of food and snacks being bought.

It's only a week until payday and my daughter and I are not spending much being home most of the time. There is bound to be some savings from that!

POP is our Pot of Possibilities. This is our Big Goal renamed just this month. We just keep adding funds to it knowing someday we will want to draw on it. What we spend or invest it on is a mystery, but one with many possibilities!

Paycheck 5/1 $260
Paycheck 5/15 $260
Total Interest $164.37
US Bank $12.32
Chase Rewards $49.38
Amex Rewards $62.86
Ebay Sales $4.49
USAA ATM refund 3.00
Auto Insurance refund $97.45

May Total $913.87

YTD Total $3,794.86
New Big Goal Total $75,878.79

We crossed the $75,000 mark this month!

It's that time of the month where we add up our interest we earned on our cash savings last month. Rates are declining and our large CD expires this month, so numbers will likely go down for awhile.

FNBO $34.79
NFCU $129.37
USAA $0.21
Total $164.37

We threw all interest into our Pot of Possibilities!

It's a time of discovery. A time to create the new lives we want to live! Despite not being able to garden IN our postage size yard, I did meet my desire to plant some food this spring. I am growing, sweet peppers, basil and a patio tomato plant. I also stuck the end of celery in one of my pots to see what happens. I may not do it right, but I'm trying! I have grown tomatoes before, just not in a pot. The basil is growing fast and it's a bit hard to keep up. However, today I will make pesto. I used some of the basil in

this dish and really liked it. My daughter who had never had eggplant before liked it as well.

At the beginning of the year I started sprouting broccoli sprouts on our counter in jars. So very easy!! In just a few days a tablespoon of seeds equals about 1.5 cups of sprouts. I make one batch about every ten days, putting them in my salads at lunch every day. Broccoli sprouts are very healthy for you!

I also started composting some of our food scraps in a bin after watching a woman do it on YouTube. This also might not work out, but we learn and try from doing things. I know I will improve. I already had gnats, but seem to have killed them with boiling water. I have been on the search for more 'brown' matter around to create a better balance in the compost.

I have a friend who started making her own kombucha a couple months ago. She doesn't live nearby so I have not tried it, but she is loving it! A little investment upfront, but will actually save her money in the long run and she says it tastes so much better than store bought. I may try this at some point as well. I might try fermenting my own sauerkraut next, or making sourdough starter. Or both! My daughter loves mushrooms so I'm considering buying her a grow kit for her birthday in July!

Has anyone made something fermented? Did you start growing anything recently that you had never tried before? What new thing have you tried lately?

My husband is out of town for work. He finally had two days off in a row on Saturday and Sunday, but worked Monday (Memorial Day) Strange times we are in, where the time off happens away from the family. But this is really like a deployment for many, so I have to look at it through that lens and be thankful that most days I have been able to see him.

They gave him the option of flying or driving to the destination. He could also have rented a car. He decided to drive his truck, which then prompted us to get some maintenance done that we knew was going to be needed soon. He got four new tires, rear brakes, brake fluid flushed and an alignment for about $1300.

The destination is about 900 miles each way. Mileage is paid at 57.5 cents per mile. This will give us a payment for about $1,035. I think we will bank this money in our Pot of Possibilities once it arrives. We had already been saving for the maintenance and that account is still flush with funds.

Don't worry planning for the second wave is happening, as is planning for hurricane relief in the age of CV. My husband, along with his team, have submitted these plans to higher ups multiple times. There are so many inefficiencies in government, so frustrating to observe. The Army Reserves is rarely deployed on the homeland, so a whole new era of responsibility.

My husband IS on the promotion list for Lieutenant Colonel. Now we wait for orders to make it official. It may take 6 months to get those, as only so many are processed and approved each month. We are grateful for increasing income and feel very blessed to have employment in a time when many others do not.

And on a completely different note, I'm buying a slightly used Crockpot today for $20. The one I had from our wedding (24 years) ago went out around Christmas. I have been pondering an Instant Pot, but haven't found the right price. So a crockpot it is for now. I have a lot of dried beans I have been putting off making because of it. Yes, I know I can use the stove and a pot, but I'm so used to the CrockPot! I am excited.

I know many of you reading are regulars and for the most part I think you are all still employed. However, if there is anyone out there who has lost their employment, or has reduced hours I want you to know about the four walls that can keep you fed and in your home for as long as possible.

