See a penny, pick it up
photo by miguelb
Found money adds up. Approach it as a game and not a serious way to supplement your income. Many people don’t find it worth their time to pick a penny off the ground. How long does it take? One second. Maybe two. Do you enjoy the “feelin’ lucky” factor of stumbling across money when you least expect it? If you tally up found money at the end of the year, you’ll discover it’s often a decent sum. So it pays to keep your eyes open. You never know: You might find a valuable coin. Some people enjoy the hunt so much they buy metal detectors, and it becomes a great hobby to find coins, jewelry and lost relics. Where have you found money?
Here are a few places you might find some.
LAUNDRY: You can keep a laundry loot jar to collect the money you find while doing your own laundry. Change can be found in pockets and under your machines. Open them up, and take a look. You might discover lost money inside.
FURNITURE: You can find loose change under the couch cushions and inside the crevices of the couch. You can often find some in desk and dresser drawers. Some people have found money in antique furniture they’ve bought, too.
CLOTHING AND BAGS: Empty out purses, briefcases and suitcases. Bags and seasonal coats or suits that you haven’t used in a while can be mini gold mines.
VENDING MACHINES: The loose-change mecca. You can find loose change in the coin slots of vending machines and pay phones in various places such as break rooms, hospitals, airports, train and bus stations, universities or schools, retail stores, hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, etc.
DECLUTTERING: Going through stacks of paper, mail or even books, you might come across a check you forgot to cash, a couple of bucks you set down and forgot about or even gift cards. Don’t forget to look in your car. Plenty of money slips between the car seats. Money can sometimes be found in heating vents, too.
OUTSIDE: While walking, running or biking, you can often find money on the ground in parking lots, carwashes, street curbs, at the beach, near parking meters, carnivals, ballparks, playgrounds, farmers’ markets, snow banks and near a drive-through.
UNCLAIMED MONEY: You might have unclaimed money or property from old checking or savings accounts, utility deposits, stocks, insurance policies, payroll checks, etc. Find out by checking www.missingmoney.com.
Where do you find money?
Posted by Sara Noel
on December 14 2008. Filed under Frugal & simple living.Sara Noel owns Frugal Village, LLC and is a nationally syndicated columnist with Universal Uclick. Bio, Follow me on Twitter, Join us on Facebook
I personaly love to find extra money. I have hidden dollars in books, old files that I will go thro later and even under my bed and in my panty drawer. Every spring before I pack away our coats I hid a few dollars so I can find it later in the year. It may sound strange but my motto is….. out of sight out of mind. If Im not straped on cash or even if I am a little, I will still hide it and then I appreciate it even more when it comes back to me.
1I agree and wrote on this same topic earlier this fall,
2We have a specific jar designated for loose change. This weekend I was sorting through papers and found an envelope marked “fun” with $60 inside. We’d set that money aside this fall when my in-laws were in town. It went unused and we forgot about it…until yesterday. We are saving to buy a home with little or no mortgage, and each month our change jar is deposited into our savings.