At our church the little children "collect pennies" after their children's serman. Who can resist a sweet little face passing a small basket?! Anyway, over the years they have collected miles of pennies. At first the money went to our building fund. Now it goes to a charity that changes annually. Pennies add up, and are a pretty painless way to fund various projects!

I have noticed fewer and fewer of those "need a penny, take one" dishes since the economy has slumped. We are all counting pennies now!

I'll never be able to view a found penny in the same way after reading that poem posted by Gina. I'll always think it is my gramdmother (who used to save every penny she ever got just for me) or my father (who ALWAYS spotted coins on the ground) tossing me a penny from heaven.

Turquios Tulip ....
Would you pick up a $100 bill off the nasty filthy street?
What's the difference between a penny and a dollar?
A penny is just 1/100'th of a dollar.

Maybe that's why I come here for amusment and you come here for advice?

I was just thinking the same thing---most people who pass up pennies would pick up a dirty old $20 from the ground! If you have ever worked retail you know that all money is probably dirty! That's OK--any of you have any dirty old money you don't want, just send it my way! I'll wash my hands after I deposit it!

Yes

I sure do pick up those penny's and any other money I find on the ground. This week I found 3nickles and 3penny's LOL. I live on a small military base and walk/run often so I find money a lot. I give it to my 4yr DD she thinks she is going to be "RICH, RICH someday".

Yesterday, on way home from having five teeth extracted (at the University Dental School - for under $100.00), I saw a sign in front of a convenience store whose words would have meaning for Koreans - so went in to see whether the managers were Korean.

It was the term that they use to refer to the Korean War - the words "Yook - ee- oh" in Korean for the month and the day that war began, June 25 (of 1950): "Yook" means "June", "ee" is "twenty" and "oh" is "five".

As I got out of my car, I found a shiny dime lying on the ground.

Picked it up and brought it home.

As Grandma (who died in 1950) used to say, "Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves". I think that she never lived in a society where they used English pounds.

If I don't try to find as many dollars as I morally can and get good value for my dollars, who will?

joyful Ed

Torquise Tulips - you said you don't want to bend over to pick up garbage off the street, likening pennies to garbage.

Well, I take a bag on my daily walks just so I can bend over and pick up garbage. If I don't do it, who will? I like my neighborhood to look nice and neat, and no matter how careful people are, garbage does get loose!

My oldest son found a $5 bill on our walk becaue he was bending over to pick up trash!

I had to register, just so I could respond to this question.Yes, but the amazing thing is my DD, she's 7,picked up this habit at the start of the summer. So, in the past 6 months or so, she has found $23.19.(I just went and counted it, we keep it in a special container) The funny thing is, only .89 was in pennies. She has extra good eyes, but my other two children have also found several dollars. I picked up a childrens metal detector at a garage sale last week, and we've found .19 in the yard!

I don't pick up pennies when I see the because I know little kids get a charge out of finding them. BUT I sure pick up anything else. I figure it doesn't have any more germs than all those fruits in the grocery store from third world countries.

Today my granddaughter picked up the penny we found in the parking lot to put in her bear bank. She was thrilled! Between that and autumn leaves, this 3 yr. old has wonderful treasures to take home.

It was in the news that a store in British Columbia refused to take $5 in pennies from a mom who'd just rolled them up to go buy food for her children. Apparently the kids all got sick and all the extra expenses (and probably missed time from work for mom) wiped them out. The store manager apologized saying in spite of the store policy that they don't have to take more then 25 pennies at a time it shouldn't have happened. An apology on the news was nice but it didn't take food home to her kids that night. Sometimes this world disgusts me. BTW, I'm not down on BC because of this it could happen here just as easily and probably has.

being as I am in BC I agree with you it shouldn't have happened I saw the original airing of this story on the news and was disgusted with the store and their policy. However as you stated the store did apologize and offered to make it right with the mother (coupons, gift basket whatever). It did not help the mother that night and her friends did step in. It shouldn't have happened and yes I was disgusted but perhaps it will help someone else the next time something like this happens...pennies are legal tender....sometimes store policy stinks..

Monica,
I bet all those pennies you left on the ground "for kids to find" were happily swiped up by Budster! hehe. She might have to start following you around and picking up the fortune you're leaving behind! woo hoo!
:)

Hi all,

I'm cussed enough that I'd probably have asked the store to give me a quarter for my pennies, then walked out.

Repeat the same act till they refuse to change more. Then see what I can afford in the store.

If I have four quarters and see something that I want costing $1.50, I'd bring it up to the cashier.

If she refused to accept fifty cents in pennies, I'd look her in the eyee and ask if she'd exchange 25 more pennies for another quarter.