The Four Walls is part of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. There are six additional baby steps, but first you must take care of your four walls before you pay anyone else.

Read more

here.

We have our auto insurance through USAA. We have three cars on our policy. Just like many of you we received a credit recently because fewer people are on the road, less risk, ect. That first credit was $97.45.

We were notified this week we are receiving another one month credit, specifically 20% of what is equal to one month premium. For us that is $46.39.

Our six month premium was due May 4, so the first credit did reduce our payment owed. Now we have this credit, so I assume it will get refunded to our checking account. Or maybe it will just sit there until our next insurance payment is due. I should look into the specifics.

I am going to put these credits into our Pot of Possibilities, so they can do their magic. 😀

Are you getting another return of your auto insurance premium?

A few credit card rewards have been tossed into the Pot of Possibilities this month. I usually report these at the end of the month and I will again at the end of May. But it's kind of fun to write about tossing them into our new pot!

Chase Freedom $49.38
US Bank $12.32
American Express $52.86

That is $114.56 into the pot in addition to our two monthly contributions of $260 each. These happen on payday.

Next month I'm increasing the two monthly contribution to $310 each because we are discontinuing giving our oldest daughter her monthly allowance, which was $100 per month.

Looks like my husband is traveling for work and will be gone about two weeks. I expect there will be some per diem money that we can save in June after his expenses are submitted.

The Pot is growing!

In my last blog post, I mentioned the need to change the name of what I have been referring to as our Big Goal for the last couple years, which was originally started as a house downpayment goal for our next home, potentially four years from now when my husband retires. Sooner if we love the next place we get stationed with the military.

The new name needed to have a more positive vibration, as I was starting to feel like Big Goal sounded like something unattainable or just really hard to do. I think how we feel about something can affect the outcome.

As you can tell, I have taken several days to consider some ideas that came out in a couple brainstorming sessions. We have decided not to attach a specific number to this name or goal. Of course,I will always know what our original amount was, but I'm not going to track that as an end goal.

The new name for this cash accumulation is the Pot of Possibilities!! I have this image in my mind that I will throw various amounts into the pot and that numerous possibilities can be created with those funds. It may be a pot that allows for a house, or maybe a house AND something else. It's the seed money in some respects to the new life we begin to create when retirement comes around. Oh, the possibilities!

(Multiple posts today...check them out!)

I just reported on our Big Goal progress for April. We are very close to the milestone of $75K. I have been thinking for awhile about changing the name of our goal. There is a bit of a negative connotation to the term 'big goal' almost implying that it is unattainable or that it would take a miracle to reach. I truly want to believe that it is possible, so I need a new name. I don't know what it is, but if anyone wants to make a suggestion I'm sure open to ideas. The money was originally intended as a downpayment on our next house, so it could be home related. But in these unknown times I simply see it as cash that can be used to sustain us in the hard times. But again the term I use has to have a positive vibration to it. Because I know things are going to work out and this is an attainable goal. I'm also open to not having a number attached, because of course, if more is supposed to come our way it will!

I might also be hurting ourselves by not throwing every penny toward the goal. I did not include the stimulus money in the goal, or any housing refunds, or the money we were able to save this money simply by not being as active in the retail world or driving as much (specifically able to set aside $1,030.24!)

I have a feeling that health and sustainability are going to be big lessons for many of us in the coming years. We actually just had a power outage of 21 hours this week. I was grateful once again to the neighbor who let us hook to their generator for our fridge and to charge our devices (our daughter was trying to still do homework!) I think sharing in that way is beautiful, but I also think some self reliance is important too. We may be using some (or all) of our stimulus money to buy some things that help us be more self reliant, such as a generator or a camping stove. We may also use money to invest in more glass food containers, or having a bigger stockpile of foods on hand. I don't have it all figured out, but it seems like that investment may be helpful in addition to keeping cash.

In another note, I'm glad we don't eat a lot of meat or dairy. We do use some and it would be missed, but we are able to live without it. I do find it sad for the farmers who are forced (or choose) to kill their livestock before getting it to market. So many repercussions of the actions taken. But again I believe this will all work out. It will be bumpy for awhile, but we will collectively come to a better way of living in the world that is sustainable and healthier for everyone. We all want health and vibrancy and our natural world can provide it! We just have to come back into balance.

