Monday, June 30, 2008

$0.43 - and a story

Today we found a total of $0.43 in the form of a quarter, a dime, a nickel, and three pennies. My oldest daughter pulled through in finding the quarter as we walked along the boardwalk- she spotted it in the sand and ran down to get it. From a distance it looked like a bottle cap but sure enough it was a New Hampshire 2000 semi-oxidized quarter! Eagle eye strikes again! I found the nickel while walking to the gym this morning- this nickel looks pretty banged up as well. The dime was found while waiting for the light to turn green at our exit on the SI expressway. It looks as though it was run over a few times. Two of the three pennies were found in a parking lot by Petsmart. The last penny was found while waiting in line at Modell's where hubby passed wind and giggled like a school kid to which the lady behind me replied to her young son: "::sigh:: It's ok Johnn, that's what guys do." I burst into laughter upon hearing her comment!

Total today: $0.43
Total thus far: $358.94

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Lucky seven (cents)




My daughter bought a shirt with the above statement on it. I thought it was kinda cute..?

Today we found a total of $0.07- all pennies- as we shopped for some mid-summer clothes at the new Steve and Barry's here on Staten Island. We're kinda liking that store for some reason- I guess the Old Navy craze is over :)

We spotted our next door neighbor stuffing giant plastic bags filled with recyclable cans into her pretty little lexus. She flagged us over and told us 'times are tough, gotta make money for gas somehow'. I was a little shocked because obviously she'll need more than 100 cans to make decent gas money. What gets me is she often ridicules us for picking up change- here she is picking up cans in the street during her free time. She's on the right track bless her heart!


Bill Roundup-

My daughter counted the bills in the Changepot and grouped them according to denomination. Here are the results:

Total # of bills: 64

100 dollar bill (1)
20 dollar bill (3)
10 dollar bill (3)
5 dollar bill (6)
1 dollar bill (51)

She is working on Project Foreignpot. I'm actually very excited about this finance assignment because she is going to learn some things about foreign coins. I'll get into detail about it in tomorrow's post.



Total today:$0.07
Total thus far: $358.51

Search & Win

Submit this article to ximmy.com!

Change Hunting...and a movie.

Today we found a total of $0.34- a quarter and nine pennies- while we did the shopping and a movie-thing with the whole crew. We saw the Disney movie Wall-e . We loved it! I haven't been to the movies in a long time (at least over a year) and I must say, I didn't mind paying the big bucks to take them. I'd do it again, as a matter of fact! The film was beautiful with a powerful message to deliver. I won't spoil it any further. I will say though- as I was watching the film, I couldn't help but compare Wall-e to Johnny Five (the lovable robot from the film Short Circuit). Here are some pics of them. Can you see the similarity?















Check out their movie posters- wow, I loved Short Circuit in the 80's. How about you?





























Total today: $0.34

Total thus far: $358.44



Search & Win

Friday, June 27, 2008

fruitless friday

Found Nothing. Ho hum. Then again, we didn't go out walking today.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

$0.08 day

Today we found a total of $0.08- a nickel and three pennies- as we celebrated a V.I.P's birthday. My daughter is excited because we gathered enough points from a Pepsi cap promotion to order this nifty little gadget. We still have caps left so maybe we'll get something else with the points and put an end to this bottlecap frenzy lol.










Total today: $0.08

Total thus far: $358.10

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Wednesday blues

Found nothing today despite walking after dinner and some light shopping ventures.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

$0.53 day

Today we found a total of $0.53 in the form of a quarter, a dime, a nickel, and thirteen pennies. Hubby came home with the quarter and seven cents from work. With the recent influx of new people, it seems as though he's finding alot of pennies in the parking lot right by a convenient little grass patch. Since the coins make little or no noise when they fall, people aren't noticing the decrease in pocket change :) My oldest found the dime, nickel, and four pennies while we walked around the mall today. The last two pennies were found while in Toys R Us as we redeemed a gift card my youngest received for her birthday. All in all, it was a profitable day at the changepot :)

For those of you who collect coke reward caps, tomorrow is double points day so be sure to save up your 12 pack codes to receive double points! We've got a nice little jar filled with caps from our daily walks. Right now we've got enough to redeem some nice goodies but since the prize will go to my youngest, i'll let her decide when we've reached a good amount of cap points. Their rewards program is valid until December 31 so we've got a few months to play around with thus far.