Then tell her that I had $1.25 in quarters and another 25 pennies, so now we could do business.

Actually, most of the time I try to be accomodating to others, to keep the wheels of society running smoothly.

joyful Ed

This has been a most interesting thread. It has given me some insight into human habits. Some people will do anything if there is a small monetary reward tied to it (and I happen to be one of these people). Some people don't care to pick up garbage . . .and it shows all over the United States with the enormous amounts of litter we create!
Back in early March I began taking a 3 mile walk each day. Over these months I have become well known to my neighbors on my walking route. I am the woman with the garbage bag who cleans up her neighborhood while out walking. I now notice that FAR MORE residents are making the effort on their streets to keep the route I walk litter free! Hmmmmmmm, why? Do they like the cleaner appearance or is it an embarassment to have their neighbors see me pick up trash in front of their yard?
Turquoise: I KNOW there are many folks just like you who would NEVER DREAM of picking up a piece of garbage (pennys or otherwise), but if for one month EVERYONE would pick up five pieces of garbage daily and dispose of it properly we would soon have it demonstrated loud and clear how much small efforts make over time. . . and that is the point being made by those who do pick up pennys . . . small efforts turn into big efforts over time.

Sometimes I will pick up a penny and sometimes I won't,depending on how bad my back is hurting that day. BUT I always pick up trash if I see it and I never,ever throw trash down or allow my children to.

I would be foolish if I didn't. A penny saved, is a penny earned! Pennies add up and they can add up in my pocket, just fine!

Yep, a penny saved is more like 1 1/2 cents earned!!!! (Depending on your tax bracket) Just my way of saying saving more money can be more important than earning more.

Hi eiagaaf and all,

How true your observation that a dollar saved does NOT merely equal a dollar of increased earnings.

Now that tax preparation season is upon us ...

We can all appreciate how true it is that ...

a dollar saved is worth about $1.40 increase in money earned (depending on one's tax bracket.

ole joyful (volunteer income tax preparer trained by the Income Tax people to prepare returns free for low income people)

well, I live in NYC, so there are some places I won't pick up a penny from.

The crosswalk is one of them (don't want to get pasted--plus, it's probably starting to stick to the asphalt already).

The corners in the subway is another.

I am a walker and always look down.I have found pennies fifty dollar bills and jewlery.I don't pass anything up that looks of value.If you were born during the depression years I don't think you could just walk by a penny.I wish I had a dine for everytime my bill said 6.01.Yes I'm digging for the penny because I don't want to brake a dollar bill.

Hey, Goldy ...

keep up the good work.

$6.01 may be $6.10 the next time you shop.

And by then you may have found at least four more pennies to put toward the extra cost!

Those pennies, plus an extra nickel in your pocket, might even save you breaking a $5.00 bill!

Once you break 'em, the rest sures scoots fast, doesn't it?

Good wishes to you and the ones who are important to you,

joyful guy/Ed

Yup, sure do. Yesterday I rode a 58 mile bicycle ride with my daughter and my husband... and I found a penny. This was at a great location too! :) Riding a steep uphill, and I was out of breath, and kinda tired, I see a penny, and stop. Bend down, pick it up, and stay for a couple of minutes before mounting back up, and riding on. Sure felt good to have a reason to stop! :) Plus, I was a penny richer.

Moni

Absolutely positively! I don't turn down any kind of free money and takes about 2 seconds of my time!

At my last job, I used to walk to and from the train station. During that walk, I passed many parking meters. I can't even tell you the amount of pennies, nickels, dimes I found next to the meters on those walks. I figure people were in a hurry for meeting/appt and couldn't be bothered to pick up dropped change.

I have always beena saver. The year I got engaged I saved all my spare change in a jar. Had an "extra" $88 to bring on the honeymoon! Then once we were married, DH and I saved all our spare change in a big plastic jar, and in a year or two had saved $236 to put towards buying a washing machine!

I sure do!!!!

The other day while watching a Santa Claus parade in a nearby city, I'd been asking questions and carrying on a discussion with a family standing there.

Looking down, I saw a penny lying in the street. I reached down and picked it up.

It appeared to have been there for some time, as it was a bit bent and rather heavily scarred

I laughed and said that I'd heard that when one finds a penny, one should give it away.

Offered it to their daughter, about 7 years old.

Her hand slowly crept out to receive it - didn't break any speed records.

I told her that I was sorry that it was so badly bent and scarred - but that it would still buy a penny's worth of goods.

People that are old, bent and scarred have value, also.