May you be well. May you be happy. 🦋

We make automatic deposits to our money market savings account each pay period! For nearly a year I had been directing extra funds to paying ourselves back for the downpayment on our daughter's car. This month I can add those to the Big Goal progress!

April Big Goal Additions
Paycheck 4/1 $260
Paycheck 4/15 $260
Total Interest $156.31
US Bank $12.33
Chase Rewards $3.35
Amex Rewards $66.92
Swagbucks (Paypal) $10
Ebay Sales $7.46
Utility Refund $35.18
April Total $811.55

YTD Total $2,880.99
New Big Goal Total $74,964.92

Goal is $200,000. We are at 37.48% of goal. I celebrate every deposit and every milestone on the way there!

I'm a little frustrated as I thought I could open a new NFCU CD and add to it. I did apply to start it off with a $1000 that we have there, but now I find out that I was wrong. We cannot add to this particular CD. I'm going to try to cancel it as it is still in the application process. Worse case we have a small CD! I just like all things neat and tidy, but at least it would be earning more than it had been.

Here's the interest we earned on our cash savings last month:

FNBO $33.83
NFCU $122.32
USAA $0.16
Total $156.31

All interest is saved towards our Big Goal.

The VA finally made their payment for our oldest daughter's tuition this semester. She had 18 days of benefits. The school usually estimates the amount they expect to receive and bills us for the remainder. This semester they underestimated the amount by over $1000! The actual amount they were off by was $1,129.72.

We have received that money back in our checking account, along with her refund of her parking permit which was $94. Her housing refund was $953.79. In total she has received $2,177.51. This is such good news, since she did take out loans this last year totalling $5,500. That will be a significant amount to put towards the balance. It is interesting how things work out sometimes.

She has had one interview, by Zoom, but the person interviewing seemed to be giving advice than trying to hire, specifically telling her she didn't have enough experience. So odd, as you would think the interviewer could read that this is a college graduate. She probably has more experience than some new graphic design grads, as she has been working on campus doing design for four years and has almost completed a year long internship. Of course, there are more experience people who have been in the workforce for awhile. Just still odd she even had the interview in the first place! I know she will find her path and a job eventually. She is blessed that both her part time jobs are allowing her to continue until she finds full time work.

My husband should know very soon if he is on the promotion list. It would be shocking if he was not. Last year we were hopefully, but knew it would be ahead of schedule. This year he would have to be failing considerably on all metrics to not get the promotion. It's simply his year to be promoted if that makes sense. We don't know how quickly it will be effective with all that is going on, but hopefully sooner than later.

Watch

this.

It's a message that is missing from this conversation. Our individual health matters much more than the actions of others around us. I welcome the opportunity to be part of those that get the virus to create community immunity. My husband thinks he had it in the middle of February, and if so, I did not come down with anything after being exposed.

May you all be well!

The stimulus money is pending in our account. We are getting $2,400. Our children are over 17, so we do not get, nor do we need the extra $500 per child. We do not even need the $2,400.

We have not made any decisions on this money. I think I'm waiting to see how this plays out a bit. I do think it will get spent in some form or another, which is the point. I have quite a few ideas of things we could invest in to make us more self reliant, but may need to help our daughter or some nieces and nephews.

Our oldest daughter is close to freaking out about graduation and not finding a job. Job postings are minimal. She is looking in multiple states. There is one that is more local that I really want her to get. No word on that yet, and I could see it be a situation where they may be on a hiring freeze. She does have an internship that started back up this week online. She was asked when she graduates and when she said in a couple weeks, he said she can stay on after graduation until she finds another job. That would be really great, although if they go back to in person, could create a housing issue. As it is now she is living 45 minutes away from work with my parents, but they still might work for her. This organization is also in a hiring freeze, so not being able to replace her would be noticeable. This organization also paid her four weeks when they closed down and she didn't work at all.❤️

Our oldest daughter received her housing refund of $963.79. It seems lower than expected and I haven't yet had the motivation to investigate and do the math. I don't see other parents complaining about wrong amounts, so I expect it is probably right.

My hope is that she will ultimately put this amount on her student loan debt, which she only had to take out this final year (her fifth year, two degrees). The total debt she took out was $5,500. Maybe she can round up and make $1000 her first payment!