While on our walk today, we were reminiscing about the fact that our changepot is turning 3 this year- my daughters want to celebrate the changepot's birthday by creating a new logo both on this blog and on the change jar itself. Who am I to deny their excitement?

Per request, a shot of the Manhattan Ferry port taken by my youngest. She's got an eye for pictures I think :)













Total today: $0.53

Total for FY 08' : $358.02

Fast Food Blues


Today we found a total of 27 cents- twenty two pennies and one nickel- in two precise locations : White Castle drive thru and Dunkin Donuts. The nickel was found early in the morning as hubby grabbed his morning Java on the way to work. The twenty two pennies were found scattered all around the White Castle parking lot and drive-thru during our late night dinner run. I am not at all happy with WC because my youngest didn't digest the food properly (projectile rejections all night long). I guess there is credibility in the words 'Murder Burger' and/or 'Belly Bombs'.

Today the family was interviewed for Marketplace- a program aired on NPR about our change-seeking habits. We had a great time and wanted to thank reporter Sally Herships for coming over and spending some time with us. Our daughters were very happy and can't wait to hear the segment on the air! I'll post the link when it is available online.


Total today: $0.27
Total thus far: $357.49

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Penny Lane

Today we found one penny in the checkout lane of the supermarket. We didn't get a chance to walk around much due to the weather but hopefully tomorrow will bring more change. I've finished devising my daughter's first changepot-related finance assignment (will post it on here once she finishes tallying up the results). I'm pretty excited because tomorrow we are going to get interviewed about the Changepot! More details tomorrow :)





P.S it's pretty sad what's happening to Amy Winehouse. I happen to like her music- despite her drug haze the girl has talent. Oh well.











source:mp3bud

Total today: $0.01
Total thus far: $357.22

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Happy Day after Summer Solstice Day!

Today we found a total of $0.23- two dimes and three pennies- while enjoying some summer sun! Dime #1 waited for us at the bank parking lot as we dropped grandma off. Dime#2 came from a depressing place- our local gas station. The dime was extremely hot to the touch- my guess is it was sitting in the sun for a long time waiting for us to come pick him up. Two pennies were at the Wendy's drive thru where we picked up some light lunch and the remaining penny was found outside of Stop N Shop. All in all a very nice day to be out.



Total today: $0.23
Total thus far: $357.21

Related Link-Posts

Here are various change related articles i've found in my Google searchings.


1. I found Change- a cute little found change blog/web app created by a Luke Brookhart.
2. Neediest Cases article- New York Times (a rare little gem)
3. Finding Coins- Here are comments that support change found as a sign of a passed loved one


Friday, June 20, 2008

Last Day of School !

What started out being a bad day turned into something great- all in the blink of an eye! We found out one of my daughters has to go to summer school BUT a few hours later while walking to the supermarket, she found a crispy five dollar bill outside a nearby tavern! The bill was pinned in an unkempt patch of grass. My daughter earned a new nickname- BILL MAGNET- since she's found bills in two consecutive days this month. We also found a dime and two muddy pennies while on our walk- making today's total $5.12. As promised, here is a picture of our new pets:












By request, here's a side shot of the pot. I may need to find a new receptacle soon.















Total today: $5.12
Total thus far: $356.98

Submit this article to ximmy.com!

Dollar Day!

