Have you ever had one of those little moments of luck, finding some money just laying around? Well, I had one of those days this past weekend.
I had just gotten a meal at a Chinese restaurant a few days prior, and at the end of the meal, got the customary fortune cookie. Along with the bill, of course:) Anyway, as I opened the cookie to look at the message, I smiled. Now, I’m not 100% certain what the exact words were, but it said something like:
“You will soon obtain an unexpected fortune”
Cool!
Yeah, it was just a fortune from a silly fotune cookie, but I got a kick out of it and smiled. Then, subsequently forgot about it a minute later.
Fast forward to a few days later. We had gone to the park, for kids to play. For much of the time, I was following kids from station to station, watching just to make sure all was ok but also following along because I kept hearing “Daddy, watch this!” or “Daddy, check this out!” It was fun, the type of moments that make life so great.
After a while, I felt like sitting down, so I headed to a picnic bench that was about 10 yards away. I figured I could keep an eye on things from there while resting a bit. No worries, right. All is good.
Well, all was not just good – it got really good! As I sat down, I noticed a dollar bill on the ground right behind the bench seat. There was no mistaking this for a wrapper, or any other paper – not to this Squirreler. This was money! Cold, hard cash!
I picked up the bill, and to my pleasant surprise, it wasn’t a dollar. Nope. It was a five dollar bill.
Very cool!
Now, I have to admit, the very first thing I thought of was what this $5 could turn into if I invested it. A little surprising to me now, thinking about it, that this is the first thing that came to mind. But it was. I looked at that $5 and envisioned $10 down the line, after time and compunding take effect! Clearly, I’ve been getting ingrained in personal finance, maybe too much:)
Then, the thought came over me. Most likely, someone dropped this while sitting here. I mean, it’s not like $5 came crashing down from the sky just for me. Somebody left it here, dropping it directly, or maybe it fell out of a purse. Who knows? So, I stayed there at the bench for a little while, watching the kids play. All the while, I was waiting for any grown-ups to come by looking for that $5.
Nobody came by for the next 15 minutes. Nobody was even anywhere near that part of the park, and the people that were on the other side of the park had just gotten there a few minutes ago anyway. I concluded that whoever dropped the $5 bill had left the premises a while ago.
At that point, as we were getting ready to leave, I just figured that I might was well keep it. Besides, didn’t that lucky fortune cookie predict that this would happen? 🙂
My Questions for You:
How often do you actually find bills, instead of coins? For me, it’s usually coins I notice, rarely bills. Same for you?
Ever get a fortune, from a fortune cookie, that you got a kick out of?
I once found a crumpled $20 bill laying in an alley. That was about 15 years ago, and I think it will be hard to top it! Like you, if I find any money it’s usually coins.
Linda – Well, that $20 from 15 years ago is worth more than that today:) It’s funny how we just remember things like this, when we forget so many other things. But finding any money more than a few dollars – THAT we remember!
This year has been pretty good to me in terms of found money. I found $5 at BlogWorld in May and in June, I found $4 exiting a NY subway station. Both times I asked the people around me if they’d lost any money. After I determined no one nearby lost the money, I went ahead and kept it. I say that because one guy told me he lost money as soon as I asked him. He didn’t even check his pockets!
Shawanda – sounds like you handled those situations well. Finding $5 and $4 works for me!
I never found money, but I once won a TV/VCR. That may be the luckiest thing I ever won. Fortune cookies for the most part are just encouraging phrases. It could apply to anything, but I appreciate the positive thoughts. Sometimes you just need that!
krantcents – when I first read your comment, I thought you mentioned that you found a TV/VCR! Then I scanned back and saw your opening words “I never found money”. As for fortune cookies, I like the positive thoughts too. Though I think it would be funny if maybe 1 out of 100 had a random negative fortune, like “you will lose a sum of money sometime soon”…just to keep everyone on their toes 🙂
That is so funny–people like you and I are always thinking about the bigger picture with finances:).
Personally, I have found my own money in old pants pockets, but have never found a bill.
Amanda – you’re the second person indicating never having found a bill. I guess I should feel lucky about the $5:)
I actually find bills fairly often. I’ve found everything from $1 to $100. Once I saw money blowing down the street and pulled over and picked it up. My husband and I found a few hundred dollars at one time once — that time we did manage to find the owner too. They were very happy.
Jackie – the day I’m driving and find money blowing down the street is the day I’m the happiest person around:) That being said, kudos to you guys for finding the true owner. That guy had to be so happy to get the money back, that’s cool.
I am usually not that lucky, although I did find a dollar recently.
cashflowmantra – well, a dollar is better than nothing! It can feed someone somewhere…
I rarely find bills, but I almost always find a penny or two (or more) on my commute to and from work since I walk. Usually I pick up more change in a day then I make in adsense money. Just in case you guys thought I was getting rich off my blog 😉
No Debt MBA – LOL. Well, hey – 250 working days a year would equal $2.50 to $5.00 per year, based on your penny or two daily finds. I know someone who regularly used the take a penny jar at a gas station in hopes of getting like $0.50 in free gas per year. You’re beating that guy by a factor of 5 to 10! 🙂
Sounds like a fun experience. Similar things have happened to me as well, just nothing specific comes to mind right now…. It’s fun to make the connection between the fortune and the occurance 😛
World of Finance – yes, it’s fun. I do feel bad for those who would actually believe that the money showed up due to a cookie 🙂
My mom has found bills and wallets on multiple occasions. The wallets and cash we returned, the bills were kept.
One time I found a bunch of quarters in a parking lot. That was about the extent of my windfalls.
First Gen – I’d do the same exact thing, return any wallets. Yet, if a dollar bill was found alone, by itself with no wallet nearby, I’d keep it.
Lucky you! I used to find money all the time.. when I was a kid. I found a $20 bill once and it made my day.
That’s cool that the fortune cookie predicted your future. Maybe there’s more of that to come, and the $5 was just a precursor to something bigger and better 🙂
youngandthrifty – it was a great coincidence! I hope that’s true, what you’re saying about it being a precursor, though I really don’t actually believe in fortune cookie sayings being accurate 🙂
I haven’t found any bills in a long long time… 🙁
retirebyforty – yeah, it’s not too common to find bills. That’s why it’s so cool when you do find them!
My favorite fortune ever:
Fortune not found:
Abort/Retry/Ignore?
I don’t usually find coins or bills. Either I’m not looking hard enough, or people around here really hang on to their money! (Or, I guess, someone else is finding it first.)
SherryH – that’s a fun fortune to get! As for finding money, coins are way easier. Sometimes in public places, they’re on the ground, just waiting for a new home:)