I think I told her that if she could keep her eyes open and find 99 more (that she chose not to give away) or save some from change that she gets, between now and when she gets to age 15, if she were to invest the 100 cents and get 5% growth rate on the investment - 50 years later, when she achieves the grand old age of 65, she'd have over $11.00.

Should she get 10% growth - value at age 65 would be $117.00.

Not too shabby, I'd say.

Few kids are interested in a 50 year time horizon - but those that might have their interest piqued enough to pursue such ideas would do well, financially.

Remember - every dollar of income you receive becomes an employee in your personal business.

Use them to buy food, they're gone in a week.

To buy a car - gone in 5 - 10 years.

To buy a table - gone in 50 years.

To buy a home - gone in 100 years.

Invested - they'll work for you as long as you choose to employ them. Even for your children and grandchildren.

Pennies are important.

ole joyful

I remembered this thread today when Oprah said she picks up a penny. With all her millions, she still picks up a penny. That message should say a lot to everybody.

However, one of the guests had much food, cleaners, and hygiene products stored in her basement. They came down on her for that and encouraged her to give some of it away. I thought the lady was smart to have a cache of supplies.

I picked up a dime last week in front of the accountant's office when I went to pick up our tax returns. It was a CANADIAN dime. It travelled a long way to get from Canada to Oklahoma! OJ, have you been to my state? LOL

I bought a jacket at a yard sale once for $5. There was a ten-dollar bill in the pocket.

Our bank has a machine that you can just dump your coins into and it will automatically deposit the total into your bank account.

DH doesn't like pennies, won't carry them. If something costs 19.01 he gets 4 more because of the lack of one in his pocket. Throws them on the dresser. So they collect.

DGS is careless with his money. Wash his jeans and check his pockets beforehand. He's getting better about cleaning out his pockets now, since I keep the money and read whatever "love notes" I find. I learn a lot that way. LOL

YES!!! In fact, I have been saving all the coins I find since September 2000. My boyfriend at the time made fun of me for picking up coins. That night, we went to a chinese restaurant and on my fortune cookie it said,

"The key to vast riches begins with a single penny."

Right there I decided I would save all the found money and see how it added up. BF is gone, but I still have that little fortune taped into my dayplanner, and all that money in an interest-bearing savings account.

March 2009, I have around $118.00 in that account, and about $3.00 more in a jar I need to go deposit sometime.

It all adds up.

Yes, we pick up pennies and this year have decided that we will save all pennies and donate them to a charity.

That is if we don't become the charity ourselves before the end of the year....

If it is heads up I pick it up. If it is heads down I make a cross on the ground and turn it over for the next lucky person- boy my kids are right- I am weird.

Nice to re-read this old thread. I'm still picking up any found money and it goes into a piggy bank. When the thing is heavy, I count and roll it. Into the bank it goes. Every little bit helps......not only do I pick up any money off the ground, but I also will return shopping carts to the drop off point and pick up the extra quarter someone else left behind, some days it is a dollar coin. All goes into the same bank...... a rainy day fund

I still work at the movie theater mentioned above almost seven years ago, but not as part of the clean-up crew. I do sometimes check the auditoriums later after closing. Month or so ago, I noticed some paper scraps of the telltale green color under a seat. Investigated, found someone had torn a $1 to bits. I collected the pieces, taped them together. A few pieces are missing in the middle, but more than 85% of the bill is intact with the serial numbers. Desperate for a dollar? Perhaps. But it was fun to do, and I do have a dollar that I didn't have before. :-)

Every year our church has a "Penny Challenge" The different Sunday-school classes compete to see which one can collect the most pennies. Whenever we see a penny, we all call out "a penny for Jesus" and add it to our penny jar.

A couple of months ago when I saw a lady with a bag of change about to drop it into the change counting machine at the local (chain) grocery store, I asked her if she knew what percentage they charged for counting it.

She didn't ... and when I told her that it was 9.8%, she darn near swallowed her false teeth (if she was wearing any).

Anyway, she decided that she'd take it home and count it herself!

I told her that there's a similar machine at the local bank (the main one that I use - not the one whose shares I've owned for over 40 years - don't ask me why not) that will give her a credit slip for the amount, with no deduction/fee.

It'd take her about 4 years or more to earn the equivalent amount, should she have decided to deposit it into her savings account, though.

Wow! Is this an old thread, recently resurrected ... sure wouldn't happen over at the Kitchen Table - stuff falls over the edge into the abyss from page 67, over there, after less than 3 months!

