New York Karma.

Today was a long day. While the day is still not over by any means, it feels like an eternity has passed in the last 12 hours. First we started the day with a "marathon" fundraiser walk/run/whatever-you-like-we-got-your-pledge-money activity. No change found there. Then we traipsed over to the bank. No love there either. School gave us a loving 17 cents while we played a quick game of basketball (mental note: Hubby needs to perfect his jump shot lol). After that we headed over to do some window/bargain shopping at a liquidating asian food market. Found eleven cents there. Hubby found $0.69 outside as he waited for me to bring the car to the front.

As we drove back to the house, we realized we were out of salad and major groceries.
We then decided to go do the major food shopping- a detour from our current plan. Before we headed into the supermarket, we decided to have a late lunch at Burger King. Once we were ready to go. I spotted a wallet on the floor. I could tell it was bloated with cards and cash. Hubby picked up the wallet and looked at the license. He'd just seen the wallet owner while he waited for our meal. He spotted the owner's wife (she was on the line with him) and returned the wallet intact. The woman was so shocked that hubby returned the wallet without any cash missing. I felt a little insulted but I guess I'd do the same thing if my wallet was missing. Turns out the husband went over to report the wallet missing and was searching the parking lot frantically as his family ate inside. "It's all about karma", hubby said as we walked out of the restaurant, "Things will get better now, You'll see."

Sure enough, as we pulled up our truck into the sunoco gas station, a dollar was pinned underneath our right back tire. Once hubby was done pumping gas, he noticed some silver in the same general direction. Two quarters and four pennies later, we made our way home happy to have pierced the 347 dollar mark.

(Change inventory today: One Dollar Bill, Two Quarters (one bicentennial 1776-1976), Six dimes, Three nickels, and Fifteen pennies.

Total found today : $2.40
Total Since Blog Inception: $347.90

Freaky Friday...

Hopefully this friday finds our readers well and psyched for the weekend! I discovered the joy of coffee and as a result, I've accomplished EVERYTHING I needed done today before 5pm. GO ME!! Anywhoo.. the old changepot is no more. Instead, we have upgraded to a huge animal cracker jar. The find coinage looks minimal in there but rest assured this is one heavy lil' pot!

Commingling of 'pots-

Today Sandy Cheeks reliquished the contents of her Changepot. Here are the contents as noted:

one five dollar bill (she traded her change in at the bank for a five spot. The girl believes in uniformity.)
three quarters
one dime
twelve pennies

and
one 5 centavo Brazilian coin.

The total : $5.97.

She deleted her changepot junior blog today. All is not lost. She is now blogging on here. My big girl has her own blogger account along with name and password. Lord knows I was never that clever at ten years of age.

Here is a picture of the old Changepot as it looked up until earlier today.

Without further ado... here is the new Jar:

It's still early. The fam and I are headed to the mall for a weekend treat. Catch ya later with a possible update!

**UPDATE**

An after dinner walk around campus yielded exactly $0.13 in change- a dime and three pennies of fresh found dough. Thanks kids!

Total found today : $6.10
Total Since Blog Inception: $345.50

Pot amplification.

This artist is so undervalued. I think he has an amazing voice despite his height and 'pimp style' Mrs. K loves herself some Maxwell y'all.


The day passed by quite fast. I've fudged the entire day away except for making square meals. Now that I think of it.. it's more like I've fudged the entire week. Gotta love lethargy! I am so hooked on this new game in Pogoland named Dice City Roller . It's not really new I think.. hubby says it's more like a spinoff of yahtzee.

October is going to be one insane time around here. I've hired a personal trainer to kick my butt at the gym. Mr. Trainer is coming on Sunday for my first consult. Yikes!!

As for the changehunt, here is the update for today:

I found zip- primarily because I didn't go out and about (unless you count picking up my kid at the bus stop less than a block away lol). Sandy found nothing as well. She is more concerned with the barrage of homework imposed upon her thus far. Kitty found nada either. Fortunately for us Hubby came through with a total of $1.13- four quarters, one dime, and three pennies. He jotted down the areas where he found it and everything (how considerate!). Here are the spots (as per the post it note) :

$.50 soda machine
$.25 at the bank waiting to make a withdrawal
$.36 at Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru
$.02 at work

Tomorrow looks like a busy day here at the Krabb home. Hubby's got the day off and grandma has volunteered to babysit the wee ones. Time for some autumn cleaning!

(As for the title.. the change is moving to a new home. Pics of the new changepot will be added tomorrow.)

Total found today : $1.13
Total Since Blog Inception: $339.40

Wacky Wednesday

Today ends the long streak of finding daily change. While I did go to several places today, I found nothing at all. I did see a round object that resembled a quarter but it was actually a piece of corrugated material.

