Oh man, todayโs post already cracks me up and I havenโt even written it yet! Itโs all based on an email I got yesterday from a friend (the same guy that told me about that trillion dollar coin cliff when it first came out), and reminds me why I loved all those marketing classes back in the day :)
Hereโs what it said:
When I parked my car this morning the first thing I saw when I got out was this $100 bill laying on the ground (see picture). Upon picking it up I discovered it was not actually a $100 bill but somebodyโs business card made to look like a folded up bill. On the other side it says โyou want the real thing? Visit my website at etc. etc.โ. While walking to my building I saw 20 more just like it scattered all over the place. Creative idea, although I am not sure if it is legal. I was also disappointed that it was not the real thing, so I threw it away once I realized I had been tricked. One of the potential drawbacks to this marketing strategy.
Haha.. Yes, probably not good to piss off your potential clients before you even grab them ;) Though it is clever! Unlike that wannabe pimp though, a true gentleman uses REAL dollar bills when marketing his business. *Ahem*. It may not be a cool hundred in your pockets, but at least it warms your heart faster ;) Now as far as the legal part, Iโd like to think it falls under that โgray areaโ everyone talks aboutโฆ The legal tender can still be used after a few doodles, so itโs not like Iโm destroying govโt property, ya know? I prefer to not test them out though and bring it to their attention, hahaโฆ
This also reminds of a time back in high school when we were learning about accounting and how to write a check/etc (I wonder if they still teach that?), and I thought it would be a fun experiment to drop these fake blank checks around the halls to see if anyone would pick them up. And then, of course, think they were real and went on to cash it at a bank โ for however much they deemed appropriate to steal ;) Looking back it was pretty mean of me considering you could get in SERIOUS trouble trying to cash in on fake money and commit fraud, but luckily no one took the bait and I quickly forgot about it the next dayโฆ At least I donโt think anyone tried?
Anyways, while my friend above got fooled for a hot second and realized he was not the proud owner of a new $100 bill, thereโs been plenty of times where weโve all at some point come across REAL money on the ground for sure! I remember three such times very clearly:
- When I was 7 years old and found a $20 bill. Remember how your mom would always take you clothes shopping, but of course you never wanted to be in those stores in the first place? And would run and hide under all those coat racks so she couldnโt find you? (Or was that just a guy thing? ;)) Well, one of these times we were in some run down discount store and when I was hidden beneath a bunch of coats I found a crisp $20 bill beneath my feet. I felt like a millionaire!
- When I was 18 and found handfuls of half dollars and other valuables. You know those theme parks that have lazy rivers and what not running through them so everyone can cool off in the Summer? And you jump on all those inner tubes and float down without any cares in the world? When all the adults were doing that, my teenage friends and I would hide under our tubes and scan the bottom of the pools searching for lost treasures like coins and jewelry ;) And weโd go around, and around, and around allllll day long inevitably either getting caught by the lifeguards (is that really illegal though?) or getting too water logged and not being able to see clearly for hours after that. Hahaโฆ it was awesome. And weโd literally find $20-$30 a piece at the end of it all, and many times half dollars for whatever reason. Once I found 7 of them all in one pile! Do you know how hard it is to grab that and hide them in your pockets?? It was hilariousโฆ And another time we even found a diamond ring which we promptly returned to lost and found like good little Boy Scoutsโฆ We may take peopleโs money, but never their jewelry! ;)
- When I was 25 and found a bag of cash outside my car door. It was one of the strangest things Iโve ever come across, but on that one fateful day โ out of alllll the open parking spots โ I open my car door to go to Food Lion and a plastic bag full of wrapped dollar bills is laying there at my feet. At first I thought it had fallen out of MY car, but indeed I do not roll around with wads of cash like that, hahaโฆ After the shock wore off, I picked it up, looked all around me to see if it was a trick or if someone was gonna come hunt me down later and kill me (you never know!!), but I was the only person in sight and there were literally like 5 other cars in the entire parking lot which holds 500. It was surreal. The total amount that was in that bag? $82.00. Score!
I canโt remember what the point of me telling you all this is today, haha, but it sure was fun going down memory lane ;) Maybe it was to always keep your eyes open for piles of money laying on the ground? Or to get creative when trying to market your business?
Either way, what would be MORE interesting is hearing about your stories on finding free stuff! Would you be so kind as to share them with us today? Letโs see whoโs found the most valuable thing out there! Maybe our weekend will be blessed with even more of it :)
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You found a bag of cash? That is awesome! I have dreams about finding bags of cash.
Those fake bills were incredibly common when I lived down south. They were full of come to Jesus messages and scattered liberally everywhere. A few of my friends would even get them as tips back when they were working at restaurants.