Today we found a total of $1.84 in the form of a dollar bill, a quarter, three dimes, three nickels, and fourteen pennies- making it an awesome super Staten Island change cycle for today:) Wow.. The Last time we found a dollar was at the Ferry (see post Ferry Green) Congrats to my oldest daughter for finding a dollar in front of Toys R' Us while shopping for Kitty's birthday gift! We found three dimes and a nickel during our evening walk and a quarter and a nickel while buying items at PetSmart for our new pets (will post pics once I download them off the digicam). I've noticed that it's getting harder to find Quarters around here lately. We also headed out to the park for a while and found all fourteen pennies scattered around underneath one park bench. It looked like someone sorted out the pennies out of their bag and left them there. The Changepot is getting heavy now :) Pretty soon we'll have to change our coins for bills to make room for the lonely, unwanted pennies that need a home!

Total today: $1.84
Total thus far: $351.86




Search & Win

Submit this article to ximmy.com!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

two pennies.. and a rant.

We found $0.02 today- both pennies lying right by the pump at our local gas station ($4.19 uggh). I thought we were going to have a no find day but our quick trip out proved otherwise. I got extremely upset at the convenience store attendant at the gas station because we happened to have two coupons worth a free 20 oz soda courtesy of the Drink1win1.com promotion and he said they couldn't accept it. We went to three other places and neither of them carried the brands in the promotion. Although I found three caps with the 'uwin' code (I didn't purchase the soda), I redeemed it via the website and we received the coupons for the free soda. The coupon quality isn't so great- it has a scanning bar code but I myself wouldn't accept this coupon to be honest. I guess i'll just keep it in my bag and hand it out to somebody who likes the product. Ironically on our way home, we found yet ANOTHER 'Uwin' bottle cap. I'll redeem it only because I'm a sucker for good news and freebies in the mail.











Total today: $0.02
Total thus far: $350.02

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Trip to the fair

Today we found a total of 37 cents- three dimes, a nickel, and two pennies- and had a great old time at the Fair by the Staten Island Mall! There were two pennies under a ride which we couldn't get to so we photographed them to commemorate their existence :)














Here's an added bonus- little Kitty and hubby squeezing into a fun little helicopter ride!


















Total today: $0.37

Total thus far: $350.00 Even!!




Monday, June 16, 2008

Fourteen Cents in the rain...

Today Hubby found fourteen cents- a dime and four pennies- while embarking on his daily routine. According to Mike Woods, my favorite meteorologist on Fox News, it's going to continue raining on and off this week so we don't expect to find much change anywhere.














source: A photo journey

Total today: $0.14

Total thus far: $349.63

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Video Gaming again


Happy Father's Day!!

Today I spent the day indoors but my daughter and husband went out- both returned successful in their hunts- hubby brought home a penny (and some amazing shell steaks!) and my daughter brought back a dime and four pennies (excellent!)

I restarted an Xbox360 video game called 'Blue Dragon'. The game is addictive! Here is some wikipedia info on Blue Dragon for the curious :)




Total today: $0.15
Total thus far: $349.49







Search & Win


$0.57

For the past few days, we found a total of $0.57- Two quarters and seven pennies. I guess we'll wait and see if we get better weather where people will flock around and drop some pennies :)

Total today: $0.57
Total thus far: $349.34

Search & Win

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

$0.43 day!


Today we broke the penny days streak by finding a total of $0.43-- a quarter (shocking!) in the street, a dime under a park bench, and 8 pennies throughout the day (various locations). I was impressed by the hotness factor in these coins (meaning they 'd been sitting there under the sun for hours, possibly days). The quarter was a scratched up North Carolina model and the pennies, as usual, looked to be in pretty bad condition. Today was definitely a beach day! I love the boardwalk (even though we have NEVER found any money up there in our travails).

Total found: $0.43
Total thus far: $348.77



Search & Win

Submit this article to ximmy.com!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Another Penny Serenade

Seven Lonely pennies made it to our pot today. Three pennies waited for us at Dunkin' Donuts. One penny said hello in front of my favorite parking spot. Two pennies called out to Hubby while at Shop Rite and one penny stood the test of time by signaling for pickup right by my friend's apartment complex. I guess seven pennies are better than nothing, right?