I am happy because we picked our next trip destination for summer 07'. Starting October 1, each of us is putting away a set amount of money weekly in a family envelope for the trip. I am so excited!! We started this 'trip fund' four years ago and have had much success- especially when the kids would start asking for things. Now that they see exactly how much it's going to cost us, they don't ask for anything in excess. Yippee!!

Silver Half Dollars!!

In the past few days we have been finding incredible amounts of change- not to mention dollar bills. I guess the pre-autumn breeze has everyone a bit lethargic :)

Today I sent hubby to cash in a piggy bank full of coins (non changepot funds, of course). He set off with the bag of change and returned a few hours later with a huge grin from ear to ear.

"What did you do?" I asked him.
He opened his hand and inside were the following coins pictured below. I was so shocked, I had to take pictures of it. While hubby was out doing PT in joggers park, he found a very interesting spot on the side of the road. Not only did he find pennies, He found seven half dollars!! Not just any half dollar either. We're talking the liberty '43 variety and four 52' Franklins! Being a junior numismatist, I immediately looked them up and yes.. they are worth a few bucks! Will I sell them? NOPE. They are changepot finds. I won't put them directly into the change jar though. I am going to look for some plastic containers to put them in JUST IN CASE.

We've got two new countries to add to the non-U.S. Currency Jar- Barbados and Mexico. I think by the time we visit Canada, I'll have enough to buy myself somethin' purty courtesy of the tourists that keep dropping loons all over the place heheh.

Sandy found three pennies on her way home from school. She's a proud change hunter. I think i'll make her a button with something cute on there.


















Since the wheat penny is badly beaten, I won't separate it for safe keeping.

Total found today : $3.54
Total Since Blog Inception: $338.27

Monday isn't so bad afterall :)

Today we found a total of $2.67 in the form of two dollar bills, one quarter, four dimes, and two pennies. Sandy found two dimes in school. Hubby found the rest of the change at the ole' 9-5. The real surprise was when we found two dollars in front of the house- right on the grass. Freeeeeaky but hey, the changepot thanks the kind soul that contributeth today!

Total found today : $2.67
Total Since Blog Inception: $334.73

Score!!!

Today the family ventured out for an all-day outdoor changehunt. Our five hour hunt yielded some incredible results!! On the ferry alone, Sandy found four crumpled up dollar bills near the snack section (way to go girl!). We found assorted change in the city but the real deal was back in Staten Island where a trip to the campus snack lounges yielded $4.25 in change. Here is an inventory of what we found:

Dollars: 4 (and half of a dollar bill tucked under a snack machine... useless unfortunately)
Quarters: 8
Dimes: 18
Nickels: 9
Pennies: 31

We also found two euro cents- one says Espana 2005 and the other says Portugal (no year, just odd lettering).

Total found today : $8.56
Total Since Blog Inception: $332.06

Oh.. and here's a pic of "Family Guy" for Sandy. It's her visual prize for helping out with the changepot finds today.


















(click it to see the whole thing)

End of summer days...

Quite a productive change hunting day indeed. I found an arsenal of change while going to the gym for a quick drill. Then the family headed out to two different malls where we uncovered many pennies and a few dimes. We yielded $1.54 in the form of two quarters, seven dimes, four nickels, and fourteen pennies.

I am proud that I didn't spend alot at the mall. We went into my favorite store which had a little toy I wanted to buy :

















but I actually said "No". I am learning! Yay!! Besides, I think i'll let the kids buy it and I'll play with it heheh. I think these Idogs are so cute.

(Edited 11-16-06: Bought the I-Dog for Sandy as a Christmas present. She'll be happy but i'll say this much.. she won't be the only one playing with it bwahahahahah!)

Total found today : $1.54
Total Since Blog Inception: $323.50

F-R-I-D-A-Y!!

Today my daughter spent the night at a friend's house for the first time. She was invited to a sleepover bithday party. I will be picking her up at 9am tomorrow. While doing some last minute shopping for the birthday girl, we found six pennies. One looks partially eaten (eww).
We plan on going indoor change hunting this weekend- let's see how that goes.

I'm trying to get back into the habit of daily posting so bear with me :)

Total found today : $0.06
Total Since Blog Inception: $321.96

Change Breakdown (Updated)

It's been awhile since we've counted the coinage. The next counting will officially take place on the anniversary of the changepot, October 9, 2006.

Change Breakdown (compared to June 22, 2006)


Updated total: $321.90 (up $50.57)


Here are the totals of cash in the ChangePot as of September 22,2006:

Bills: 6 (+11 bills)
Total value: $193.00 (+$15.00)

Hundreds: 1
Tens: 2
Fives:4 (+1)
Ones: 53 (+10)

Coins: 1626 (+649 new coins)
Total coin value: $128.90 (+$35.57)

Dollar Coins: 2
Quarters: 263 (+43)
Dimes: 430 (+78)
Nickels: 221 (+79)
Pennies: 710 (+407)

****************************************************************

Winds of change (pot)

Summer's almost gone. I woke up chilly and in need of my winter mink blanket. That means I've got to tear open some more boxes for the winter gear. Yay.

