var json_comments = new Array("
\"user-pic\"
semanticantics
January 5, 2009 4:55 PM
Moderate | Flag for review

I used to get excited when I'd find change on the ground, so now I toss pennies and sometimes nickels in the hopes that some kid finds it and feels the same way.

Best score was finding a $5 bill on a shelf of shoes at a Payless when I was about 7.

Reply
3 replies
\"user-pic\"
batsy
January 5, 2009 10:25 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@semanticantics: My best friend in high school used to find pennies in the hallways all the time, and he was very vocal about it.. after a while a lot of people started leaving him pennies to find just for fun. I'll have to ask him how much he ended up with.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
JanetCarol
January 5, 2009 6:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@semanticantics: Haha You are known as a Penny-dropper. I'm occasionally one too.
My future Husband and I are also the people who scan the floor at the bar to see what drunkie dropped a $1.
Usually one of us is drunk, but we usually find something.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Necoras
January 5, 2009 5:58 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@semanticantics: I grabbed a $5 bill off the floor in Target a few weeks ago. Even better was the time when there were bills in the middle of the street... Got something like $25. My wife was so embarrassed when I put the car in reverse to pick it up (residential streets).

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Oranges w/ Cheese hates what Christmas has become
January 5, 2009 4:55 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found $100 once while I was out running - two $50 bills just hanging out on the ground.

I assumed they were probably counterfeit, but they passed just fine when I eventually spent them.

Reply
7 replies
\"user-pic\"
ElizabethD
January 6, 2009 1:22 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Oranges w/ Cheese: Not to sound prim, but wouldn't you report the found money to the local police before spending it? Ethics 101, people...

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Keavy_Rain
January 6, 2009 2:23 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ElizabethD: I turn in credit cards, debit cards, money orders, purses, and wallets I find but consider cash, by itself, to be fair game.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
domesticdork
January 5, 2009 9:42 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Oranges w/ Cheese: Don't counterfeiters usually make small bills?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Sidecutter
January 6, 2009 4:22 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@domesticdork: Nope. The $100 bill is actually the most counterfeited bill. But it depends on your goals. If you want to escape notice, you'd never print anything over a $10, because $20s and up are commonly checked by retail workers. If you're trying to get rich illicitly by turning the bills into real money though, you go big.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
FLEB
January 5, 2009 9:55 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@domesticdork: If you're going to risk it, go big.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Skrpune
January 5, 2009 5:09 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Oranges w/ Cheese: most I ever found was $15 when out walking the dog. Came one day after I gave some money at the supermarket to a food charity, so I figured it was karma saying \"thanks!\" = )

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
astrochimp
January 5, 2009 4:56 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

When I was a kid, I realized that the ground at the bottom of slides in the park was basically a gold mine, due to poorly designed pants pockets.

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
Rain
January 6, 2009 4:46 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@astrochimp:

When I worked at a water park, we would scan the bottom of the slides at the end of the day. If someone decided there was enough money in there to compensate for being soaking wet, they'd jump in. Usually got at least $5 out of it. Canada does have $1 and $2 coins after all.

We'd also find jewelry, hair accessories, retainers, keys, sunglasses, prescription glasses, and so on. Not so fun for us, but people appreciated it.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Hooray4Zoidberg
January 5, 2009 4:58 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I used to scoff at change, but this year I decided to turn my change into amazon.com gift card credits through Coinstar(which is fee free if you convert it to a gift card). I bought almost all my Christmas gifts with the money I got from my change from throughout the year. Now I do pick up change whenever I see it.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
MichaelLC
January 5, 2009 5:59 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Hooray4Zoidberg: I use CoinStar too. I usually save up until I get a quart-bag or so's worth, then trade it in and buy something.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Brain.wav
January 5, 2009 6:08 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Unless you're doing the giftcard thing, Coinstar is a ripoff. There still are banks that do free counting, even for non-members.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
YamiNoSenshi
January 5, 2009 6:12 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Brain.wav:
Commerce will do it for free. And if you don't mind waiting and want a nice pay-off, get one of those office water cooler bottles and try and fill that up.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Brain.wav
January 6, 2009 1:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@YamiNoSenshi: That's who I typically use. I don't wait for a giant thing to fill up though.. I've got a couple of banks that I let fill then take 'em in. Usually nets me ~$100-$200, depending on the number of pennies.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Ninja007
January 5, 2009 5:01 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

If you found 1 nickel a day, it would take you over 50 years to collect a thousand bucks. I'm calling shenanigans.