Oh really?? Were they all like โGod before moneyโ or something like that? Kinda clever marketing for sure, but def. in your faceโฆ
haha crazy idea about having that as a business card!
My ExGF found a bag that had ยฃ10,000 in cash in it on a bus once. She handed it in at the police station (it also had a store rewards card and nothing else) being a good citizen. Turns out that it belonged to an old lady who had withdrawn it from one bank to pay in at the other. She left a few hundred pounds as a reward and the kindest letter ever thanking her.
Awwww what a crazy good story! I love nice people!! Have you heard about that recent homeless guy/wedding ring story going around town? Returned someoneโs ring that was accidentally given to him and the lady went and raised $10,000 online for him in return. Then it went viral and now itโs over $100,000!! So awesome.
Check it: http://www.giveforward.com/billyray
I have found pennies and other small change but that is about it. I am just happy to know where my own money is at all times.
One of my sons is the kind that looses bills for others to find. Loose bills in his front pocket and things tend to fly out when he reaches for his keys. I bought him an excellent stainless steel wallet designed for the front pocket but all he keeps in there is his ID.
HAH! Perhaps it was his wallet I found the other month thrown across the street โ ids and credit cards and all. The kid left it on his roof and then drove off, hahaโฆ.
Hereโs the post I wrote about it โ was quite the adventure :)
https://budgetsaresexy.com/2012/06/mysterious-lost-wallet/
Iโve seen similar dollar bill tricks but they had religious messages on the inside and tried to make you feel bad for picking up the fake dollar bills.
I once found $20 walking from my apartment to my college class once. The thing with that is there is no way you can turn it in to a lost and found or anything so I definitely kept that one for myself :) Made me glad I skipped my first class that morning, must have been destiny!
HAH! I only purposely skipped one class in college and my teacher caught me about to do it and warned that I shouldnโt (but I did anyways) and he then did a pop quiz just to teach me a lesson ;) too bad it was last semester of college! Hahaโฆ
I ended up taking 21 credit hours both semesters my senior year so I learned which classes could be skipped and which couldnโt. In fact, there was one class (T/Th) I only went to 4 times. The first class and the 3 tests.
I found $22 while walking to work the other day. It was just laying in the middle of the sidewalk. I viewed it as an almighty incentive to walk instead of drive!
Yes! Awesome! Walking to work is the greatest โ I miss thatโฆ though, I guess I do it now I just walk down to my basement ;)
I once found a $20 bill!!! It was awesome! It was last year too :)
Itโs always a nice โpick me upโ when I find a bit of cash here and there. I remember recently finding a $20 bill (I think it was in a Wal-Mart). Woohoo, what a treat! The bad part is my conscious always eats at me wondering if someone is starving because they lost their $20 bill.
My husband and I enjoy geocaching and early on we really struggled to find a particular cache. We never did find that one, however in the search we did find $7 in cash. That was a fun trade off (especially as we were in the middle of nowhere and had no way to turn the $$ in).
Nice! I wonder how the heck it got there?? From other geocachers looking for the same box? You should have left another dollar with a coded message on it or something ;) Like, โSorry you couldnโt find the box, but instead hereโs a dollar! Go treat yourself to an ice-creamโ hahaโฆ
I used to go through all the vending machines and washing machines/dryers in college when i would take late night walks through our underground tunnel system or was returning late from work. Always found a few odd dollars. THink one year I totalled them to almost $200.
Love it! Kinda like when you used to go through old payphones looking for quarters from back in the day, eh?
Iโve seen those business cards before and I always wonder who they think theyโre going to get with something like that. Being in marketing myself, it just makes me scratch my head. I did find $40 in an ATM once and when I was six I found a $5 bill in the vacant lot next to our houseโฆI thought I had won the lottery. Lol!
Man, $40 as a kid is like $100,000!!
I found $10 once at a fair on the way back to my car. I sat on a brick retaining wall for like 20 minutes hoping the owner would just come backโnever did.
That is the most I found and kept.
I have found and gave to the police:
cell phones, pay checks, wallets / purses with cash, credit and you name it in it, a camera, and a messenger bag. I donโt even know if anyone got their stuff, back because I never heard anything about it, but I assume because it was the police.
Yeah, thatโs very nice of you :) Someone once returned my wallet after I lost it 2 years ago in NYC with every last item in it still! I had $0 when I lost it, but still โ all my ids and credit cards were there!
Hahah thatโs a good ideaโฆWe used to do things like this in high school we would have copies of a dollar bill and we would plant them down the hall a little bit and reel in the bait as people would pick it upโฆit was greatโฆmade for a fun lunch time..
