Back in business -- FMJ -- Day 64

We found 30 cents on Day 64. The first find was made by Ajay on his school's playground -- a quarter. Our second find was 4 pennies at the Ralph's in Wood Ranch. 1 penny on the floor and 3 remaining in the coin return slot of the Coinstar machine. Maya made our last find - a penny near the recycling machine.

We turned in our bottles and cans yesterday -- total deposit received back = $7.52

FMJ - Total Found: $472.67
Since Blog Inception: $13.07
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $383.88

The Big Wedding Weekend! Days 61, 62 & 63

Congratulations to Bobbie & Kunal! Your Wedding Day was an awesome event! May you both be blessed with happiness and lots of children. We're just now recovering from the 4 days of partying, poojas, speeches, song and dance. Lots of drinking - Jack and Coke!

FMJ report for Day 61 - no finds.

FMJ report for Day 62 - no finds.

FMJ report for Day 63 - 33 cents. 2 dimes, 1 nickel, 8 pennies.
The first find was 3 pennies at the Huntington Beach parking lot in front of the Hyatt Hotel Beach Resort were Kunal and Bobbie's wedding was held. (Credit to Reshma Aunty for finding the second penny while walking with us to the beach.) We had a large beachfront suite for my wife, the kids and I. Amazing view of the beach. They had no room available for Saturday night even though we had made a reservation months in advance... so, the Hyatt's manager gave us a complimentary room at the Long Beach Hyatt then on Sunday we moved to the Huntington Beach Hyatt... The hotels management upgraded us to a SUITE and gave us a lavish wine and cheese tray -- Nice! Sometimes it pays to get screwed.

The 2nd find was made upon a trip the Wells Fargo Bank on Beach Blvd. - a dime below the ATM. Our last find was a dime, a nickel and five pennies at the ARCO station on Beach Blvd. - Gas price $3.17.

FMJ - Total Found: $472.37
Since Blog Inception: $12.77
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $376.36

FMJ Blog - Days 59 & 60

No finds made on Day 59.

Total found on Day 60 - 22 cents. Two Dimes & Two Pennies. All finds were made at The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks. Ajay and Daddy played our Spy Game. It was a draw... Dime and penny for each of us.

If you ask me, weddings cost too much... Yes, it's fun to party it up and no one I knew would ever give up the partying, but just imagine how much money is spent of on the fun... sure, would be nice if we could all just accept a laid-back casual backyard style matimonial affair and give what we're spending on this fancy shin-dig to the bride and groom for a nice sized down-payment on a house. I think that when my children get married I make them a large cash offer if they'll refrain from blowing a huge amount on their weddings.

FMJ - Total Found: $472.04
Since Blog Inception: $12.44
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $376.36

FMJ Blog - Day 58.

Just found a single penny on day 58. Found near the first parking space in the fron of Sharkey's Mexican Grill in Simi Valley. I Spent a good deal of time yesterday reading The Da Vinci Code. WHAT A BOOK! I can't wait to see the movie!

The kids and I turned in our latest collection of bottles and cans on day 58 - yielded $4.64.

FMJ - Total Found: $471.82
Since Blog Inception: $12.20
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $376.36

FMJ Blog - Day 57

$1.10 cents found on Day 57. 3 quarters, 2 dimes, 1 nickel & 10 pennies. First find was at Jack in the Box 2 quarters and three pennies. Find #2 was made at Car Wash on Donville St. in Simi Valley - 2 pennies. Find #3 happened at Qdoba in the Simi Valley Towncenter Mall - a penny. Find #4 was made in the parking lot at the mall upon returning to our car - a penny. In the evening, Maya's school did a fundraiser at Topper's Pizza. FMJ also did a little fundraising at Topper's - Found 53 cents - 1 quarter, 2 dimes, 1 nickel, three pennies.

FMJ - Total Found: $471.81
Since Blog Inception: $12.19
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $371.72

FMJ Blog - Day 56

Nothing found on Day 56. Sometimes you're just not in the right places to be let in on the "finds." Yesterday was incredibly busy... ran alot of errands. I did look around. Maybe there's someone else who made the finds. I'll pray for them so that their found money jar fills-up, too!

FMJ Blog - Days 54 & 55

Total Found on Day 54 - 5 cents. All Pennies. First find was at the Moorpark McDonald's - 4 pennies. In the evening, another penny was found in the parking lot of the Cerritos Kohl's store.

For Day 55 - 25 cents in the form of a quarter. The find made at the Jack in the Box on Tampa Ave. in Porter Ranch, CA. The coin laid near the newspaper boxes.

Various recycling was turned in on Day 55 adding $8.76 to our fund.

FMJ - Total Found: $470.71
Since Blog Inception: $11.09
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $371.72

Recycling Update.

Yesterday, a trip to the Simi Valley Recycling Center to turn-in our large water jugs yielded another $4.58 for the B&C Fund. (Hint: 2.5 gallon plastic jugs are worth more by weight than the actual deposit fee.)

FMJ - Total Found: $470.41
Since Blog Inception: $10.79
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $362.96

FMJ blog - Day 53

11 cents found on Day 53. A penny and a dime. The penny was found under my table at Carl's Jr. where I had lunch. In the evening, we went to Long Beach Airport to drop-off my wife for a trip back to Virginia. Jetblue is our favorite airline -- won't fly anyother carrier unless we're forced to do it. Right now, my wife is tooling around Washington in a rented Mustang convertible. Her company is paying for it! Anyway, the kids and I decided to visit with my wife's aunts in Cerritos, CA. We had a good time watching a tivo'ed two-hour America's Funniest Home Videos -- Always a laugh! One our trip home, I made a stop to stretch my legs at the Porter Ranch Wal-mart and found the dime.