Reply
5 replies
\"user-pic\"
IH8M_SteveDave
January 5, 2009 5:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Ninja007: Shenanigans, we have a call of shenanigans!

Reply
\"user-pic\"
kthxbai
January 5, 2009 7:42 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@IH8M_SteveDave: IM GOING TO PISTOL WHIP THE NEXT GUY THAT SAYS SHENANIGANS //// FARVA whats that place you like to go all the time? (OOO shenanigans!?)

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Kevin Carlyle
January 5, 2009 5:08 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Ninja007:
$2.70 average per day to make $1000 in a year. With four people that's 68 cents each per day. Not impossible but I would say the amount these people found is an outlier.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Ninja007
January 5, 2009 5:12 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Kevin Carlyle: $2.70 is a lot of money to be finding day in and day out. The amount of time it would take to do this you could probably make 5-6 times that working a minimum wage job.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
hewhoroams
January 5, 2009 5:05 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Ninja007:
I'm not sure what would limit them to a nickel, or to only 1 piece of change per day.
But yes if for some reason they found a nickel, and then went home, that would take a long time.
That would be the equivalent of me sending one email each day and leaving, and the complaining that it took 500 weeks to get a project done.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
iambetter
January 5, 2009 5:03 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

\"I'm calling shenanigans.\" i lol'd

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
Skipweasel
January 5, 2009 5:06 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Mum used to say \"See a penny, pick it up and all day long you'll have a penny more than you would have had.\"

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
ADismalScience
January 5, 2009 5:06 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Go to a lazy river at any water park. I used to go through these wearing goggles and scooping up change when I was a kid - occassionally even a fluttering bill.

Reply
5 replies
\"user-pic\"
The Cynical Librarian
January 5, 2009 11:46 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ADismalScience: I kind of avoid sticking my head underwater for any extended length of time at the water park. Urine content frightens me.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Murph1908
January 5, 2009 9:15 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ADismalScience:
I worked at a water park in high-school/college. At the end of the day, it was often a race to check the filter screens. That's where the bills end up. There'd be 1 or 2 bills of varying denominations each day.

Once I found a waterproof tube, designed to keep your valuables around your neck while you swam, in one of the filters. Inside was $150 and a watch. Turned it in to the park office. Three days later, it remained unclaimed, and I had myself a nice windfall.

At that park I also worked the walk-through haunted house. That was a great place for lost swag. We kept a collection in the back room of all the sunglasses lost and unclaimed over the summer. We'd throw out close to 100 pair a year (after keeping the good ones).

Reply
\"user-pic\"
ryaninc
January 5, 2009 6:29 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ADismalScience: Amen. This is an awesome tactic, and it's the sole reason I bring goggles into the lazy river. :-) The wave pool is another awesome place to find dropped change. My brother found a 20 lazily floating around at the bottom of the wave pool once.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
slopirate
January 5, 2009 8:01 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ryaninc: I also found a 20 in a wave pool. That was a good day.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
moore850
January 5, 2009 5:08 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found a fiver once, that was awesome.

However, I hope one day to make so much money that in the time it takes to stoop and pick up a quarter, I make more than a quarter.

Reply
4 replies
\"user-pic\"
C.S.M. Technophile
January 5, 2009 5:20 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@moore850: I also assumed that you are quick on your feet and it only takes a second (literally) for you to stoop and pick up a quarter.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
IH8M_SteveDave
January 5, 2009 5:39 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@C.S.M. Technophile: Well, given how slow Bill walks here, and the time it takes him to get up, I think we can assume it would take him 3 seconds to pick up a quarter.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
C.S.M. Technophile
January 5, 2009 8:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@IH8M_SteveDave: You're completely right. I was never able to watch those entirely through, my eyes start bleeding about 10 seconds in.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
C.S.M. Technophile
January 5, 2009 5:17 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@moore850: Based on the assumption of 50 working weeks in a year and an 8 hour work day, just aim to make at or above $180 million per year after taxes.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Ninja007
January 5, 2009 5:09 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@moore850: Yeah like Bill gates, he can find a $100 bill and make more money in the time to pick it up.

Reply
","","","","
\"user-pic\"
calquist
January 5, 2009 5:14 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

There is a line between picking up change that you see and hunting it down by taking \"long walks\" like the Humphreys.

