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there are rules to this

December 15th, 2009 at 04:25 am

Monday
Saving log - $-20 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $18 holiday lunch w/friends
Found money - $0.01 (floor)

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel + $4 groceries
Found money - $0.35 (bus stop, bus, sidewalk)

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $15 brunch + $45 gifts + $15 dinner w/friends
Found money - $0.11 (floor, carpet)

Very spendy weekend and surprise holiday get-togethers crashed against the day before payday, so I had to use the tip box in a way that I rarely want to - to pay myself should I run a little short. Its not a biggie, I remind myself. I get paid tomorrow, with the credit card pay check (I pay the credit card at the middle of the month, rent at the beginning of the month). Credit card bill has been low, so it will be easy to pay off the card and replace the tip box.

With the penny today, I've found $13.04, expressed as 299 pennies, 12 nickels, 57 dimes, 11 quarters, and a $1 bill. Screenwriter friend asked me if there were rules. Sure, I said - found money.

I have to touch the money. I don't have to put it in my pocket - so if someone had dropped the dollar bill and I saw it, I can pick it up and give to them and still count it.

Foreign coins count at face value. I call it found money, not found US money. Heck, with the dollar relatively weak - the Canadian dollar exchange rate is 92 cents on the dollar, while the euro is $1.40 or so on the dollar - if anything, I could be shorting myself. I'll re-think if I find a Zimbabwean trillion dollar bill.

I don't go after money in fountains or pools. I don't want to get my hand wet; I'm not that pathetic; and frankly I already look kind of silly when I pull out my penlight to look under tables and the bus seat.

Safety first. There could well be plenty of coins in the middle of the road. I'm not going to be the one to get run over to go after them.

The only other fiscal thing today was that I'm finishing up Predictably Irrational - on behavioral economics. I'm fascinated on how we are blind to the cult of Free! and how choices are presented to us (think menus, online subscriptions, comparative advertising). I'm also thinking of getting and reading

Text is The Great Depression: A Diary and Link is http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2010467046_br13depression.html
The Great Depression: A Diary . After all has been said and done, and add another 60 - 70 years, I wonder if any of our blogs will be called up, edited, and read as a slice of our times? I'm guessing that Seattle is not in a depression yet - far too many people are losing far too many coins.

5 Responses to “there are rules to this”

  1. nmboone Says:
    1260865734

    baselle- I wish I could find as much found money as you can. I'm always on the lookout, and yes I will pick up a penny. I would be happy with a penny a day but that just never happens!

    BTW, maybe Louisianians are more careful about dropping money than people in Seattle!

  2. lizajane Says:
    1260883022

    I like the "have to touch it" rule, which allows you to count it but not swipe it from the rightful owner that dropped it. Just curious...how much of the found money do you think falls into that category?

  3. frugaltexan Says:
    1260894700

    I'm curious like lizajane - how often do you see who's drpped the money you pick up?

  4. mjrube94 Says:
    1260904055

    I found a nickel yesterday. A guy was walking toward me, dropped it, looked at it and kept walking. By the time I got there he was a block away. I can see dropping money and not realizing it, but watching it and walking away? He must have too much!

  5. baselle Says:
    1260938022

    nmboone - Maybe. I've been noticing a big uptick in the amount I'm finding lately. I wonder if its because people are using more cash, hence getting more change. I also think that the crappier the weather, the more likely you are wearing something with more pockets, hence more fiddling.

    lizajane & frugal texan - nope. Haven't seen anyone drop it. I did grab some change from a counter at the coffeeshop, and the tip jar was a turn away. I've also given beggars the change I find around them within ten feet or so. But I'm ready if it happens!

    mjrube - more for me! I'm doing better on the sidewalk than I am on several bank accounts.

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