Total today: $0.07
Total thus far: $348.34

Monday, June 09, 2008

Penny Day!

Found a total of ten cents-- all pennies while running some errands at the mall. Times are tough. The mall was like a ghost town today-- very few people with light bags (a sign of the times, i'm afraid). Something has to be done soon :(.

Total today: $0.10
Total thus far: $348.27






Search & Win

Submit this article to ximmy.com!

The Onion's take on Can-opoly!

I just finished reading this article at the onion. I thought i was so interesting I decided to share it here. Do you think this is fair?


Nation's Poorest 1% Now Controls Two-Thirds Of U.S. Soda Can Wealth

May 23, 2008 | Issue 44•21

Cans

Can magnates like this Chicago-based entrepreneur often take advantage of obscure deposit loopholes in ME, VT, NY (5¢), and MI (10¢)


WASHINGTON—A report on growing disparities in the concentration of U.S. aluminum-can wealth, released Tuesday by the Department of Commerce, revealed that 66 percent of the nation's recyclable assets are now held by the poorest 1 percent of the population.

According to the sobering report, the disproportionate distribution of soda-can wealth is greater than ever before, and has become one of the worst instances of economic inequality in the nation's history. Data showed that over-salvaging of cans by a small and elite group of can-horders has created a steadily growing and possibly unbridgeable gap between the rich and the mega-poor.

Enlarge Image Can Wealth

"Although our nation's upper middle class actually consumes the most beverages, a staggering percentage of these cans wind up in the hands of a very few," said economist Cynthia Pierce, who worked as a consultant on the three-year, $14 million government study. "It's a troubling trend. And as a tiny fraction of the population continues to maintain its stranglehold on redeemable can wealth, it's a trend that shows no sign of slowing."

According to Pierce, the study points to a distinct economic advantage for the most can-affluent—those who possess the resources necessary to collect, transport, separate, and accumulate more and more cans than the rest of the population.

"Members of this exclusive group come from exceedingly poor backgrounds and have access to outrageously low levels of education, which makes them much better prepared to reap the benefits of digging around in garbage," Pierce added.

The report details several key factors involved in the lopsided distribution of container wealth, including aggressive foraging, which leads to higher returns on deposits and a tendency to reinvest can profits in additional redeemables, such as beer. In addition, the report found that those involved in the returnable-gathering industry often minimize financial risk by diversifying between aluminum cans and glass-bottle holdings.

While less than 1 percent of Americans own the domestic rights to a majority of Coca-Cola and Pepsi cans, this same group has also cornered the international market by branching out into such imported container commodities as Fanta and Perrier.

"The typical American spends an average of $65 on beverages for every dollar he or she earns back through redeemable deposits, and the rest of that money goes to the country's can and bottle barons," the report stated. "Americans who are at a foraging disadvantage due to over-employment and home ownership therefore have limited access to these discarded commodities, causing the market to unfairly favor those with an exclusively disposables income."

Perhaps more alarming, the report continued, the can monopoly enjoyed by the poorest 1 percent has been unintentionally buoyed by millions of environment-conscious Americans who leave plastic bags full of recycling in front of their homes, which are in turn preyed upon by enterprising collectors.

"These people were born into a lifestyle, often going back generations, where any can left on the street is seen as their birthright, whether they purchased it or not," Houston resident Dale Palmer said. "They have the knowledge and ability to get out there and scoop up all the good cans before anyone even knew they were there."

The vast disparity in can-wealth distribution is difficult to understand for many Americans. Most people, according to the report, cannot relate to the lifestyles of the super-poor, who never have to go to work, pay a mortgage, or struggle to find money for rent.

One canned individual cited in the study is can tycoon Will Dorsey, a 33-year-old Detroit resident who spent his childhood living off the funds collected from his family's vast can holdings. At the age of 16, Dorsey inherited five carts and dozens of garbage bags overflowing with recyclables when his father passed away unexpectedly one cold December morning.