Reply
7 replies
\"user-pic\"
quizmasterchris
January 5, 2009 7:36 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@calquist: \"Yeah, what a-holes these people are!\"

Seriously, we're going to criticize people for this?!

Reply
\"user-pic\"
calquist
January 6, 2009 7:30 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@quizmasterchris: I'm not angry at them. I'm just saying it seems there fun little hobby is more of an obsession than anything.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
domesticdork
January 5, 2009 9:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@quizmasterchris: I don't think it was criticism of people who do it so much as criticism of implying that you can just stumble upon a grand in loose change.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
quizmasterchris
January 6, 2009 3:35 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@domesticdork: I'd be willing to bet that I've found and picked up $1K in my life. I always grab even a penny. Well worth it.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Outrun1986
January 5, 2009 5:55 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@calquist: I don't see a problem with this, they are exercising and making money while doing it, its a win win.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
floraposte
January 5, 2009 5:22 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@calquist: Though if the worst outcome they get is merely to get off the couch for an hour of walking, that's still well worth doing.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
ElizabethD
January 6, 2009 1:24 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@floraposte:
So true.

We live about a hundred yards from a long peninsular beach, and there are a couple of guys who patrol it after hours with metal detectors. I figure they must be finding *something* because they keep coming back.

Parking lots are great change-finding places, especially in early morning or late afternoon when the slanting sunlight picks out anything metallic on the asphalt. (I find all kinds of loose change when walking the dog...)

Reply
\"user-pic\"
calquist
January 5, 2009 5:30 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@floraposte: True, and it really is just a seasonal sport. Too much snow covering the ground during the winter.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
backbroken
January 5, 2009 5:16 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found a whole bunch of change at the local 7-11 (some paper money too!) It was sitting in a box right next to the register...hard to believe I was the first one to spot it! I think people were distracted by the picture of the cute kid right next to the box.

Reply
3 replies
","
\"user-pic\"
HogwartsAlum
January 5, 2009 5:16 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I always pick up change, but the most I've ever found is a dime. *sigh*

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
calquist
January 5, 2009 5:20 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

The ChangePot blog is rather dull. And it isn't from the $1,000 family. This one has only earned $45.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
HRHKingFridayXX
January 5, 2009 5:20 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

They should've ended the piece with \"....and then I found 5 dollars\"

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
skc15
January 5, 2009 5:21 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I always pick up change, and stash it away in one of those gigantic beer steins you find in Munich. My friends all laugh at me and think I'm nuts. My wife thought I was nuts until I cashed in the beer stein and took her out to dinner.

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
Feminist Whore
January 6, 2009 2:21 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@skc15: Doesn't the money you pay to fly to Munich make it pointles.... oh wait, I see...

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
Nighthawke
January 5, 2009 5:30 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Some folks keep their eyes to the sky (not to mention a few stuck-up noses), I kept my eyes to the ground, picking up the change they left behind.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
pb5000
January 5, 2009 5:31 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I had a waitress once tell me she took her kids to disney by saving the change she would get as tips. She said it took a few years but was already saving again for the next trip.

I thought that was pretty cool.

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
snowburnt
January 5, 2009 7:15 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@pb5000: I buy my meals during the day with cash instead of card and save the change. In a year I saved over $200 in change. I'm not a big fan of those \"keep the change\" programs because it seems like there are more effective ways of saving your own money, but stuff like that really adds up.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
couldberunning
January 5, 2009 5:32 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found over 2000 dollars once, but it was in a purse that someone lost. Took awhile to track down the owner cause it was a poor german immigrant that just came to the states. Turned out that money was there savings. I felt pretty good about returning it.

Reply
4 replies
\"user-pic\"
spidra
January 5, 2009 6:56 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@couldberunning: Good for you! So many people don't have this level of morals anymore so you're to be commended.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Garbanzo
January 5, 2009 8:39 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@spidra: When I was 8, a kid in my class was called to the office to get his wallet, which he had lost in front of the school. At supper that night my dad mentioned that he had found a kid's wallet on his way to the bus and turned it in. The incident made a huge impression on me.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
varro
January 6, 2009 1:00 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Garbanzo: Someone lost a wallet after he left it in a shopping cart at Fred Meyer....I saw it in the cart corral, took the wallet home, looked up the number from the person's ID, and had him pick up the wallet.

