As found-money totals go, it was pretty dismal. The take was two $1 bills, seven quarters, 20 dimes, 7 nickels and 75 pennies, for a total of 6.85.
Last year’s total wasn’t much better: just $8.80.
Maybe it’s because people are using credit or debit to pay for their purchases. We’re not a cashless society just yet, but more and more people are opting for plastic. (Some people no longer carry any cash at all, which astounds me.)
Could be that people are experiencing personal economic downturns and thus picking up anything they drop – and anything that other people drop, too.
Or maybe I’m just not going out as much. In the past year I rarely walked to the post office due to weather (read: icy paths), busy-ness (not wanting to give up 40 minutes of a work day) or the fact that DF is now retired and makes a trip to the P.O. one of his daily chores.
I’ve found a lot less in Coinstar machines, too. Perhaps folks have wised up and are checking the coin slots when they run their change through – or perhaps other people have caught on and are checking the machine as they walk by.
Whatever the reason(s), it wasn’t a great year for free money.
Where it all goes
When I got back from my most recent trip to Phoenix, the stack of piled-up mail included a solicitation from Feeding America and a newsletter from the Food Bank of Alaska.
The newsletter included articles about food programs that the FBA is running in small towns around the state. Some are off the road system, and as a result have ruinously high grocery prices.
Driveability is no guarantee of food security, though. One newsletter article concerned a woman from Sutton (about 55 miles north of Anchorage) whose car broke down, which left her unable to get to food banks or apply for SNAP benefits for herself and her son. At a November event called “Thanksgiving Blessing,” the Food Bank of Alaska helped the woman apply for SNAP and also Medicaid, so her son could get needed speech and physical therapy.
I’d planned to send my found money (rounded up) to Feeding America, since it has a “double your impact special” matching grant. But I couldn’t ignore what I’d read in the FBA newsletter.
Thus I’ll contribute to both: The $6.85 will be rounded up to $20 for Feeding America, to take fuller advantage of that matching grant. And I’ll send another $20 to the Food Bank of Alaska.
Wish it could be more
While in Phoenix I bought a couple of Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as usual, because we don’t have those lotteries** here in Alaska. And as usual, I didn’t win. Before the drawings, though, I had my usual pleasant daydreams of how I’d spend* those ill-gotten gains.
After securing my retirement and helping some relatives and friends in need, what I would mostly do is…give the money away.
I could set up endowments for groups like the Food Bank of Alaska, the Brother Francis Shelter, Bean’s Café and Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis. I’d throw chunks of cash at local arts groups. I’d sponsor a scholarship through the local chapter of American Mensa*** and maybe through the high school where I grew up.
Definitely would ask a few social workers to let me know about people who were struggling due to one big issue – medical bills, the lack of a reliable vehicle, the need for job training – and then I’d help them anonymously.
If winning the lottery were that easy, everyone would be doing it. So I help where I can, without knocking my own financial plan off-kilter. Picking up found coins will never make me rich, but it stretches my giving dollars every year. I’ll keep doing it until I can no longer safely bend over.
*I’d do all this after getting a lawyer and creating an LLC or trust in order to remain anonymous. For safety reasons, I wouldn’t want anyone knowing that I had suddenly become wealthy.
** The only lottery we have here in Alaska is the Nenana Ice Classic, an annual bet as to when the ice will go out on the Tanana River in the town of Nenana. Never won that one, either.
***Yep, I’m a member. But people are much more intrigued by the fact that I was once on the TV show “Jeopardy!”
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My find was less than $3 for 2019.
Same here Donna, my “found” money jar was much less than 2018 — since I no longer have a mortgage….I rounded up and put it towards my car — which should be paid off by end of 3rd quarter making me COMPLETELY debt free!
Maybe then it’ll time for an update to “Cheryl paid off her mortgage”?
http://donnafreedman.com/cheryl-paid-off-mortgage/
How is it that we are so “on the same page” when we have never met in person? Down here in the “lower 48” (NH/ME)I also am finding scant amounts of “found money.” I no longer total it up, since I just put it in with whatever coins I receive when I shop with cash. All of this change gets put in a jar for my “Prince Charming” (age 23 months). When the jar is full, it goes into an account for him. So far $220. Not much, but a start. I am thinking this year of adding the “saved savings” from using coupons at the grocery store to his account. If I won the lottery (which I never play!) I would both fund local free meal kitchens as well as continue to support the project of Compassion International in the Dominican Republic, but in a bigger way.
