While out walking yesterday, I was soaking in the cool, crisp air and reflecting about the simple moments in life—–an embrace from my child, buds appearing on the bare winter trees, the cup of coffee I enjoyed, my parent’s visit, and more. Amidst those thoughts, I was burdened by the bills that “recycle” themselves each month and those that appear unexpectedly with life—medical bills, home repairs, car expenses, etc.
All of these thoughts were interrupted by a shiny copper penny left lying in the street. It was money I found but neglected to pick up. A few more yards of walking and I found a prepaid VISA card. I bent down and picked it up. I called the number on the back of the card on my last block of walking back home. The balance was $0.04. I laughed silently and thought—-“A penny saved is a penny earned!” If only I had picked up that last penny I saw, the balance of my “found money” would have been $0.05 for the day. But wait! I saved $7.50 in coupons at Wal-Mart this morning prior to my walk and $10.75 yesterday at Kroger in more coupon clippings! The saved money balance is growing! Then, I remembered that my Wal-Mart receipt needed to be stapled to a rebate form. More savings…….
As I noted the current rebate form on my rebate log, I glanced down and noticed that more than $40 is noted on it for refunds through the mail (Ebates, magazines.com, Pam rebate, Colgate/Palmolive rebate, & more). The time I’m allocating to using coupons is definitely paying off in the savings I’m seeing in our receipts and stockpiles of items at home that we’ll use throughout the month(s). Thus, I thought: “What should I do with my rebate money?”
Although there’s always a bill to chisel away at, I personally like to use this “found money” for my daughter’s custodial account established at Edward Jones. When my parents visit and leave her a five dollar bill or ten dollar bill, we write a check and deposit it into her savings account. Additionally, when my rebate checks come in the mail, we’ll deposit them into her savings account. She’s three now. Another fifteen years of savings and this “found money” will help pay for some of her education expenses. That one little penny in the street during my walk wasn’t in a safe place for me to pick up. Every shiny copper penny can’t be picked up or saved for a future need. Many of our saved pennies have to be used for our weekly and/or monthly budget but when you can—initiate your “found money” for something specific and watch it grow!
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