According to economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, people like Dorsey, who maintain an ultra-poor lifestyle that is vastly different from the rest of the population, are egregiously out of touch with the everyday economic realities of mainstream America.

"Dorsey is one of those select few who come from old can money," Krugman said. "They're just hoarding their assets so nobody else can benefit. And then they parade down the street with their carts full of recycling."

In the wake of the report's disturbing findings, many citizens claim to feel exploited by those who convert their discarded property into cash or change without sharing the incredible profits.

"It's not fair," Chicago native Melissa Arnold said. "Something should be done to even the playing field."

In an attempt to mitigate the disparities in soda-can wealth distribution, Congress is currently exploring numerous options, including levying an 80 percent tax on the incomes of those possessing 100 or more refundable containers, with the ultimate goal of eliminating all recycling programs by 2010.



Can you imagine this? I just thought i'd pass it along to you :)


Submit this article to ximmy.com!

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Cruel Summer


Despite the cruel pre-summer heat, Hubby found $0.36- a quarter, dime, and penny while at work. I stayed home the entire day with my AC on-- cleaning the house thoroughly and doing mounds of laundry. It's amazing how quickly laundry piles up geez....

On a lighter note, we received $0.27 for transferring the Changepot account over to ING-- bringing the two year total to $656.52. Since the CP money will be online, i'll be keeping better track of its growth by looking it over every first week of the month.

$1,000.00.
I still can't believe it.
I wrote a post on a social community site (Gather.com) and asked the local public what they would do with the extra 1K. When I see this money, I don't want to spend it-- I want to make it grow. A thousand won't make people rich but it can help a little. Even in this gas crisis, a grand helps.

Here's the scenario for my usual gas activity:

Tank capacity: 18 gals.
Full tank @ $5.00= $90.00 weekly
12 weeks of summer: $1080.00


I'd actually use up all the changepot funds for gas alone (and that's figuring NO more increases once it hits five)

Somehow I don't see the gas prices easing up anytime soon. I happened to catch the local news and they're calling for $150.00 light sweet crude by July 4. I don't even want to think what that's going to look like.

Before I get myself too depressed to leave the house, I must ask you all this question. What would you do to make the changepot (found money) grow? If you were given 1K right now no questions asked, how would you make that money grow?

Total today: $0.63 ($0.36 found + $0.27 ING interest)
Total thus far: $348.17


Submit this article to ximmy.com!

Saturday, June 07, 2008

The $1,000.00 Post!









Today is a special day indeed here at the changepot! We broke $1,000.00 in found money!!! Sure we are maximizing the benefits by selling the found silver coins and broken jewelry in addition to the money but the fact that we were able to surpass the thousand dollar mark is incredible! Here is today's finds along with location :

$0.13 found at work (around the mess hall)
$0.10 found right by foot when we parked our vehicle at the mall
$0.10 found outside of KidsWorld
$6.00 (a five and a one dollar bill) crumpled up inside a receipt from Spencer's gift store outside mall
$0.12 found all over the mall (stores)
$0.35 found in food court (Wendy's, Cinnabon)
$0.25 in parking lot outside Stop N Shop
$0.05 given to us for using our own recyclable bags

Our Yanks won today thanks to Johnny Damon (we knew you could do it JoDa!) I'm pretty happy... so happy, in fact, I think i'll celebrate by calling forth a meeting of the thousandaires (my family) to discuss a reward for our noble efforts :) From now on, i'm posting the side totals to reflect the entire changepot balance (it looks so much prettier that way :) )

Update: I think my meeting will have to wait until tomorrow-- my daughters are both knocked out on the couch after all that walking (changehunting). I'm still soo happy!!

Total today: $7.10
Total thus far: $347.54

Submit this article to ximmy.com!