Definitely good karma there.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
LorenzoDesomma
January 5, 2009 10:47 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Garbanzo: floraposte. What about *rolled* bills? when my bro was little he found two tightly-rolled hundreds on the ground at a county fair. In hindsight it's pretty obvious what that was. I think mom and dad had the good sense to spend that....

Reply
\"user-pic\"
floraposte
January 5, 2009 5:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@couldberunning: In general, if it's folding money I don't feel like it's mine for the keeping anyway; I feel obliged to put up a note or let the store know or whatever. But major good-for-you for keeping your integrity in the face of such a large sum--if I'd lost $2000, I'd be screwed, and it sounds like the rightful owner was in considerably more straitened circumstances than I am.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
couldberunning
January 5, 2009 7:00 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@floraposte:


It came across my mind to keep it.. but i am glad i didnt. About a month later i lost my wallet at a concert with 4 sets of tickets to different concerts in it and about 200 dollars or so... somebody turned it in without taking a dime. made me a believer in what goes around comes around.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
wesrubix
January 5, 2009 5:34 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I pick up every cent I see, unless it is near or in dogdoo. That's tough.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
kaptainkk
January 5, 2009 8:56 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@wesrubix: Heck I will pick it up even if it's near the poo!

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
IH8M_SteveDave
January 5, 2009 5:35 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

When I started walking after the Ex dumped me to lose some weight, I found a $20, a $5, AND a gold chain. This is in addition to the myriad of other junk I have found. But yeah, I will pick up change whenever I find it, and add it to my jar/bottle.

Reply
4 replies
\"user-pic\"
backbroken
January 5, 2009 8:50 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@IH8M_SteveDave: Hey! You're Jersey-shore rich!


Too bad you didn't find a bottle of Brut.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
IH8M_SteveDave
January 5, 2009 9:28 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@backbroken: Pshhhh, Brüt. It's Drakkar Noir or nuthin baby!

Reply
\"user-pic\"
calquist
January 5, 2009 5:38 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@IH8M_SteveDave: You could turn that chain into change using cash4gold.com!

Reply
\"user-pic\"
IH8M_SteveDave
January 5, 2009 5:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@calquist: Trust me, I thought about it. With quality ads like theirs, and the free refiners return pack they send you, how could I go wrong! I mean, I had no idea my gold was worth so much money!

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
alexburrito
January 5, 2009 5:36 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Forget the ground. We just collected about $85 from my husband's desk!

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Segador
January 5, 2009 5:36 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

How long did it take her to collect the $1k? If it was a few months, fine. But if it's several years... meh.

Reply
","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
RonnieDobbs4President
January 5, 2009 5:48 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found a folded $100 bill at a football game once. I picked it up and opened it I realized I had been duped into picking up a religious tract.


Boo-hiss!

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
mewyn dyner
January 5, 2009 6:04 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RonnieDobbs4President:

Those fake bills make me think of Moe in an episode of The Simpsons. He's in a parking lot standing by his car, telling everyone passing by that he's not leaving. Carl drives by, asks him what he is doing, he replies \"You know that moment when you get someone's hopes up and kill it? I feed on that.\"

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
theutopian
January 5, 2009 5:53 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I once found something like $300 at the beach once, with no one around that it could belong to.

I enjoyed spending that found money greatly.

I always pick up found change. Goes in the trip jug.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
AppleAlex
January 5, 2009 5:53 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

my grandmother once found $20 in a flower pot in Santa cruz, CA

Reply
","","","","
\"user-pic\"
Outrun1986
January 5, 2009 6:00 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I pick up found change too. One ironic thing I found when I was going to college is that there was change EVERYWHERE. There was always at least 5-10 pennies on one lunch table at least once a day. No one seemed to be picking it up either as it just sat there, so of course I picked it up. Some days there was pennies everywhere. It was probably like getting a nice bonus for the cafeteria workers at the times I wasn't around to clean up the change. Don't forget the vending machines too, people would always leave change in those, there would be at least 10 cents every time I stuck my hand in there at college. And yet every college student complained of either being in debt, being poor or not having enough money!

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
Confuzius
January 5, 2009 6:11 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Some friends and I found $200 in at the doorstep of a shady pool joint, we casually grabbed it then made our was to a less shady pool joint.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
fuzzymuffins
January 5, 2009 6:16 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

do they raid the 'give a penny / take a penny' dishes at their local mini-marts?