Talkative bunch, I guess ... but there's room for more coffee drinkers/talkers, and many of the dicussions are a lot of fun ... plus much good advice to be found.

ole joyful

I have a habit of looking down when I walk . One day while walking, I found three or four dollar bills in a pile of leaves. Another time, in a Rite Aid Drug Store, I found a folded up 20 dollar bill. It pays to look down! Once I almost got in a fight. I was standing in line at a Burger King, reached in my pocket for some money, and pulled my hand out. The woman behind said, "You just dropped some money". Another woman on another line screamed out "That's mine" and grabbed the dollar bills I had just drpooed. I was afraid to stop her. BUt I do pick up any pennies/cents I see.

Yes my husband and my daughter and my son and myself all pick up pennies. My husband was at a gas station one day and there was some change on the ground he picked it all up that he could find and it was over 4.00. We like to go to rummage sales and one day my daughter found some plastic easter eggs. She wouldnt give them to the lady to take the sticker off, instead she gave her the sticker she paid 25cents for the eggs and there was over 4.00 in the eggs in quarters. I went to a rummage sale one time and I tried on a dress and I could hear money in the pocket, I went out to pay for the dress I think it was 2.00 and the lady made sure she told me that it was clean and had been washed. When I got in the car there was over 9.00 in the pocket I didnt even feel bad because she had lied to me in the first place so I went home and washed it myself which I would have done anyway

Greetings Jannie,

Too bad you hadn't grabbed for the money that you'd dropped, yourself ... and in the process happened to have hit the grabber's nose with your knee.

I'd have given her an argument, I think ... and if she succeeded in grabbing it, had some fairly uncomplimentary comments to make, rather loudly, during the rest of the wait. I think there's a five-letter word that describes such a person - starts with "T", ends with "f" ... and rhymes with "leaf".

ole joyful

I must admit I hate pennies. I have several containers full. I have been known to throw them out in the garbage. Sometimes I leave them on the lunch counter at work and it takes days for them to disappear. I make sure I always have four so that I can reduce my chance of getting more.

nosambos - give a container to a homeless person you see, doesn't matter who. Give them to a church, any church, give them to a school. Give them to someone, anyone, do not throw them into the trash, so many would thank you for taking the time to just GIVE.

Sure would!

I don't understand why anyone would toss a container of coins to the trash! That's quite a sad thing to do.

I checked on the floor behind the rows of seats at the rear walls a few nights ago, found $0.86.

When we get right down to it ...

... isn't it a Federal offence to destroy or discard currency?

Including pennies, I assume.

Fairly substantial penalty, I think, if caught and charged.

ole joyful

At my sons' basketball games, there are recycling containers beside every trash can - RIGHT beside them. I do my "good deed" of the day on Saturdays by picking the cans & water bottles off the top of the trash cans & putting them in the recycling containers. You would not believe it - the trash cans will be overflowing with cans & bottles and the recycling containers empty!

I don't dig through the trash, just take the ones off the top. One day I found a $10 bill in the trash can! I figured the Universe was rewarding me for being a recycling zealot!

And yes I do pick up change when I see it!

Absolutely not. IÂm the one who ignores change I happen to drop. Just be sure you put my money to good use.

not anymore. with my back, and my lousy medical coverage, it could cost me a fortune.

Hi Bill,

Sorry about your back.

My friends gave me a "Merry Christmas" hat on Christmas Eve ... that the high wind blew off of my head after Christmas Eve communion at church, as I approached my back door.

Found it in the morning ... frozen in. Slipped on ice, chopped it free with shovel, took it to the giver's house ... who took a pic of it, with ice on the peak, while it sat on my head.

Later in the day, going to a friend's house for Christmas supper, slipped on glare ice while retrieving the hat to show him, fell heavily. A couple of days later, felt twinges in back, it got quite hurtful for a time when I moved in certain ways.

It took about two months for it get back to normal, and during that time I'd have had a hard time getting down to pick up money, whether a penny or something more, or other thing of value, on the ground ... but, as I'm reasonably (or unreasonably) stubborn, I'd have probably found a way!

Anyway, the back's almost completely back to normal now ... and I don't think that it cost me any unretrieved pennies during the ordeal (well, not really an "ordeal", unless one chooses to more or less make a mountain out of a molehill).

Found a couple of pennies on the ground in the last while.

By the way - how many coin slots in pay phones do you check out, for coin taking their ease therein?

I haven't found any in quite a while, but find some from time to time.

Once, when a couple of charities were collecting at the exit from a chain grocery ... I found two coins, in two phones ... and they got them.

Don't think that I'd ever found two coins in two phones before ... or since!

Good wishes for keeping our eye out for pennies! And not only hanging on to yours ... but putting them to work wisely!

ole joyful

A lot of people have metal detectors and they pick up most everything. It is a lot of fun!

yes i will pick up a penney.