Found out I was drowning my pothos for two months because of one finger test

So about six weeks back I finally figured out why my pothos kept dropping yellow leaves every few days. I was watering it every Sunday like clockwork, maybe 1.5 cups each time, because that's what the little tag from the nursery in Sacramento said to do. Then my neighbor Rosa, who has a monstera that's basically touching her ceiling, asked if I ever actually checked the soil first. I stuck my finger in and it was soaked 2 inches down. Turns out I was watering on a schedule instead of checking the dirt, and the tag was for a smaller pot than the one I moved it into. I pulled it out and the roots were brown and mushy in the middle, which made me feel about 2 inches tall. I let it dry out for almost 3 weeks and now it's pushing a new leaf on the left side. Anybody got a good way to tell when the bottom of a big pot is actually dry without pulling the whole plant out?