It is a good idea for a business cardโฆeveryone will likely remember it and talk about itโฆand thatโs what a business card isโฆmarketing!!!
I found a scratched lottery ticket that won 5 dollarsโฆso now i check all the discarded lotto tickets on the groundโฆnever know what you are going to find.
Good idea :) Yeah, I figure itโs one of the only business cards you wonโt just chuck in the trash if you donโt like me! At the very least you spend it and then it goes back into circulation for others to learn about my site, hahaโฆ or it just gets pinned up on peopleโs walls, which I also enjoy.
I found $13 on the bathroom floor at work and turned it in. An email was sent out asking if anyone could identify what they lost, and no one ever did, so I got to keep it. I also found $20 in a parking ramp when I was the only car there. That made my morning a little better!
I love finding paper money! Donโt get me wrong, coins are great too, but thereโs something extra special about finding bills on the ground. My biggest scores were:
$80 at a diner (four $20 bills under an empty booth across from mine. No one else was in the place.)
$50 bill in an empty parking lot across from my house. That was extremely cool!
Iโve found $1s, $5s, and $10s too over the years. But never a $100 bill. YET! I would really like to find a Benjamin just sitting on the ground somewhere. That would be so cool.
Agreed. A hundy WOULD be cool!
I have found $20 before โ it was awesome! I recently found $5 at a Packer game. (Thatโs almost a whole beer!) One time, I found an unused gift card lying on the floor of the department store. I think it had like a $13 balance, but that was a great day, too.
Iโll only excuse you if the Packers were playing the Redskins and thatโs why you went ;)
Just last weekend we went on a โGhost Tourโ down in Galveston, early in the tour she had warned about one of the houses near the end was demonic haunted and not to pick up anything near this house because it could carry the spirit or energy with you. Then just after this house we cross the street and I find a Ten dollar bill lying in the parking space there, of course I picked it up. My girlfriend didnโt want to touch it. I ended up giving it to the tour guide for a tip instead of using my own money, doubt she would have wanted it if she knew where I found it!
ACK!!! NO way!!! I would have left it alone too, hahaโฆ freaky!!! (But awesome about the ghost tours โ those are so fun!)
Few years ago, when I was a student, I had part-time job as a bartender. One evening I found wallet full of cash but without driving licence or ID or anything I could send it back to the owner. So, seriously, it was really tempting. But I found some business cards and one of them was with a date of next dentist appointment. So I called that dentist, told the story about wallet and ask the receptionist if she could check who was going to have this appointment and give me his/her number. I found that lady, she came to pick up her wallet and she left around 50$ as a โtipโ ;) Does it count as finding money? ;)
Nice!! So kind of you โ seriously. Most people would have stopped there once they didnโt see an ID/etc.. and even better they rewarded you in the end! Way to go!
I have never found much more than a quarter, though I did find my wife and that beats anything everyone else found. :)
I found money at the bottom of a pool once, but it was because my grandma threw it there. She would throw coins on the steps in the pool to slowly entice me into the water. For some reason I was deathly afraid of swimming pools.
I guess she knew me well. I would do anything for a little money. The only bad part was eventually she used up all her coins, and just ended up throwing me in the pool. That part wasnโt fun.
Ahahahhahahaโฆ Your grandma is my new favorite person :)
I love finding money! I always enjoy it when I put that winter coat on or shorts in the summer and find a few bucks in there.
It could be $3 but it always makes me happy.
I think I should start leaving money in my pockets when the season changes so I can get that nice feeling more often!
Or maybe Iโll sneak a couple bucks into my spouses pockets in her closet and surprise her!
YES!! Thatโs a great โtrickโ Iโve heard people do to save more money in the endโฆ leave $20s everywhere and then have a nice surprise down the road when you have forgotten. Only problem is when you forget and give AWAY your clothes! Then someone else gets the reward ;)
I have never found anything. But I have this incredibly lucky friend who steps on money all the. Seriously.
She does not believe in keeping those funds because she thinks it is bad luck, so she would spend the money as soon as she finds it on other people. Itโs great being her friend. =)
Haha, I bet ;)
My wife is the queen of finding money. She works at a grocery store and people drop money there ALL the time. You report it to a manager and wait 30 days to see if anyone claims it. After 30 days, itโs yours. Over the past 6 years, she has probably brought home a couple hundred dollars.
I love all the stories. I once found a $20 outside the Thrift Store; that was like a double-great find. I had no one to return it to, and I discovered an incredible little thrift store find that day.
I have always been a coin-picker-upper. I keep my coin jar and turn the coins in at a friendโs bank (they donโt charge a % to count the coins). She makes a deposit & then gives me the cash. We turned in $78 last week when I went to Reno. Fun! and makes for a nice little deposit to my savings account.
