My $300 Float
Five years ago my wife was pregnant so we started making plans for her to be off work for a bit. We’re a two income family by necessity not by choice (school loans suck), so we had to get a forbearance on some loans as well as put some money away into savings. Things went smoothly and Tonia was able to take 6 months off to spend with Tanner after he was born. It was invaluable.
As part of the savings process I wrote a check to myself for $300 that I never cashed. It simply sat in a drawer and was erased from our checking account balance. Virtually. In reality it was still in there.
So when Tonia went back to work, and our finances were back to normal, I still had a $300 check sitting in a drawer. I ripped it up and now have $300 in my checking account that doesn’t show up when I look at the bottom line of my register. I just love having that little security blanket in there when times are tight.
Do you have any financial quirks?
May 12, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I have a active credit card I’ve never used that sits in a drawer in my office. I’ve had it so long I’ve renewed it twice. This scratches 3 itches for me:
1) I like to imagine that credit card companies wonder what I’m up to and love to calculate how much they spend mailing $0.00 statements and making new credit cards for me.
2) If we go on a road trip I’ll bring it along in case disaster strikes and we have to buy a new transmission or something.
3) There’s a strange fascination with knowing that, if I wanted to, I could blast myself into financial ruin at moments notice.
May 12, 2008 at 1:22 pm
@Brandon: I love thinking about the fact that I could buy a decent used car on a whim using my credit card. Luckily for me I’ve never done such a thing, but I love to consider it.
May 12, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I like to squirrel away a few dollars every week, and then when the time is right, surprise my wife with a little something nice. I also keep a couple hundred dollars hidden for emergencies.
May 12, 2008 at 5:37 pm
That takes a lot of discipline and self control just knowing it’s there to spend. Great job Mud!
May 12, 2008 at 6:19 pm
This is silly, but I put any and all cash I have (very rare for me to have cash) in a monkey cookie jar in my kitchen. It’s where I draw from when I want to splurge on something not in the budget.