free car savings update number 9

So as some of you could probably have predicted I emptied my savings fund entirely about 2 days after the last update. This was to fund another of my many projects, building my shed.

 But failure is a part of life, and how you react to failure defines you, so I am picking myself up, dusting myself down and getting straight back on the horse. I've also decided to stop counting funds until they are actually liquid, so the total is now as follows (I am hussling hard)

Total: £64.47

I am gutted as this week a PERFECT Sisley came up on everyone's favourite auction site, and it went to someone I know on fiat forum. Fair play to him I hold no grudges, it was my own fault for not having the funds to hand. But the next time a perfect example (for my tastes) comes up I won't be stopped.

So are any of you taking the challenge with me? How are you doing? Comments below folks!

Picking up money and coins from the ground, squeeze the pennies till the Queen (or abe lincoln) crys for mercy!

Whew... Ok this is going to be a controversial topic for many of my readers, so I will do my best to rationalise it, though before we go any further I am well aware that this will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I just had to blog about it!

I pick up coins and money from the ground (and vending machine coin slots too) and I save them in a jar. There. I said it. Let the judging commence!

I do have some rules about it though,
1-If I find any paper money I would instantly report it to whichever shop or shopping mall I was in. Or the police If I found it outwith these places.
2- If the money is near a charity collection tin or homeless person I would either ignore it, or give it to them.

The biggest find I have ever had was £10, and it was at my work, I spoke to the main receptionist who said to hang onto it till the end of the day and if she didnt have anyone claim it then it was mine. Which I did :) Mostly though I find pennies and small denomination coins, sometimes even foreign coins :) I have a special tin for my foreign coins so that if I ever visit that place then I have some loose change :)

I sometimes check vending machine coin return slots too, there is one particular vending machine which basically always has money left in the coin return slot, anything between ten pence and thirty pence usually!

Picking up coins from the ground when Im out shopping or walking helps with my budget, in all honesty its a bit of a game to me, I like the idea that I can go out for a walk and potentially return slightly richer! Im sure that some of you reading this may think this is silly, or at worst that I am scum for doing it. But here are my reasons:

1- Its fun to pick up coins, adding them to your coin jar makes you reach your goals a little quicker, and if you are the kind of person who saves small amounts on items you buy using coupons or vouchers, then why not pick up some loose change?

2- It makes an ordinary walk a little more exciting, you get a little thrill when you find a coin

3- On our high streets in Britain there are a lot of coins dropped on the ground and their "Owners" havent bothered to pick them up, this is a RECESSION, losing coins by letting them go down drains is effectively taking money out of circulation, which is bad for the economy. I dont know about you, but I would like to see a return to the days when you could walk out of your job on a friday and start a new one on the monday!

4- This point is sort of adding to my previous point, but I personally see the value in small coins, whereas other people seem to throw them on the street for being small denomination. 100 pennies makes a pound, 50 two pences make a pound, ten ten pences make a pound etc, no wonder this country is in so much debt! Noone appreciates the value of money anymore!

I would be interested to hear your thoughts folks, do you pick up coins? Or if not, why not?

Do you pick up coins or money on the ground?

Ok, this is going to be a "marmite" post, you are either going to love the idea of this, or HATE it, its that derisive a topic, here goes!
Almost every day I find money of some sort on my daily travels, I don't even do it on purpose anymore! But my eyes just seem to find the coins (And in some very rare cases notes!) wherever they are on the pavements/ground etc. I once found a ten pound note as well in a business in Ayr, I reported that I had it, they took my details and said that If noone claimed it by the end of the day then I could keep it! Any more than that though and I would hand it in to the police. Everyone has a different level of tolerance for finding money, from a moral standpoint. To be honest most people don't pick up coins or money from the street anyways, they think its "dirty". Which is 100% TRUE. But only because the money in current circulation has been handled so many times, by so many different people, and kept in hiding places by many different people, so its as dirty as the rest of the money in circulation by my way of thinking. So far THIS YEAR I have found somewhere in the region of £25, in these hard financial times, thats got to be a welcome bonus in 4 months!! Simply from picking up coins in the streets!

So my question to you budgetlifers, is do you pick up coins/notes from the ground/streets/sidewalks? And what is the reason for yes or no answer?? Looking forward to hearing from you budgetlifers!

My next post will be about ways to make money on the side, (not from your day job)