What are the best places or spots to find money in the form of loose change in public? speaking from personal experience, the list of three places below is guaranteed to help you find money the next time you happen to be in one of them. Remember, take it only if the money can’t be returned to its rightful owners; just trying to keep ourselves honest here!
- Vending machines and self pay parking : though more and more people are starting to use their credit cards to pay at these machines, some are still the old-fashioned way, only accepting coins. If you look closely or reach with your finger, it is amazing how much loose change is often left at the slot where rejected and returned coins are deposited. And this is more prominent for parking lot self-pay machines. I don’t know why that is the case, but I guess people are in rush to get where they want to go, or don’t know how much money is needed exactly, so they deposit their loose change to pay, take their parking pass and leave. Try this the next few times you are paying for parking or at a vending machine.
- Near the cashier at gas stations and grocery stores: this one never fails. Can’t go a few visits without spotting some loose change on the floor, at the foot of where you pay at a gas station, grocery or convenience stores in general. There is no secret to this, while people are trying to pay, they take out the money out of pocket, and unknowingly some of it drop and they don’t even notice. Heck, they probably do but don’t bother when it is a nickle or dime. Funny story: two weeks ago, I was at the check-out lane, paying for some items at the grocery store. An old lady that was ahead of me called me to let me know that I dropped some change. When I looked, there was 2 quarters that someone else had dropped. I told her I didn’t drop them and if they are not hers, I would take them. It wasn’t hers, so I went ahead and took them!
- At the foot of Drive-Thru ATM Machines: this one has always puzzled me. Why the hell would there be loose change at the bottom of drive-thru ATM machines? it is not like the ATM is dispensing coins. So how do they end up there, especially when drivers are in their car to withdraw the money? Obviously, compared to the two spots I discussed above, this one is more rare and not as frequent. But I would say I still find coins here at least 3 times a year. It all started 10 years ago when I was approaching an ATM machine with my car to withdraw some money. As I got closer, I noticed lots of change on the floor (right at the foot of the machine) . When I opened the door, there was close to $1.50 or more in there. I didn’t make anything of it and thought it was just by accident. But in the next months and years, this would repeat, and I don’t remember one year going by without finding some money at the foot of drive-thru ATM machines. My only explanation as to how this is happening is that people have their cards in the same pocket where their loose change is, so in a rush to take it out, some coins go out flying through the window! I don’t care how it happens (well I do feel bad for those who lose their money, but it is only few cents anyway!) as long as I spot and take it!
There you have it! Finding loose change at these spots won’t make you rich now or ever, but it will give you that cool feeling of finding money on the floor. Just put it in a piggy bank and in a few years, there may be enough there to buy you something worthwhile!