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Curves
January 5, 2009 6:19 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found $26 on the floor at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert once. I pick up change, but I am superstitious and wont pick up a penny unless its \"heads\" up. I will, however, stop and flip it over \"heads\" up so that the next person who comes along CAN pick it up with no ill effects.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
Nytmare
January 5, 2009 6:36 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Curves: Well then, a fun game might be to randomly leave two-tailed pennies lying around.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Curves
January 5, 2009 7:06 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@nytmare: Superstition be damned, I would take the 2 tailed pennies with me.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Burgandy
January 5, 2009 6:20 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

When I was a kid I found about $80 rolled up on the floor of a dinner. It wasn't until I started waiting tables that I clued in that those were tips. I felt like crap once it dawned on me. :(

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Laffy Daffy
January 5, 2009 6:20 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

A few weeks before Christmas I saw penny on the ground while walking and just let it lie. ON the next block I saw a penny and a dime, and picked up both. Then on the next block I saw a $10 bill on the ground in front of a bus bench. $10.11 is my all-time high!!!

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 5, 2009 6:22 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found a $20 bill in a cactus when I was a kid. After enduring the pain I was 20 bucks richer and I even have a few battle scars to remind me of the event.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
veedubu
January 5, 2009 6:26 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found 10 bucks behind my office chair in my cubicle, I figured it was a co-workers but didn't ask anyone, I just spent it all on a crappy cafeteria lunch...I think I got sick from it

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
Tim Rogers
January 5, 2009 6:29 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I've had some good luck in my short life. I found £20 in the front outside my house and I found £4 on the floor at school - what a find!

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
CaffiendCA
January 5, 2009 6:32 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found a $20 on the ground in a parking lot. I kinda felt bad picking it up, but it made up for the $20 I lost as an 8 year old.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
Nytmare
January 5, 2009 6:41 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Back when I walked to elementary school I would find change on the ground along the sidewalk almost every day. I think it must have been other kids' lunch money falling out of their pockets.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
trixare4kids
January 5, 2009 6:42 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

We have two vending machines at work in the kitchen. I check the coin-return slots just about every time I go in there (which is a lot because I drink a lot of coffee). I usually get some change at least once a day, sometimes 2-3 times a day.

Last year I decided to keep a tally of how much I was collecting.

My tally for for 2008: $85.30

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
chauncy that billups
January 5, 2009 6:45 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found a $20 once on an arcade machine. But I was gullible then, and my friend convinced me to give him 10 of it.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Stephanie Nolin
January 5, 2009 6:46 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I saw the tip of a bill peaking out of a pile of snow.
I pulled it out and lo and behold it was $20.00.
It was really a great surprise!
It was worth bending down and picking up, absolutely.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
chauncy that billups
January 5, 2009 6:47 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

My mom found $800 on a cruise ship once. It was under the little rubber mat inside the room safe. She turned it in, but no one claimed it in 4 weeks (their standard waiting period) so she got to keep it.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
Oddfool
January 5, 2009 7:00 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I had found a $20 on the floor once while working at Wal-mart. I didn't have time to take to the courtesy desk, so I palmed it in my hand while helping customers. I noticed a customer looking for something a few moments later, and I asked him what he was looking for. He admitted he had misplaced or dropped a $20 (he specified the bill amount), and I knew I found the owner. He was grateful that I was able to return it to him.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
drjayphd
January 5, 2009 7:07 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Once, while waiting in line at Goodwill, I spotted about $40 near the register. I'd seen it fall out of the pocket of whoever was in front of me, but she left before I could give it to her. So I handed the money to the cashier, who said that if no one claimed it in a week, it was mine.


A few days later, I called 'em to see what happened. Turns out that I shouldn't have turned it in... while the woman came back for the money, if she didn't, the store would've considered it a donation, so the cashier told me that in the future, I should just pocket the money. Hmph.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
JulesNoctambule
January 5, 2009 7:13 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

A friend of mine tried on a dress at a thrift store one afternoon and found $300 in the pocket. Only that morning she'd been wondering how she'd be able to pay rent and buy groceries that month, and there was the answer!

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
JulesNoctambule
January 5, 2009 7:16 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@JulesNoctambule: Oh, and another one: A few weeks ago, my husband and I found $60 in the change slot of a self-checkout machine at Kroger. I took it to the front desk and since the guy who'd used it had a store card, they were able to contact him and let him know he'd left the money.

