HOARDING CASH
Mrs. Cranky is a cash hoarder. She has warned her kids that when she is gone;
don’t sell the house without checking everything with a fine tooth comb. There is money stashed all over. Not a whole lot of money, a dollar here, a
dollar there. Sometimes a five or a ten
and occasionally I have tripped over an old wallet she forgot about with $50 or
more.
I can’t make fun of her about this, I squirrel money away
also. I often think I’m broke and then
remember I have hidden a twenty or two in my secret wallet compartment. All my change gets thrown into a jar and is
forgotten. Every six months or so I
think to bring the jar to the bank where they run it through a counting
machine. It is usually between $100 and
$150 of what seems like new found money.
When I am on the road and buy soda or gum or gas, I take
whatever bills or change I get in return and throw it into my center console
where it is forgotten until a cash emergency happens.
There is just something about finding “lost” money that
always gives me a cheap thrill.
Years ago, back when I lived on a $350 bi-weekly pay check, I
would deposit enough to pay the rent and other monthly bills and keep the rest,
usually about $120 for normal living expenses.
The ATM had not yet been invented.
One week, I went looking in my cash drawer for daily spending money and
it seemed to be short. It was short at
least $20 and maybe even $40. I was not
very good at keeping track of money, but I knew the drawer was a little
short. I figured either my wife or I had
simply lost some cash somewhere along the way and did not realize it. DAMN!
We scrimped on groceries, passed on wine with dinner, brought
lunch to work and somehow made it to the next payday despite the lost money.
One year later, I accidently pulled the drawer where we kept
our cash all the way out of its runners.
On the top of the drawer slot there were three twenty dollar bills. The lost money from the year before! Apparently the bills got caught in the drawer
and fell out the back and in a hiding space under the drawer.
Talk about found money! We went out that night to our
favorite Chinese Restaurant, had drinks and a great meal, and still had $35
left over.
Hoarded money earns no interest, but finding money you had
forgot you hoarded is like hitting the lottery.
LOL, in going through hubby's parents' things, his dad told him that he had hidden money in books so we went through every single book, every single piece of paper, magazine, etc., and found NOTHING. I always wondered if he indeed had hidden money in books or just wanted us to have to physically go through each item instead of just tossing it all.
ReplyDeletebetty
I once found a hundred dollar bill in the zippered pocket of my shorts--I thought I had gone to heaven!!
ReplyDeleteYesterday I found a lottery ticket in my bag that I'd forgotten about - I checked it and had won £25 which was great as it was SD's Birthday so I got him an extra present. I don't often find much money that I've forgotten about but it makes me really happy when I do!
ReplyDeleteThe cleaner gave me back some money once. Folded bills slipped between the pocket and lining of the jacket and made a mark when they pressed. A couple of twenties.
ReplyDeletetoo cute. i have a milk can that has a lot of loose change in it. and i have one hiding place for a few $20s for emergencies and the like. ALWAYS must keep some hidden cash just in case. now, if the banking system ever crashes or gets hacked, etc. we'll be in a world of hurt, won't we. our few $20s won't matter much.
ReplyDeleteI hoard money. If I don't, it will go toward some home project that I'm not interested in.
ReplyDeleteI can so relate. We do most of this too. Why? I've not a clue.
ReplyDeleteMy aunt and uncle lived in San Francisco all their lives. Never owned a car and when they passed my mother found over 10K all over their house. Didn't have a clue until some money fell out of a book. The hunt was on.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
Interest? Who's giving interest these days. Not banks. You're almost better off keeping your money in a coffee can under the house.
ReplyDeleteI think my aversion to this practice stems from finding out that mother would underestimate her checking account balance to earn herself the same kind of fun "surprise." That kind of loosey-goosey play would drive me crazy!
ReplyDeleteI always have a little 'mad' money in my wallet, but I don't hide money around the house. I do love finding money... like when I do the laundry, and the rule is, I keep what I find.
ReplyDeleteWith a savings account paying next to nothing anyway, it's just as good to save a bit at home as at the bank sometimes!
ReplyDeleteHoarded money many not get interest but found money gets my interest every time!
ReplyDeleteIt is a good think that "MRS C" has the habit of putting money away. It is shocking that three bills of Twenty got stuck in the draw. Wow!
ReplyDeleteMy aunt used to send me a Christmas card with a $50 bill in it every year (all the way from Germany!). One year, I forgot about the money in the card and discovered it when next year's Christmas card arrived. I had $100 - and felt absolutely giddy!
ReplyDeleteI always have a bit stashed here and there, because I never know when my husband will suddenly need $800 for a riding lawn mower he got a good deal on, $200 to give the guy who bought a load of gravel and graded the road, or A THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR SHOE INSERTS AT THE GOOD FEET STORE!
ReplyDeleteOh that foot thing...Let it go Val, let it go.
DeleteI don't carry change around. At the end of every day I throw whatever change I get into a big jar, just like you. When it gets to $2-300 I hit the change counting machine and get gift cards. It feels like I really got away with something. I'm still looking for that endless change behind the cushion sofa.
ReplyDeleteYour story about the three twenties reminded me of something my mother did. One summer payday she cashed her paycheque and put almost all of it into one of her winter boots in her bedroom closet. Then forgot about it. She kept thinking she was really tight for money that month - yes, a monthly cheque, quite a bit of money. She didn't find it until the first winter day when she needed her boots.
ReplyDeleteAnd another story about people who hid money before they passed away -- A lady known to one of my co-workers would hide individual bills under the edges of the wall paper, under loose linoleum, and such places. Her family found the first couple bills by accident and then had quite the search to retrieve all of them.
i stash away a bit when I can, but don't have tiny amounts all over the place. I have two hiding places only and one of my girls knows where; if I die suddenly, I can rely on her to get the cash and share it with her siblings.
ReplyDeleteI stash my loose change too, but not in a jar. I put the coins into a slotted tin that needs a can opener to open it, when the tin is full, I get a new one and keep going. At Christmas, or close to it, I'll open those tins and use the money for Christmas things. Any left over goes into a new tin.