The Pretty Penny: July 2009

One of the best parts about being me is the calls I get about penny finding. These calls are absolutely priceless and come more often than you'd think! Not a week after jumping out of my car at an on ramp, I got a call from one of my best friends telling me she'd done the same thing!

A few weeks ago I got a call from my dad saying he was stopped at a light and spied a few pennies out his window. He opened the door to get out and my mom yelled, "Do you see pennies?!" Not only did he think it was totally natural to just jump out of the car at this intersection...but my mom knew exactly what he was doing. And dare I say, she was jealous SHE didn't see them so she could be the one to jump out in traffic!

Since many of these calls are conversations that I know the gist of but don't have recorded, I can't share the specifics of them with you. BUT...I do occasionally get a voice mail message. Those I CAN share with you!

Below are two recent voice mails I received Re: The Penny Project. I tried to punctuate to convey the emotion of the messages. Not sure I was 100% accurate...but I think you get the idea.

Enjoy what comes after my "beep"...and know that your penny messages are always welcome!

Call #1:
Hey Leslie, it's Julia. I hope you're havin' a good week. I understand you're being exhausted but I have this great penny story that I just had to share with you.

I was trying to go to Target near your house, um, for my little midnight run and unfortunately it closes at 10 and I got there at like 10 after 10, hoping that it was open until 11. No luck.

Anyhow...As I was crossing the street to get to the other side...um...I saw a penny. But it was buried in the tar so like the tail side was up and, um...but I had like 25 seconds...to cross. So I dug it out Leslie. I dug it out. I did. And I have the penny now with the dirty Lincoln face to show for it. That I hope to pass on to you. Soon.

Alright chica, God bless you. Will talk to you soon. Bye.

Call #2:
Penny, penny, penny, dime. YES! 13 cents at the McDonald's drive thru. Oh yeahhhh.

So I looked like an idiot. I was like, "Oh...I dropped my change." (Laughing) And she like rolled her eyes at me but I don't care 'cause I got 13 more cents. I do have a lot of dimes come up for this year.

Ok, bye.

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

Please Leave Your Pennies After the Beep...BEEP!

Penny Protocal

The Penny Wall

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