What is $160 Worth To You?

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

What would you do if you had an extra $160 in your pocket?  My husband always reminds me that experiences are worth more than things.  With our two kids growing up so quickly, I can see that is true.  Any occasion we can go on a special family outing is a time that I cherish.

Recently our family had the opportunity to visit The Huntington Library in San Marino.  D and I have been talking about visiting this place for a long time now, but the tickets are a little pricey so we kept putting it off.  Now that we have experienced this place, I can see why it is a popular destination in Southern California.

We started out with a delicious lunch at Blue Window in the Norris Dining Terrace.  The kids had salmon rolls and D and I split a tuna poke bowl and chicken yakitori salad.  After fueling up, we were ready to do a lot of walking!

This unique water feature that greets visitors at the entrance lets you know that this not just an ordinary garden.

Visiting a library and garden might not seem too exciting for kids, but The Huntington has something for everyone.  First, we checked out the Orbit Pavillion.  When you sit inside this metal sculpture, there is a soundscape experience representing the movement of the International Space Station and 19 Earth Science satellites.  The kids thought that was pretty cool!

The Rose Garden was absolutely bursting with fragrant blooms.  We saw a lot of women in fancy hats ready to partake in high tea in the Tea Room.

The tranquil Japanese Garden had a koi fish pond and a lot of traditional Japanese design elements like this wooden bridge.

The Chinese Garden was also quite breathtaking.  It felt like we were in China.  Hopefully one day we can save up and do more international travel with the kids!

The Convservatory was also really interesting.  We walked through the mist in both the Rain Forest and Cloud Forest and it felt like we were in different climates.

The Children’s Garden was whimsical and had a lot of great opportunities for play.

We also walked through the Library, the Huntington Art Gallery, and the Virginia Steele Scott Gallery (pictured).  The grounds are quite immense, and I know that we only saw a fraction of everything there is to see.  We will surely remember the afternoon we spent here for years to come.

That brings me back to the title of this post, which asks the question what you would do with an extra $160.  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.*

While $160 may not seem like a lot, over time, this can add up!  Choosing a higher-yielding cash account allows our family to do more memorable outings like this one.  D and I understand the importance of assessing our options to determine which provider fits best into our financial plan.  If you haven’t looked at your cash investments recently, ask yourself whether you are getting the most out of your cash.  Check out some of your options at Vanguard.

Disclosure:

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. 

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