Now she just needs to finish up these classes, graduation (ceremony cancelled, but can walk in future ceremonies) and find a job!

Our youngest daughter's University has offered a 40% refund on housing and meal plans due to closing. She is living with us, but we have not yet made the trip to clean out her dorm, which currently we have until May 9 to complete.

The housing refund for the semester is $1423.80
The meal plan refund for the semester is $867.48
Total is $2,291.28

I have simply set that money aside to assist us in making the fall payments. I may not need to withdraw as much from her ESA next semester.

We are still waiting on the housing refund for our oldest daughter. More on that later!

We are paying ourselves back for money we put down on our daughter's car in May 2019. I am putting all sources of extra funds towards that goal. Here's what I found in March:

US Bank $12.33
Chase Rewards $9.92
Amex Rewards $45.03
Swagbucks (Paypal) $25
Ebay Sales $22.28
Pinecone $3.00
USAA Rebate $3.00
Army Travel Excess $119.42

Total $239.98

Prior Payback Balance: $254.69
New Payback Balance: $14.71

Well isn't that interesting! So close to payoff. I think it is time to call it paid back though. I'm pretty sure I sold at least two items locally for $5 each this past month...a bit of a blur, but I know I didn't allocate those funds to any pot of money. And I know we added money to our emergency fund far in excess of $4.71, so....

it's paid off!! Happy, happy dancing'!!

New Payback Balance: $0.00

All of these types of funds will go towards the BIg Goal starting this month.

We make automatic deposits to our money savings account each pay period! So easy. Highly recommend!

March Big Goal Additions
Paycheck 3/1 $260
Paycheck 3/15 $260
Total Interest $173.11
Total Contribution $693.11

YTD Total $2,069.44
New Big Goal Total $74,153.37

Goal is $200,000. We are at 37.08% of goal. I celebrate every deposit and every milestone on the way there!

This month I am grateful my husband has a job and it still getting paid.

And interest rates begin to fall...

FNBO Direct is at 1% APR as of this writing.
NFCU is our certificate with a 3.20% APR until June 10, 2020.
We can add money to this one.

I will be looking for the right combination of certificates for this volatile time, currently seeing new ones at NFCU for 12 and 18 months for 1.65%. If I can add more money later, I may open one of these. May open one regardless if we can add. Just makes my decision easier! Will do more research soon.

Here's the interest we earned on our cash savings last month:

FNBO $46.95
NFCU $126.06
USAA $0.13
Total $173.11

All interest was saved towards our Big Goal.

It is so interesting to see the contrast of these times we are in. My husband is actually working more now...a home deployment of sorts. I don't even get the mission and even he says it seems off and strange. But we are both thankful he has a job, when so many do not.

Stimulus money. Absolutely do not need it. At least in the short term. If we are on the edge of a depression who knows what we might need. I pray the everyone can go back to work very, very soon. I did have the thought tonight that buying a generator might finally be a good investment. We ponder one every hurricane season, but never pull the trigger. We have only been without power about 32 hours at the most and maybe only twice. Not pleasant, but not dire either. But then I go back to donating the money too.

Waiting to see about dorm room refunds. One daughter will get one, the other daughter's school is still figuring it out I guess. No money has been received yet. The oldest should probably put it on her small student loan, but then I wonder how long it will take her to get a job in this economy.

Dave Ramsey always says if you see a storm you stockpile cash, until the storm clears. I then wonder if I have been saving towards the Big Goal for a whole other reason! Of course, there was no way to know this was upon us. But I do have a pretty interesting intuition about things. I'm really trying to hear what it is telling me.

The loving kindness meditation I happened on this week was:
May You Be Well
May You Be Happy
May You Be Peaceful
May You Be Loved

Take care of you! We as humans are strong and resilient!

Fear saddens me.

Fear and panic create bad decisions.

Yes, as with everyone, this has impacted us and our girls.

I will not let fear weaken my resolve or my immune system.

I will walk outside. I will talk to my neighbors.

I believe in a higher source that knows all and can create peace out of chaos.

We will all have a story to tell when this ends. I will tell my story then.

(Please take care of your health. That may mean you need to step away from the news and focus on self care and stress relief. Eat real food, take supplements that support your immune system if appropriate, get plenty of rest, get outside for fresh air and exercise, and stay hydrated)
❤️✌️