On the way out of the store, we found $10 in the parking lot! Instant reward for us.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
snowburnt
January 5, 2009 7:14 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

a friend of mine kept their tip money in a styrofoam cup. After a long, bad, day they made it much worse by leaving it on the roof of their car before driving away.


On the plus side, some change hunter just made a couple hundred dollars.

Reply
","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
stanner
January 5, 2009 7:36 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

This one time at band camp the counselor asked me pick up a quarter. Oh wait, wrong thread.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
BlondeGrlz
January 5, 2009 7:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I almost hate to share my tip, in case anyone lives near me, but I like y'all enough. I guess. The best place to find change/money is on the floor of the movie theater after a movie. Stay until everyone else leaves and then walk all the rows. Those seats are practically designed to empty your pockets and everyone's in such a hurry to get out without picking up their trash they never check the floor around them. I once found a $20, a $5 and a few dollars in change at one movie. If you find something really large - or a whole wallet - please turn it in, but the rest of it is fair game. You're welcome.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
InsertBullets
January 5, 2009 7:42 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Most that I have ever found was 20 bucks at the bottom of the wave pool at a wet'n'wild. But have thats was alot of money for a kid in the 6th grade.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
RandomHookup
January 5, 2009 7:47 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I actually have kept track of this kind of stuff for the last couple of years. In a good year, I'm finding about $300. I was doing the walking for exercise, the money was a bonus. Early morning is much better for bills right along the curb (I live in a dense suburban area with colleges and plenty of multifamily houses). I know I've found $30 at once.


I won't do as well now as I drive to work rather than take the subway. People always drop stuff in the subway, including monthly passes. Also check out the candy boxes right underneath the registers (usually in drug stores). Lots of quarters and sometimes a bill or gift card.


Don't forget to check out the bill slots at the grocery self-service. I found $100 once (but I turned that in--honest).

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
lilyblaze
January 5, 2009 8:09 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found $10 on the concrete on the way to the Shedd Aquarium this summer. I pocketed it and couldn't help but wonder if other people witnessed it and thought I was an asshole. But it was enough to cover lunch there.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Trick
January 5, 2009 8:14 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I always pick up change I find on the ground. It will go into the change bin... I never spend any change I get either. Every so often I'll empty it out. I just did this in November and walked away with $256. The time before was April, 2007 with over $320.

And no I don't care about the interest I may have lost by putting it in the bank. So don't go there.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 5, 2009 8:15 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Back in the day when I used to work in a mall, my fellow employees and I would superglue some coins to the ground and watch people attempt to pick them up.

You take whatever entertainment you can get when you've lowered yourself to retail work.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
adb1158
January 5, 2009 8:16 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

While I don't go hunting for change, I do pick it up when I see it. Then I state \"a penny closer to my first million\". I save all my change and end up with a hundred bucks or so...sometimes I donate it to Relay for Life, sometimes take the family to dinner, movie or whatever.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 5, 2009 8:20 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Years ago I found a $20 that blew into my parents' backyard (they live next to a gas station with a car wash). I also opened a library book once and caught a $20 bill. Maybe someone was using it as a pricey bookmark?

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
thrid001
January 5, 2009 8:23 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Let's get realistic, how much time did these people spend collecting the money, rolling it or counting it, going to the bank to turn it in etc etc. If you spend 5 seconds of time on one penny (bend over, pick it up, put it in your pocket, roll it) You could make more at a minimum wage job.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Brunette Bookworm
January 5, 2009 8:24 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

There's an older man at our church who does this. He takes a walk to McD's to get a senior coffee. His goal is to at least find enough change to pay for the coffee, but he usually finds more.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
iblamehistory
January 5, 2009 8:25 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I almost never pass anything up, even pennies. The best find was $100 on the floor of a bakery. Had it been $10 or something, I'd have kept it, but I gave it to the manager who waited a day for someone to claim it... nothing happened, so it was mine in the end.

I found $20 outside a movie theater, $10 at an outdoor concert festival, and $5 at a pet store not too long ago. Two instances of $1 within a week or so on the same block in Chicago, and countless coins.