Coin Sale Proceeds : July 2008


And so despite the immense heat, our family set out to sell the last of the found silver we'd unearthed back in this post (Silver Coins) at a nearby Coin show. Our last chunk of silver coins ($4.00 face value) yielded us $20.00 even- thus bringing the changepot up by $20.00! The dealer wanted to take a look at our foreign coins but my daughter was in charge of that- she wouldn't allow him to take a peek. Congrats to her for being so headstrong! I told her that we should look into the values of each individual coin and launch a just for fun appraisal campaign to see what these coins would yield us over time. She agrees it would be a great math project for the summer. I'm all for it!

And now we head out again.. but before I go, I'll factor in today's Coin Sale totals and add it to the changepot:

Total today: $20.00
Total thus far: $340.44




Submit this article to ximmy.com!

Friday, June 06, 2008

A big fat raspberry

We found no change at all today- meaning today breaks a streak since May 19th.
My daughter said she saw a nickel on the floor in the schoolyard but as she got closer, a younger child picked it up. "Hey! That's my nickel!", she exclaimed. He looked at her and simply replied with a big fat raspberry and ran away. Dejected, she reported the nil find and set about watching 'Hanna Montana'. Here's a little diddly I found on the net about raspberries to tide you over.

Origin of ‘Blow a Raspberry’

How are you? I’m okay. Do you know what it means to ‘blow a raspberry’? Of course you do. Besides Three’s Company, my other all-time favorite situation comedy in the whole wide world is All in the Family. And nobody with even a passing familiarity with Archie Bunker hasn’t seen ol’ Arch blow a big ol’ raspberry at Meathead, Edith, Irene Lorenzo, or anyone else with whom the Man of the House crossed swords.

Here is how Wikipedia defines blowing a raspberry:

Blowing a raspberry or making a Bronx cheer is to make a noise made to signify derision (and/or silliness), made by sticking out the tongue between the lips and blowing to make a sound reminiscent of flatulence. In the terminology of phonetics, this sound does not appear to have an official name, but might be characterized as a linguolabial trill. It is never used in human language phonemically (i.e., to be used as a building block of words), but it is widely used across human cultures as well as by other primates.

I’m also familiar with a variant of the raspberry whereby the giver lifts the shirt of the receiver, presses his mouth to the receiver’s stomach, and blows out air against the receiver’s stomach. This is an affectionate activity transacted between two adults as well between adults and infants. Does this variant of blowing a raspberry ring a bell with any of you? (At least one of the Urban Dictionary contributors knows about this, despite his or her horrendous command of English.)

UPDATE: As MTA commenter Linda was so kind to point out, this latter usage of the noun raspberry is actually known as a ZRBTT, zerbert, zerbet, or “blowfart.” Furthermore, I should have known that the zerbert is a fundamentally different usage from “our” usage of raspberry inasmuch as a zerbert is a playful gesture, and a raspberry is a gesture that is intended to express displeasure. My apologies are hereby extended to you for the confusion.

Well, the cogent question is “How in the world did raspberry come to be associated with either flatulence or derision?”

Curiously enough, raspberry derived from Cockney rhyming slang; in particular, from the phrase raspberry tart. You see where I’m going here, right? Yes…obviously the first word of the second phrase is lost to the ages, but the rhyming couplet under consideration here is tart:fart.

The lingua franca piece “Slang & Back Slang” from June 19, 2004 contains some first-hand insight into how Cockney rhyming slang works:

Because I grew up in the back streets of London, my earliest slang memories are of Cockney rhyming slang, an argot which is alleged to have been invented and used in Dickensian times by petty criminals, to fool the mugs and to misdirect the forces of law and order.

Rhyming slang uses a simple approach. Two well-connected words are chosen, the second of which rhymes with the word which the slanger wants to substitute. So let’s say that ’stairs’ becomes ‘apples and pears’, and ‘road’ becomes ‘frog and toad’, and ‘wife’ becomes ‘trouble and strife’, and ‘phone’ becomes ‘dog and bone’. Thus the trouble and strife would walk down the apples and pears and along the frog and toad to use the public dog and bone.

