Money and More

It was fun times this week as I found paper money on three different days...a $5.00 bill on Wednesday, a $1.00 bill on Thursday and it was capped with a $10.00 bill today. Fun times indeed.

It wasn't just cash this week though. I found my first winning lottery ticket! It was only $1.00, but I get excited about finding an actual $1.00 bill. I walked into my local 7-11 and cashed that baby in, and I counted it in my total this week. I also found a Visa gift card that has $.55 on it, which isn't that exciting but still kinda fun.

Then today I found two coupons for completely free food. I can get a free package of Ball Park hot dogs for up to $4.99, and a free Jimmy Dean product up to $6.99. That's $12.00 in free food, and with it being grilling season, both of those will come in handy. I love me some coupons.

In the foreign money finding category, I found a Canadian nickel, 5 Euro cents and 10 Groszy, which apparently is Polish money.

So my total for the week was $20.61, which is the best I've had in a while. Next week I'll have my June total as well as a half-year total. I'm looking forward to counting up my finds at the halfway point. Until next time, have a great week!

More Randomness

I saw some random stuff this week in addition to a nice cash haul. $4.61 is my best week of the month so far, and it was spread throughout the week. No big bills or anything, just nice daily totals.

Some of the other things I came across:

• A flask that felt pretty full. I didn't take it, but it looked like a pretty nice one.
• A box of shot glasses. I'm sure there's a bar somewhere wondering where they are.
• 1 Euro cent. Another addition to my foreign money collection.
• A CB radio. It was the microphone part and the cord. looked someone ripped it out from a truck. Pretty random I'd say.
• A free lemonade coupon from McDonald's.
• The regular stuff like lighters, chapstick, lipstick and keys. I saw a lot of keys this week. Don't people miss those when they drop them?

And, by the way, that $.51 that was glued to the ground last week was gone this week. Someone must have brought out some tools because I'm telling you, those coins were glued down strong.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Have a great week everyone!

Money I Can't Have

There was another story making news in Chicago this week about a guy who found $17,000 and turned it in.  Like I've said before, that is the dream for someone like me. The guy said he never thought about keeping it and has a clear conscience. In this case, I have to agree with him. He found a clear plastic bag (like a Brinks bag), next to an ATM in a bank parking lot. It's pretty clear where the money was from. I would turn it in too...after some hesitation, I'm sure. Now, if it had been in a brown paper bag on the sidewalk with no businesses around, it may be a different story. I do have to say that if I did find $17,000, I probably wouldn't blog about it, so sorry, you wouldn't hear the tale. I can assure you that the most money I've found at one time was $50, so I'm not keeping anything from you....yet.

In other news of money I can't have, I was running on Wednesday along my normal route and saw 2 quarters and a penny on the sidewalk. Of course I got excited and bent down to pick it up. To my surprise, it was glued to the ground. And glued with some pretty strong stuff. Being me, I tried to pick them up for about 10 seconds and then moved on, laughing. I started singing (in my head) "I always feel like somebody's watching me," because I did feel like somewhere someone was staring out their window laughing at me trying to pick it up. Otherwise, why in the hell would you glue money to the ground?

It did take me back a couple of years to when I was a manager at a retail store and my associates would glue money to ground in front of the store just to watch me try and pick it up. They found this hilarious, as did I, when I found out they did it. It also provided entertainment for me when I was in the store watching other people try to pick it up. You would be surprised what people will go to for some change. I remember one guy went back to his car and got a tool and was able to pry it off the concrete. Another lady worked to pry it up for at least a minute. I haven't gone that far yet, but the $.51 glued down along my route will torment me every time I run by it.

Despite that, I found $3.73 this week, including two $1.00 bills yesterday. I also found a Canadian penny and a 10% off coupon to a popular bar in Wrigleyville. It was a pretty good week. Until next time, have a great one!

June in the City

So is the nice weather finally here? It sure feels like it (knock on wood). I don't like going from shorts and a sleeveless shirt on Tuesday and pants, long sleeves and gloves on Thursday. It doesn't get much better than summer in Chicago, so I hope it's here to stay.

I do want to look back on May one more time for my monthly total...$19.50. I'll take it considering I missed a weekend on vacation.  Speaking of vacation, I was out of town this past weekend for a wedding and a short trip to Pittsburgh. Great friends and great times.

Being gone this weekend brought down my weekly total to $1.33. It was only that good because I walked to the bank before we left on Saturday morning and found $.54. Gotta love walking a few blocks down and finding more than I sometimes find when I cover 8 miles. Last week I also found a Cheap Trick guitar pick. I don't know if it was actually used by them, in fact I'm pretty sure it isn't because their tour schedule didn't say they were here last week, but I may tell people it's real...

Well until next week, have a good one and happy first week of June!