Today we found $0.06- a penny and a nickel. The day is still too lovely to stay in... be back lata!!

Update:
Hubby found a total of $1.01 while on campus during his night class... things are on the up and up here! :)

(Updated) Total found today : $1.07
Total Since Blog Inception: $321.90

Things I could get with your money.

One of my favorite stories mom used to tell me was one called "la cucarachita mandinga" (the tiny frugal cockroach). The basic plot of the tale was this little roach found a penny and dreamt about all the things she could buy with it. With each thing she thought she wanted, she thought of what could happen and would then decide against it. For example, a gumball would eventually lose flavor. A penny's worth of rice would fill her temporarily etc. A movie would only provide momentary entertainment. The roach still has that penny after all these years. My pockets have seen their shares of pennies.

Cute lil' story.

But since last year, I hold in my possession a jar of money found in the street. It's only been one year and my money jar is overflowing with dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and so many pennies I think the little roach would be proud of.

What can I do with this money? Can money grow moldy and stale? Should I get the money changed into tender and spend it on some thangs?

NOOOOOO. Instead, I sit here and contemplate what this changepot could give me. I'd have my choice of these pretty things. Like this one:


For Me, of course :)
at Circuit City this baby is $299.99 with free shipping online. 60gb Ipod video OR



for my kitchen.
Polaroid 7” Under-the-Cabinet LCD TV with DVD Player (FDM-0715)PCB FDM0715
• 7" LCD screen
• Under-the-cabinet design
• Built-in DVD player
• Widescreen (16:9)
• AM/FM radio
• Clock

::sigh:: the possibilities are endless.
*******************************************************************
What baubles could your own changepot yield you thus far? hmmm?
share! :)

eight days later

I've been so bad lately. I picked up my bad habit (shopping) again and so I've restricted my binges to a less frequent change finding area in New York. I am happy because my two change hunt experts, Sandy and Mr. Krabs, have made some if not all the following finds. Since I haven't been as meticulous as I used to be (documenting finds and locations etc), I will only post the ones I do remember offhand. The dynamic duo has unearthed exactly $1.17 in the form of two quarters, four dimes, three nickels, and twelve pennies. Sandy found the quarters, one dime, and one nickel in school- the rest was hubby. I miss those days when I'd go scurrying about. Fall, you're not getting here fast enough!


Total found today : $1.17
Total Since Blog Inception: $320.83

Zip.

No change found today at all. I did learn an important lesson about saving and spending through someone else's luck. A friend of mine bought the Xbox360 a few days ago (the very one I intended to purchase and had a last minute change of heart) without warranty. They finally plugged it up only to find that it was damaged and the store won't exchange it. There is a manufacturer's warranty but it will take them time and energy to take it to the place where it's serviced-at their expense- in order to have it repaired or exchanged.

A quiet day of remembrance

Not much to say today. I think I agree, for once, with what the Rude pundit has to say.

Today's finds were made by Sandy and Mr. K. Two quarters, one dime, and five pennies.

Total found today : $0.65
Total Since Blog Inception: $319.66

School Daze

Hooray for the first official weekend since the back-to-school craze began. While I haven't been going out much, I have managed to find change and so have my family members. I've decided that since my time is now quite limited being soccer/PTA/girl scout/work-at-home mom, I will update this blog only when I reach more than a dollar in change finds. Though I wish I could blog daily like I did prior to the move- until further notice, I'll only update with significant finds.

Like last night!!

We took the kids to two fairs yesterday. Believe it or not, while the smaller feast is nowhere near as popular as St Gennaro's feast , the finds there were extraordinary! Our grand total for the day, you ask? $5.85. Yes.. four dollar bills, four quarters, seven dimes, and fifteen pennies.

We found all four dollars at the smaller festival- tucked inside a used book I bought for ten cents. A poetry book no less. The dollars were wrapped by what looked like a receipt from a Woolworth's dated 1983 (vintage receipt included!). Guess people should check what they throw out (or sell at a yard sale!)

the rest of the coins were spotted all over the place. The $1.85 was a mixed colloboration between Sandy and my husband since I had to keep close watch on Kitty. She tends to wander off too far at times.

Total Cash found and redeemed today: $5.85
Total Since Blog Inception: $319.01

Accountability

$2.60- Total change found in four change coin purses that were unaccounted for during the past week. Everyone in my family found change but didn't hand it over daily as we were out during random trips to the store, etc.

Total Cash found and redeemed today: $2.60
Total Since Blog Inception: $313. 16