The OED states that the first published instance of raspberry being used in this derisive context was in 1890, in Barrerre and Leland’s A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon, and Cant. Following is the relevant citation:

The tongue is inserted in the left cheek and forced through the lips, producing a peculiarly squashy noise that is extremely irritating. It is termed, I believe, a raspberry, and when not employed for the purpose of testing horseflesh, is regarded rather as an expression of contempt than of admiration.

That’s all I have for your tonight. Take care.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Happy Thursday!

On the change front, we found exactly three pennies!! Yayy!! The pennies were found at a CVS parking lot. I'm pretty shocked that we are still 4 months away from the end of the FCF (Fiscal Change Finding) year and we have already surpassed 2007's totals (2007 total found: $264.24) . The lack of dollar finds seems common all over the internet change finding populace-- the economy has much to do with this phenomenon. During my usual searches for found money, I stumbled upon this story that happened exactly on this day last year:

Boy who found money loses reward

TAMPA, Fla., June 5 Two Florida boys who became national heroes five years ago when they turned in $4,000 in cash they found on the street are looking for their reward money.The money appears to have been put in a bank account for Jarvarious Jones and Oscar Carter. But no one knows where the account is, The Tampa Tribune reported."We have been trying since February to find out where the account was set up and no one will help us or tell us anything," said Keisha Hamilton, Carter ' s mother. The boys were 13-year-old students at Greco Middle School in Tampa when they found the money in four envelopes near their bus stop.Hamilton says Greco administrators promised to set up an account. But no one admits being the person who did.Carter is now an 18-year-old community college student and the experience has left him disillusioned. He said he sometimes wishes he and Jones had not been so honest."I could have used that money to get clothes, pay some bills and help my family," he said. "But I did the right thing and now people aren't helping me. I have learned not to trust anyone."

Copyright 2007 by UPI


Poor guy! He did the right thing, didn't he? What do you think?

Total today: $0.03
Total thus far: $320.44


Submit this article to ximmy.com!

One Lonely Penny

At least today was not spent in vain! We found one penny lying face up outside Dunkin Donuts by my house. The rain kept us all from taking our night walk-- resulting in lethargy and overall grumpiness.

Total found: $0.01
Total today: $320.41

Submit this article to ximmy.com!

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Thirty seven cents...

Today the crew found a total of thirty seven cents- a quarter at school, a dime by CVS, and two pennies at the parking lot @ work. Ironically, I'd commented on Found Money Jar's blog yesterday about not being able to find a quarter these last few days!

On my daily travails to work, I had a chance to talk to a very charming older gentleman who was elated to hear about HilClint's departure. I think older people abuse their elderly privileges by badmouthing things to extremes. His words stung regardless of what political affiliation the candidates belong to-- no curbing of the tongue on his end! I guess we earn the right to whine and moan eventually, right?

Total today: $0.37
Total thus far: $320.40

Submit this article to ximmy.com!

Monday, June 02, 2008

Pennies from Heaven...

Today we found a total of $0.23- one nickel and eighteen pennies. It looks like it's getting harder and harder to spot a random dollar nowadays- perhaps people are paying attention to what's on the ground. Hubby took little K to Manhattan for an exclusive meeting with a kid's television network. My daughter had a ball!! I'll post pictures of that tomorrow.. right now i'm looking to konk out while watching some Law and Order :)


Total today: $0.23
Total thus far: $320.03

Sunday, June 01, 2008

foreign coin found! twenty seven pennies later

Today we found a whole heap of change as you can see from the picture. We also found what looks like an asian coin (hubby says it's chinese)
-- no sweat.. it's going to join the other 137 coins in the foreign change jar!

All in all we found $0.67, a horribly eroded penny with two holes in the middle (it kinda looks eaten almost), and had some great fun watching an air show at a nearby military base. We also found a slew of bottle caps which apply towards the cokerewards balance as well.

I think i'm going to turn in a little early because i've got a pretty busy day tomorrow- it's back to the gym for me in the AM!


Total today: $0.67
Total thus far: $319.80