What can you do with $868

 My son is in his final undergraduate semester. The bill was $4,575.54 and due for payment in two weeks. I checked with him to see that he had accepted his student loans; at the time, he hadn’t yet. However, once he accepted the loan and his merit scholarship was applied, the remaining balance due to the school immediately dropped to $391.47. Ordinarily, he would have been able to cover that difference from money earned working during the year; however, this year his bank account was a little lighter because he didn’t work the entire month of July. Instead, he spent the month of July in Spain struggling with the European heatwave and adventuring with his sister (I know, choose a struggle, right?!).

So, where does this $868 come in? Well, that was the amount that remained in the small college fund of $4,505 that we had tucked away many years ago, which we stopped contributing to when he turned 18 and the rules dictated that we could no longer contribute to his 529 Plan. We used some of the funds in 2024 and some more in 2025 to cover education expenses. What remained for 2026 was the grand total of $868.09 (actually $626.00, plus an additional $246 in earned interest over two years). Yes, I know $868 is a “small” sum of money for college, but this was money that we had just left alone that was enough to give my son and us the space to get the semester off to a good start so that we didn’t have to wonder where we were taking that money from. No robbing Peter to pay Paul here. So with his final payout, he will pay the remainder of his tuition in cash, and have an additional $500 to jump-start repayment of his student loan.

For me, this $868 was a gentle reminder that you don’t necessarily need to save a whole lot of money to get a step ahead, but you do need to save SOMETHING. And you don’t need to do a lot at one time either because a little over time goes a long way. Also, using the money for its intended purpose is probably a good idea.

So, here’s to making some small sacrifices along the way so that you could reap big rewards at just the right time. Obviously, his student loans will need to be paid… but we have a plan for that, and I can’t wait to share and celebrate that win as well. As it turns out, with $868, we were able to do a lot. In this case and in this economy, this small college fund gave our soon-to-be college graduate a little peace of mind as he starts his final semester.