Street Money
The Rules of the Game:
The total gets updated when we find money!
How much change can you find on the street? Since 2001, I have been keeping track.
Along with my kids, we pick up any money we find on the ground, in the park, on the street, at a store…you get the idea. The money has to be totally person-free, which means you can’t see someone drop it and then wait to go get it…you have to tell them they dropped it and try to return it. But if it’s just laying there and no one is around…fair game. It’s usually pennies and coins, but sometimes we get lucky.
It started as a good way to keep the kids occupied and focused on something else when we were out and doing stuff, then it turned into a kind of game year after year…seems crazy I guess but it gives us something to do.
The most we’ve found at one time is $20 cash, and $40 in the form of a lottery ticket. My kids have a habit of picking them up off the ground whenever they see them, now that they know what they are. They figure, maybe the person didn’t do it right or missed a winner…at any rate, I figure, winner or loser, they’re still picking up litter and that’s good for everyone! Below is a list of how much we found and what year.
2001: $16.67
2002: $13.15
2003: $13.93
2004: $3.40 (and then stopped keeping track–bad year)
2005: $17.56
2006: $10.55
2007: $42.06 (a good year!)
2008: $52.46 (a better year!!)
2009: $47.72 (oh!! dangit! the economy!!)
just shy of pretty 
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