Zero Extra @ZeroExtraShop

On this day in 1776, Continental forces under Brigadier General Hugh Mercer crossed from New Jersey and struck British and Hessian positions near Richmond Town on Staten Island. 🇺🇸 After an overnight march, troops under Colonel Griffin and Major Clarke’s riflemen closed on the garrison at dawn, capturing about seventeen prisoners—including eight Hessians—plus muskets, bayonets, and a British light-horse standard. Americans suffered two killed and two officers wounded. The raid secured prisoners and intelligence as Washington’s army withdrew northward after losing New York City. That week began the Rutherford Light Horse expedition, a North Carolina militia cavalry thrust against Cherokee towns that raided frontier settlements earlier that summer. These formed part of wider small-unit raids and frontier operations pressuring British and allied forces amid larger campaigns. The riflemen belonged to specialist companies raised in 1775, later contributing to formations such as Morgan’s Provisional Rifle Corps and the light-infantry tradition recognized by today’s 75th Ranger Regiment. ⚔️ Small actions like Mercer’s raid rarely decided campaigns but preserved American initiative, gathered intelligence, and showed Continental forces could still strike into British-held ground. 🗽

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@AndySpartyOn @Humphreytalks Fair enough, Andy. You'd be surprised how many folks count the whole house and forget the bank still owns a chunk of it. Glad you're one of the ones doing the subtraction.

A restaurant closer doesn't go home until the drawer balances. Your month should work the same way. Every dollar gets a job before you clock out.

@financebuzz Quick math on the "hundreds": $15,000 at 4% APY earns about $148 in three months. At 0.01% it earns about 38 cents. Takes ten minutes to move.

Texas property tax bills start hitting mailboxes this month. Due January 31. Pay off your house and you still rent it from the county. I don't make the rules, I just budget for them. Divide the bill by 3 and set that aside each month through January. No surprises.

@KurtisHanni Quick guard: set aside January's gap before the December spending. If January collections drop to $35,000 and payroll stays at $45,000, that's a $10,000 hole. Park the $10,000 now, then spend what's left with a clear head.

@LiberTexanus175 250 years ago today, and the call was to get most of the army off Manhattan before Howe closed the trap. Knowing when to pull back and keep your army is underrated, in war and in a budget.

If you want the sheet to do the math: pick snowball or avalanche, add your monthly extra, and it shows your payoff order and debt-free month. $5, opens in Google Sheets or Excel. payhip.com/b/u0VzO

The month after Christmas is when the credit card bill finally shows up. Easiest plan I know: list every debt, pay the minimums on all of them, and throw every extra dollar at the smallest balance. When it's gone, roll that payment into the next one. Boring. Works.

@ankurnagpal Good point. Quick math: $10,000 at 4% APY earns $400. In the 22% bracket that is $88 of federal tax, so you keep $312. Still worth knowing your bracket before picking where cash sits.

@LiberTexanus175 Grocery prices keep climbing. This Bread has cost the same for about 2,000 years: free to us, because Someone else already paid.

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” John 6:35 KJV

@KurtisHanni Quick test for real cash: bank balance minus next payroll, minus the tax set-aside, minus 30 days of bills. $40,000 in the bank with $18,000 payroll, $12,000 for taxes and $6,000 in bills is really $4,000. Better to learn that today than the night before payroll.

Honest question: what's your Christmas budget per kid this year? Ours is $150 each, and the four-gift rule does the rest: something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read.

@TheAbojani Started late? Divide by the months left, not 12. Fees of 60,000 due in 8 months means saving 7,500 a month, not 5,000. Better to find that out in October than in January.

@LiberTexanus175 Autocorrect gets it. A car at least pays you back in miles. A cat costs litter, vet bills, and a couch, then still judges your budget.

On October 15, 1776, at Harlem Heights, General Washington faced British forces landing at Throg's Neck to outflank his army and cut supplies. He reorganized the Continental Army into divisions under Lee, Heath, Sullivan, and Lincoln, informing Connecticut's governor that the enemy's intent seemed nearly certain. Command of Knowlton's Rangers—the Army's first formal reconnaissance unit, formed that summer—passed to Captain Lemuel Holmes after Major Andrew Colburn was wounded. Elite volunteers from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island scouted until captured with the Fort Washington garrison a month later. Their intelligence and irregular tactics form one of the earliest threads in modern Army Rangers' claimed heritage. 🇺🇸⚔️🦅

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Free, takes 20 minutes, and beats any budgeting app: freeze your credit at all three bureaus, call your car insurer for a re-quote, cancel the streaming service you forgot you had. You're welcome.

Easiest holiday budget trick I know: tier your list. Tier 1 (spouse, kids): $100 each Tier 2 (parents, siblings): $40 each Tier 3 (coworkers, neighbors): $10 each 4 + 6 + 10 people = $740. Write the number down before you walk into a store.