What a lovely post! Wish more people had your attitude, especially those at the very top.
I didn’t know you were on Jeopardy. Do you have any posts on that? I have found only maybe $2 this past year while walking. Today I did find a penny! My area is getting more depressed, so I am thinking people are picking up more, but also like you said, maybe using charge or debit more.
No post — that was a lonnnnnggggg time ago. At the time I did write an article for the newspaper where I worked, to give locals a heads-up.
Every penny I find makes me unaccountably happy. Maybe it reminds me of the days (even longer ago) when finding a penny on the way to or from school meant I could get candy on the way home.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
Ahh, those lottery daydreams. It was one of my coping mechanisms before I retired from a job I’d burned out on. Buy a (single $1) lottery ticket and dream how I’d escape from it all. Much cheaper than therapy or meds:)
Same here in the tristate area of RI/CT/MA. My found change amount is so puny I add found bottles and cans to the total. I think the lack of money on the streets may be a combination of consumers using credit and debit cards, more people picking up small change they see on the pavement due to the fear of being broke which seemed to creep in during and after the Great Recession and the area I live and walk in which is semi-rural. There are also no sidewalks so perhaps people are not walking in my neighborhood as much as in others. My total found change/deposit cans and bottles for 2019 was $4.32. It’s money I would not have otherwise so it’s ok.
I found over $20, but only because I managed to find TWO $10 bills at two different times! I used to live near an entertainment district, where I’d regularly find money on Saturday and Sunday morning. Now I walk less and live in a more residential neighborhood. For 2020, I’ve started following Marie Kondo’s advice to just put loose change in your wallet and spend it. I regularly used the self checkout at the big box store, so it’s easy to just put the coins in and pay the rest on my rewards credit card.
I love your lottery plan! I have a similar one. I have so few wants/needs that I could happily give away most of the winnings to people who need it more.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t find many coins/bills in 2019. I think fewer and fewer people are using cash, period. *sigh* Too bad for us scavengers.
I have never bought a lottery ticket, just some scratch-offs here and there. I bought 3 $1 scratch-offs about 6 years ago and won $10. I figured that was as good as it gets, so haven’t bought any since. Maybe I should buy some lottery tickets so I can indulge in beautiful daydreams!
I have only found two pennies this year. At this rate I will have a whopping twelve cents at the end of the year! This is a poorer area, so I have been suspecting that more people are picking up what they drop or other people drop. My friend who worked a post retirement job a Sam’s club said he found bills against a fence where the wind blew money and it stuck. Maybe that would be a good strategy for where the money is.
My findings were also lower this year…$5.86! I have no problem bending over and picking up change…it always puts a smile on my face. I wonder if other people find it funny if you happen to get on a camera? My husband makes fun of me because I am looking down at the ground when in parking lots or out and about. He calls it ground looking! I call it a nice surprise when I find something 🙂
My lottery dreams – I would pay off the mortgages of my sisters homes, if I won enough. If it was a whole lot of money, I would move on down to the nieces homes. I would make repairs to my home, which is already paid off.
My lottery cash – I once paid for about 1/2 ($1000) of a vacation to see daughter and son in law with lottery cash. I wish I had written down exactly what I had done. Here are the steps I used. My spare cash was $16, so that was what I used to fund my experiment. I then looked online on both MD and PA lottery sites. I was looking for odds on specific rub offs (which were one in 6 on $1 and $2 tickets) and games which had lots of unsold tickets. I then used the $16 cash to buy tickets in lots of 6 or 7. Then used the winnings to buy more tickets (usually $1). Sometimes you got a free ticket instead. I purchased 1 or 2 times a week, usually at the same store location, which also had gas pumps and lots of coffee, to insure the rolls would turn over. At some point I only bought 4 at a time. Won more money in MD than in PA
Just sent a check for $43 (found money) to daughter for House Fund. Still slim pickins for finding money.
A lot more than I found! Your daughter is lucky to have such a caring parent.