Southern Hill Farms // The Value of a Day

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

This past weekend we had the joy of spending the day with my mom at Southern Hill Farms Fall Festival. In the spring and summer their farm is full of fresh fruit - blueberries and peaches, ripe for the picking. But in the fall they transform their farm into a harvest wonderland. We arrived on a crisp, sunny day and I knew the weather was going to be just perfect for creating memories. When you arrive you park across the street and then you cross over to the farm, down endless rows of blueberries towards the big red barn.

Jacob saw the inflatables right away and I knew we would spend a big chunk of our day there. You can purchase individual tickets or you can spring for the wristband, which is what we did. If your kiddo loves jumping around in bounce houses the wristband will be well worth your money. The wristband also works on a few rides, though there are height and weight restrictions for those. We let Jacob run and bounce to his hearts content and he got out quite a bit of energy. Once he was good and tired we were able to convince him to check out some of the other areas of the farm.

On the other end of the farm, opposite of the bounce houses is a pumpkin patch filled with pumpkins and squash in every size and shape. We had a good time checking them all out before deciding on a large pumpkin to carve and a small one for Jacob to decorate. There's also a playground on that side of the farm and Jacob could have played there for hours. He made a few new friends but mostly had fun showing off for Grandma and Mom. He is a completely different kid since starting Pre-k, no fear on the playground at all anymore!

In the middle of the farm is a cluster of food trucks, as well as a food stand and some fire pits. The food stand sells s'mores kits that you can then roast around the fire pits, but we had our eye on something else. Fresh apple cider donuts. Our favorite. Those donuts are an integral part of our fall memories - one of my favorite photos is of one year old Jacob with sugar ALL over his face. He loves them just as much as his momma. We got an order of one dozen as well as some iced apple cider and set ourselves up at a little table near the playground.

We demolished half the box before Jacob got a second wind and lead us right back over to the bounce houses. We took a trip on their hayride around the farm before leaving and as you can probably guess, Jacob fell fast asleep on the way home. Likely dreaming about sugared donuts and bouncy slides.

When I think about the value of a day - and the money that's going to be spent, I take a few things into consideration. I first look at where the money is going - is it something that's going to last or something that will be gone quickly? I then think about whether that money is going to make a long term impact on our memories, and on Jacob's childhood. In this case, the money wasn't going towards anything that we were going to be keeping for a long time - those donuts were eaten immediately, the pumpkins eventually rotted, and once we left the wristband had no value; but I know that the value of our day went far beyond that. Jacob will remember this day with his mom and grandma, bouncing to his little hearts content, running around the pumpkin patch, walking down the rows of blueberries under the bright blue sky, hopefully forever.

While $160 may not seem like a lot, over time, it can really add up! Choosing a higher-yielding cash account can allow us to experience more of these fun, memorable days. To get the most out of my cash, it’s important to assess my options and determine which provider fits best into my plan. Some companies, like Vanguard, are built in a way that better aligns to my interests. If you haven’t looked at your cash investments recently, maybe it’s time to ask yourself some questions: “Am I getting the most from my cash?” “Does my financial provider have my best interests at heart?” Check out more at Vanguard. 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.*

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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