The Pretty Penny: Elizabeth's Epcot Adventure

My friend Elizabeth has been a dedicated penny picker-upper ever since I told her about my little penny project when she visited DC for work this summer! She's gotten friends picking up pennies, her husband stopping by drive-thru windows to see what they can find, and her nieces & nephews working with her when they make family trips to Wal-mart (kids are great for penny finding!).

But I think she hit the mother load when she went on vacation in Orlando. Come to think of it...my friend Illeny found 35 cents when she went to an amusement park earlier this summer. Hmmm. Perhaps we need to stop stressing & just have more fun! Vacation brings pennies! Anyhow, here's Elizabeth's message about her fabulous finds in Orlando:

I have good penny news from Orlando! I found 6 pennies in the Birmingham and Orlando airport on the way to Orlando, 2 dimes in Magic Kingdom, 1 penny in the hotel room, 1 dime and 5 pennies in the Orlando airport on the way home, and drum roll please.... $1 in Epcot!!! It only cost me $2000 to find $1.42!

Only in a world where we truly appreciate the joy of finding a penny...does a $1 bill garner a drum roll! Who knew these things could bring such excitement! Thanks for the great message and serious penny finding skills Elizabeth!!

Penny Protocal

1. Pennies & other change must be discovered outside your home &/or other areas where YOUR money hangs around. It's about found money, people...not money you just forgot you had!

2. Taking pennies from other people's homes (or vehicles) constitutes stealing...don't do it!

3. Tip jars are strictly off limits.

4. Foreign curency cannot be accepted. If you find a Canadian quarter and can somehow convince your Canadian friend to buy the quarter from you at the correct exhange rate in American dollars...then bring it on!

2009--Penny Totals

Technology...a blessing & a curse! We had a bit of a penny disaster when the spreadsheet file we use to track the pennies was corrupted by some kind of cyber-space virus. ACK!!!

The good news is that we keep pretty good records and only lost about a month's worth of data. We still know our total, but not exactly what came from where (or whom...sorry to some of my now penniless collectors on the spreadsheet!).

But we still collected tons of pennies! In 2009 we collected $393.09!! That brings our total for the project so far up to $784.00. AMAZING!!

AND...we even started being a little philanthropical! We dontated $500 to the 1st Annual Young Women's National Conference (geared toward 14-17 year old girls & meant to help with self-confidence & self-esteem), which helped pay for signs, lunch & the financial literacy panel! For more information, check out http://www.ywnc.net/ or follow them on facebook to get involved with next year's event!

All in all...it was another great year for pennies!

2008--The Final Result

As of 12/31/08, "found money" for the year equaled $148.48! In addition to what we've picked up, there's also $6.09in found but uncollected change across the U.S. (way to get those pennies turned in!), $60.31in donations (my girls kicked off the donations this year with a champagne toast at Mate) PLUS $6.95in interest from an account we opened with our money! And now we've added a new category...FUNDRAISING! We're starting small but with the generosity of many people (thanks ASAE Global Summit attendees!) have collected $89.61! That's $305.35 (found (collected)+donations+interest+ fundraising) for Penny Project '08!! We've more than tripled our total from last year ($85.56)!

Penny Saved, Penny Earned--2007 Results

As of 12/31/07, our total amount of "found money" for 2007 was $76.80! Not bad for a bunch of grubby change off the streets of DC (among other places!). In addition to what we've scrounged up, we also have $5.38 in found but uncollected change in various places across the U.S., $8.30 in donations (thanks for getting us started Liz by emptying out your change jar!!), PLUS $0.46 in interest from an account we opened with our money! That means we'll start with a nest egg of $85.56 (found (collected) + donations + interest) to kick off Penny Project '08!!

The Pretty Penny

Elizabeth's Epcot Adventure

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Penny Protocal

The Penny Wall

The Spreadsheet...Who just throws money in a jar?!