Found Money is Guilt-Free Money

“Find a penny, pick it up. All day long, you’ll have good luck.” I don’t know who said that, or when I first heard it, but I’ve heard it for years. If you do an internet search for that saying, you’ll get lots of results on why finding a penny is considered good luck.

It’s advice I take. I admit it, I pick up money—in any denomination—off the ground. I don’t care whether it’s heads up for luck or not (people often ask me if the money I pick up is heads up, so I guess that’s considered lucky too). The way I see it, money’s money, and finding it on the ground just waiting for me to pick it up is lucky.

My habit often embarrasses the people I’m with. We’ll be walking along, and all of a sudden I stop, bend over and pick something up off the ground. Sometimes I have to backtrack a few steps before picking up the money. I hold it up in front of me, and thank the Universe for being so generous!

A lot of people comment about how I look down when I walk, and my answer is always the same: that’s where the money falls!

Parking lots are a good place to find money. Self-checkout lanes at stores are also good places; people don’t always check that they gather all their change. Surprisingly, I find a lot of money on the street, by the curb. I guess people getting out of their cars lose change.

Pennies are, of course, the most popular coin to be found, but all kinds of coins are available if you’re serious about finding them. One time I found 64 pennies on the ground as I was walking my dog. Fortunately I had pockets that were big enough to hold 64 pennies!

My biggest “score” was a $10 bill I found in the bushes in front of an empty office building; I was taking out the garbage at work, and it was just sitting there, calling to me.

Every year I collect all my found money in a jar. On January 1 (or whatever day I’m lucky enough to find my first coin or bill), I start filling up the jar, and on the evening of December 31, or January 1 if I’m lucky enough to have plans for New Year’s Eve, I empty the jar and count my findings.

The money in the jar is “guilt-free” money. That means I can spend it however I want, without thinking that I “should” or “should not” use it in this or that specific way. If I want to splurge and buy a new book, or go out to eat, or buy lottery tickets, that’s fine. Anything goes with found money.

I have a few rules about the money I’ll pick up:

1) If it’s on the sidewalk or in the road it’s fair game, but if it’s on someone’s driveway or lawn I leave it.

2)Never dip into the found money jar, no matter how important the need, and how much I promise I’ll pay it back. The coins in the jar that get counted have to be the coins that were picked up.

3) Never count the money before the end of the year, and don’t even try and estimate how much is in there.

In 2016 my found money count was $5.90. Not my highest count; but not the lowest, either, but it’s not really about the amount. Six bucks may not sound like much, and you might think you can’t do much with less than $6.00, but that’s not the case.

With $5.90, I can buy five 2-litre bottles of soda at Walmart with a little bit left over. I can buy an entire meal off the dollar menu at a fast-food restaurant with some left over. I can buy a small soda at the movie theater. I can buy more than 73 million items at Amazon.com!

The year I found the $10 bill, 2018, my found money total was just under $22! I spent this money on a champagne brunch with my friends at a local wine bar. It was a really fun day.

My lowest found money amount so far was in 2020, when I found only $3.99. It’s one more thing COVID affected. I didn’t go to the store a lot, which eliminated two of my prime found money locations (the store and the parking lot), and at least for a while there was the whole coin shortage thing going on, and people were asked to either use exact change or credit or debit cards instead.

For the first time since I started saving the money I pick up, I didn’t spend this money, and put it in my camera fund instead.

So far in 2021, I’m on a pretty good pace; I found 82 cents one day! But this is putting myself perilously close to estimating how much is in the jar, and I don’t want to break my rule, so I have to stop thinking about it.

People say “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” which may be true, but it sure does fall to the ground. And if you’re looking for it, you can find it.