My husband used to be very annoyed that I look down when I walk, but I do it because I have a bad ankle, and stepping on even a twig the wrong way can end up in a nasty sprain. But now as I look down, I'm always searching, and after that $100 he doesn't seem to be too bothered by it anymore ;)

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Cyclokitty
January 5, 2009 8:28 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I've found plenty of money on walks. Quite a few $20 bills, a couple of $50s, lots of $5s and a bunch of $10s, and even a $50 US bill. The most I ever found was $100 rolled up tightly (I don't want to know what it was meant for).

I ignore change since I'm out for the big loot!

But I do put all of my change into a jar at the end of the day and I'm always surprised by how much I've saved in change over a year. I typically end up rolling a few hundred dollars in change each year.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 5, 2009 8:35 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I have been a financial advisor for 25 years. I caution people that the amount they practice daily to be aware of - is what they develop proficiency at (and become focused towards). Did you ever know someone who is great at saving 15 cents on a can of peas, but has no sense of how to make money. I suggest spending your energy on looking for opportunities of at least $50 or $100. (But, pickup every $5 bill you come upon for sure!)

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 5, 2009 8:37 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

The best and most lucrative place that my kids have found is at the dirve thru windows at fast food places. They always stick their heads out the window when I go to pay. You would be surprised how much money is down there. Starbucks seems to be the best.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
CyGuy
January 5, 2009 8:45 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Just wondering, but did the interviewer ask them just how much they spend on Purell? If a single application of Purell costs about two cents, then they would be better off leaving the single pennies on the ground.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
ailema
January 5, 2009 8:50 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

When I worked in fastfood I would go collect the change under the drive through window after my shift was done. It almost always covered by bus fare for the day.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
mlb1886
January 5, 2009 8:53 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found $20 twice: Once on the lawn in front of my college dorm (long ago, I really needed it!) and once recently while running.

Once my sister found $85 on the floor of a convenience store. We were psyched...until we found out our mom had dropped it. Mom was happy, though.

I find change all the time while running. I usually won't stop a run to pick it up unless it's a quarter (or more). I decided, though, that I'd keep everything I find in 2009 in jar, just to see how much I can collect. But so far this year I've found nothing.

Oh, and about finding $$ in clothes at Goodwill. About 3 years ago I donated a bunch of clothes...and about a week later found out my husband and left a very $$$ watch in the pocket of one of the sport jackets. If you know anything about it, there's a reward waiting!

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
DePaulBlueDemon
January 5, 2009 9:00 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

This requires a bottle of Purell? (Where are the looking?!)

But yeah, I pick up any money I find. I've probably found around $100 in BILLS in the last 15 years.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
missdona
January 5, 2009 9:00 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

$10 on the top of an escalator at my job. I was all \"ha-ha! Lunch!\"

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
nevets68
January 5, 2009 9:08 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Best find ever was on the path train coming back from NYC.
Had a real crappy date @ a club.
Anyways, I look down and there's a roll of money (with a rubber band around it).

I open it up and it was a few $1's and then the mother load...$200 in various denominations. :D

As of late, I find change in supermaket parking lot's,etc.
I save it and then bring it to Commerce Bank.

That goes for my : I want to buy a guitar pedal (I don't play the guitar but I use the pedals for my circuit bent toys) or I use the few dollars to buy parts (resistors,potentiometers,etc).

Hey, it adds up!

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Triborough
January 5, 2009 9:14 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I will pick up change, but I don't really keep track of it since it just goes in the pocket with the rest.

I will also pick up dropped MetroCards. I have probably had better luck with MetroCards though. A couple weeks ago I found one on the ground on Livingston Street with $11 on it.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
forgottenpassword
January 5, 2009 9:16 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I cant imagine how long it took them to find over $1,000 in coins.


Even when I was TRYING to find as many modern coins possible(in my metal detecting hobby) I could only manage to find a little over $100 in coins during one year's time.


But there are old retired guys out there who can find that much in a month or so.


And yes.... I will pick up any coin from the street. Over the years I have found several pieces of jewelry (Gold diamond ring, siver bracelete etc. etc.), by looking at the ground as I walk.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
lowercase
January 5, 2009 9:18 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I know the fast foot playground ball-pit is going the way of the dinosaur, but back in the day that was a lock for quarters. Stand in the middle, jump up and down a few times, then reach in and among the discarded french fries was always a handful of change.


Filthy, filthy, glorious change.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
jonny0204
January 5, 2009 9:34 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

i found 230 pounds once at my swimming baths underneath one of the changing areas, i work there btw, its not something i casually do everytime i go lol.

