Carter's Cash

My nephew, Carter, has for a couple of years made a job out of collecting spare change from anywhere and everywhere. Eventually his project earned its own title - Carter's Cash - and two simple rules were established:

1. Carter can add to his fund any money he finds on the ground, left in a coinstar machine, or left in a vending machine. Basically he can keep any "abandoned" money that can't be returned to its owner either because of its location or because of the amount.
2. Carter cannot add to the fund any money that someone else gives him.

Carter's Cash has an official start date and end date so that when the end date arrives, Carter can "cash out" and use the money for something fun.

In his first year, Carter made...wait for it...$56. Like I mentioned above, he made finding abandoned money his job. 

Year one - $56

Year two - $32
A decrease, but still a pretty solid collection!

I decided to give Carter's Cash a try for myself, so from January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024 I kept my eyes peeled and found many a coin on my walks, on the floor in stores, and a few additional places as well. I also found one $1 bill - it was in a muddy puddle on the side of the road, hidden almost entirely beneath a pile of wet and smelly leaves - and that, my friends, was an exciting day.

I didn't make anywhere near what Carter made, I did "cash out" and spend my $5.97 on a vanilla sweet cream cold brew from Starbucks.

Carter has now expanded Carter's Cash and rebranded as Ekenas' Earnings (his last name is Ekena), so I think I'm going to borrow part of that name and set myself up for success in 2025: Erin's Earnings (or maybe Ferris' Findings?) is now in business!

~

Happy 12th birthday (tomorrow), President Carter!