I always feel like the Karma Goddess has blessed me, even when I find a penny. Itโs just a nice little kick to my day, and who canโt use a free smile?
Exactly :) You should track how much youโve found over the years and continue doing so. There used to be a blog about that but it since stoppedโฆ I loved checking in every few months to see the new numbers and all the places he had found them. He had a favorite airport (he traveled a lot) because it always had better odds of finding coins on the ground than others :) Itโs cool finding these little things in life!
I found 5 crumpled up $20 dollar bills while riding my bike past a bar. I had just voted in 2008. I got off my bike and realized what they were-$100 dollars!! I scooped up that money really fast and started laughing hysterically. What a great day! I found $5 dollars 2 weeks ago and last weekend the ATM gave me $40 extra. I returned that money!
Wow you are lucky!! Good for you!
Your friend did get pranked with that $100 card. I always find it amusing to find a few cents or some bills on the pockets of my clothes while doing the laundry.
A year or so ago, I found $9 when walking the dog โ as I normally do, I was looking down periodically as I walked (as you HAVE to do in my neighborhood since not everyone picks up their pupโs doggie-bombs), and VOILA there it was, all crumpled up. Looked like someone had dropped it when getting into/out of their car. I remember finding another couple dollars on the sidewalk not too long after that, too. I also found a $20 in a gas station parking lot a few months back โ parked to pop inside to grab something from the convenience store, and as I came around the back of the car, it was there right behind my car. SWEET!
Last year, I found a wallet when walking the dog โ no money, just an ID and some store discount cards & family pictures. Looked like the wallet had been lifted & anything of value was taken before it got tossed aside. Oh, and the ID was a Department of Corrections card, identifying him as a released criminal. I happened to see a cop drive by in the neighborhood the next day, and so I flagged him down and asked him what I should doโฆhe said to throw it away & that the guy could get a new ID from his parole officer!
Really?? That seems odd from a copโฆ Maybe he was just being lazy and didnโt want to file any paperwork, hahaโฆ
Yeah, probably the fake hundred that makes people feel bad isnโt the best marketing strategy ever.
I find money quite often โ and I get excited even if itโs a nickel ;) But I have found real hundreds laying on the ground multiple times. Once my husband and just kept finding them on the street when we were walking. We did find the person those belonged to thoughโฆ
Was he/she a drug dealer? ;)
One time when my husband and I were going out to a Vietnamese Pho restaurant for dinner, I happened to look down on the sidewalk where I was standing and found a $20 bill. The funny thing about it was that it was directly across the street from the restaurant and the restaurant bill came to exactly $20. So, we had free Pho that night!
My brother really did find two hundred dollar bills by the dumpster at his college apartment. Crazy! But he is that kind of guy where he has tons of crazy stories like that. I once found a ten dollar bill in a pair of jeans at a thrift store , that is the extent of my luck.
Hahaโฆ How the heck does $200 show up randomly near a dumpster??? Was he dumpster diving?? :)
It is pretty coincidental that this post was written this weekendโฆ.
On Saturday, I was at Target and I was walking out of the store and found about $150.00 in gift cards to a big box electronic storeโฆI couldnโt believe that people were just walking over these gift cards! I scooped โem up and got a brand new Tablet :)
I find money all of the timeโฆIโve found many $20 billsโonce on top of a book at a college book store, a lot in parking lots. My friends and I were leaving a waterpark and in the parking lot and they BOTH walked over a $10 bill. I bent down and picked it up and laughed at them, haha.
Anywayโฆ.my find this weekend is BY FAR the most Iโve ever found
WOW!! Good timing indeed โ so crazy! $150 is no joke!!
I was at the casino one night, many years ago, with my then girlfriend and her family. Me and my girl were walking around the casino watching everyone play. We walk around the table games and then head over to the slot machines. Shortly After walking around the machines, i spot a folded up $10 dollar bill hiding in the corner. Trying not to look down and make it too obvious to everyone around me, I made a beeline to the corner. I step on the bill, quickly pick it up & stash it in my pocket. I then find a safe spot to unwrap it. While unwrapping it i discover this $10 bill had two $20โs inside. I didnโt gambleโฆbut i was a winner that night!
Awesome!! I was hoping you were gonna say you then bet it all on black and doubled up, hahaโฆ by finding two 20โs in there is even better!
I think thatโs a great strategyโฆ. I guess I would be angry that I was tricked but it certainly gets the word out effectively.
A few months ago I found a 20 dollar bill in a parking lot and no one was around to claim itโฆ
:)
You know what would be a fun surprise? If you open up that fake $100 bill of a business card, but inside there were *two* $100 bills.
Haha yesโฆ that WOULD be a better surprise! :)