It was in an envolope, so i handed it in to reception, then the guy came back for it, and gave me 20 quid. Seemed like it was drug money, but u never know for sure.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
corinthos
January 5, 2009 9:51 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

WHenever I was in like 4th grade I used to go to the car wash and pick up change. Usually get like 2 dollars everytime, enough to get candy. Back then they didn't have all the automated ones at every gas station that take credit either. I think only about 3 of the old fashioned ones in my city are left and if I went to those parts of town I'd probably end up losing money from being robbed.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
WBrink
January 5, 2009 9:56 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

This is why I use credit cards as a cash management tool. I never lose cash; the most I can potentially lose is a $20. My wallet is worth more than that =(

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
kwsventures
January 5, 2009 10:03 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

In the past 4 years, I have been picking up any money I find on the ground. How much? $187.43 total. The best story was finding $10.00 in a CVS store on the ground in front of the counter. I was in line and saw the $10 bill laying there. But 4 people were ahead of me in line. I watched it as nobody either saw it or bothered to bend over and take it. When my turn came, I picked up the 10 bucks. I don't know how long the bill had been laying there.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 5, 2009 10:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found a Gameboy advance & a game in it walking to a friends house a few years back. just laying next to the sidewalk. at the time at the store it would been worth over $100.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 5, 2009 11:04 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

When I go to bars, I throw some change in a urinal. Then my friends and I up the ante through the night and see how long and how much change it takes. We have never had more than $1.75 and 11pm before we have a taker.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
Lin. Jose
January 6, 2009 12:27 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

I'd probably be able to find more if I didn't grow up in a superstitious household - I won't pick up a penny if it's face down. :(

Reply
","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
gc3160thtuk
January 6, 2009 2:49 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

When I was a manger at Burger King there was a local cop who would come through our drive-thru at night and pick up the dropped change outside the window in his patrol car. We mentioned it to a few other cops and they put a stop to it because it was sort-of embarrassing for the dept. to have him doing this on duty. However, after a couple real late nights at the store we found out he would wait until we left and then do it. One night he thought we were gone and he was walking around out there picking up change and stood up and scared the bejeesus out of a couple of my employees. After that happened we put a permanent stop on him doing that again. I did hear from some of his c0-workers though that he had bought a convertible with the change he went around picking up all around town so at least that is pretty impressive.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
MsAnthropy
January 6, 2009 3:20 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

Back when I was a student I used to kill time at the end of boozy nights at the student union while I waited for my friends to finish their goodnight fumbles with random people (hey, my boyfriend was hundreds of miles away but I was a good girl!) by hanging out near to the bar as the place cleared out and picking up cash that had been dropped on the floor by people even more drunk and incoherent than myself. There was always lots and lots and lots of it - usually more than enough to recoup the night's spending AND pay for the taxi home. It was great!

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
Jesse in Japan
January 6, 2009 1:42 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Metal detecting in parks or popular beaches gives even better results.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 6, 2009 3:30 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I cycled over a £20 note a few weeks back. My brakes suck though, and by the time I'd circled back to where I saw it, it was gone... :(

That's worth $30 in funny money, fyi.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
pauljunk
January 6, 2009 4:26 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I found a $20 bill two months ago about 20 feet away from a bum who was begging for change. I chuckled to myself as I put tht bill into my back pocket as I was walking by him.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
Sarah of Get Cooking
January 6, 2009 10:04 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

One time when I really needed 8 cents, I looked all over and couldn't find even ONE penny. Since that day, I've resolved to leave any change on the ground since someone else might really need it more than I do. I don't think there's anything wrong with picking it up though, I just figured that if I don't need it, I should leave it where it is.

A $20 on the sidewalk is a different matter...

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 19, 2009 9:16 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Way back when, as a child, I found a $20 in an \"open sewer\". This was several years before sewage went underground! I picked it out of the smelly water and skipped home with it. Mom rinsed it in the sink. Dad put it in the cupbord above the stove to dry. I never saw it again...LOL I've picked up lots of change and a few bills since, but never a $20.

My best tip is to look in the washing machine and clothes dryer. The rule in my house is that I get to keep anything I find in the laundry. This does not seem to make anyone ever want to check their pockets even though I make sure gloat about my finds. This tatic would probably work well in a laundromat!

Reply
");