FMJ - Total Found: $470.41
Since Blog Inception: $10.79
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $358.38

FMJ Blog - Day 52

Total Found on Day 52 - 5 cents. All Pennies. Our first find was along Biscuit's morning walk - 2 cents - tossed in the street. The second find - 3 cents - was made at Topper's Pizza in Simi Valley. The coins were left on a table by these very raucously loud kids who were playing some sort of "coin game." To the kids, we say: The found money jar made the biggest score last night!

FMJ - Total Found: $470.30
Since Blog Inception: $10.68
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $358.38

FMJ Blog - Day 51

Total found for Day 51 - 15 cents. In the morning our first find was a nickel left atop the L.A. Times Newspaper Box at Ralph's in Wood Ranch. A dime was found with Ajay in Moorpark Carl's Jr. at Lunch.

FMJ - Total Found: $470.25
Since Blog Inception: $10.63
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $358.38

FMJ Blog - Day 50 (New Project!)

We found three pennies on Day 50. All were found along Biscuit's walk. Good Dog.

Well, I've kept up with this blog for 50 days now -- Easy as Pie! Along with this found money blog, some of you may know that the kids and I collect bottles and cans for the CRV turn-in deposit fees. We find them along the dog walks and at the parks and tennis courts and, of course, some are donated from our neighbors and relatives. From this day forward, the blog will report those the return funds from our recycling. All funds derived from that project are separate and not co-mingled. Since October 2005, the Bottles and Cans recycling fund account has grown to $358.38. A monthly deposit of these funds are made to a savings at our credit union. As time goes on, these funds will also be invested in dividend paying stocks in their own account. Can't wait to see how the B&C fund grows.

FMJ - Total Found: $470.10
Since Blog Inception: $10.38
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $358.38

FMJ Blog - Day 49

We found twenty-seven cents on Day 49. The first find was a penny and quarter at In-N-Out Burger in Camarillo, CA. Good Shakes are found there! Next find was a penny in the Reebok Store at Camarillo Outlets. Then, while passing the soda machines, I spotted some strange coins... Got closer and found that the coins were Chilean Pesos - 1 each... for my "someday" trip to Santiago.

FMJ - Total Found: $470.07
Since Blog Inception: $10.35

FMJ Blog - Day 48

Total found for the day - 72 cents. First find was made by Ajay - a quarter - at the Santa Ana Mall during a stop at Victoria's Secret for a bridal shower gift. At the food court, Maya found a quarter and a penny. Later in the afternoon at a stop for sodas at Ralph's in Cerritos, I found 2 dimes and a penny. Next week should be interesting as the whole family will be celebrating the wedding of Kunal & Bobbie... Can't wait for the dancing, food and drinks!

Heard somewhere once this advice... "live lavishly, spend wisely." My advice: "if it's free, then take two."

FMJ - Total Found: $469.80
Since Blog Inception: $10.08

FMJ Blog - Day 47

We found ten cents today - one thin dime. Where? At the Panda Express in the food court at Promenade in Woodland Hills. Played an amazing doubles match this morning... I was hitting shots like a twenty year old.

FMJ - Total Found: $469.08
Since Blog Inception: $9.36

FMJ Blog - Day 46

Back to normal on Day 46. My son made our first "pool" find of the year - a dime. At lunch, we found three pennies at the Del Taco on L.A. Ave. in Simi Valley.

FMJ - Total Found: $468.98
Since Blog Inception: $9.26

People who throw away money... Loose it!

What a day today has been! Great Day! Total found for Day 45 -- $1.78!

This morning while taking our bottles and cans to the recycling center, Ajay found our first find near the cashier -- a penny. Then, I found a penny in the return hopper of the Coinstar machine. As we walking out to our car, I found a dime near the soda machine and AJay spied three quarters in the coin return slot.

It would seem that my rant about people literally throwing away pennies paid off. The found money god blessed me with another 63 cents... Where did the change come from... The trash, of course! This afternoon while dumping our garbage, I noticed a large Vodka bottle and realized it had coins at the bottom... Maybe residuals from a drinking game? 1 quarter, 1 dime, 3 nickels, 13 pennies. WEIRD! They must have been really drunk. Later, at tennis practice, I found a quarter near the court bench. This evening, my daughter found two pennies while walking the mall and I found a penny at dinner.

FMJ Total Found: $468.85
Since Blog Inception: $9.13

FMJ Blog - Day 44

Total finds for day 44 -- 37 cents. Three dimes and seven pennies. First finds must be grouped as they were found along my morning bikeride to the Rancho Simi Tennis Courts -- 2 dimes & 5 pennies. Next find was a dime and penny laying amongst the gift card display at the Moorpark McDonald's. The final find was a penny this evening at the Wood Ranch Shopping Center while making Biscuit(FAT DOG) burn some calories.

FMJ Total Found: $466.87
Since Blog Inception: $7.35

Pennies and Nickels cost too much!

My friends, metal prices for Zinc, Copper and Nickel are so high right now that pennies and nickel now cost the U.S. Mint more to make than their face value... OUCH! Seems our money is worth less and less these days. Tonight, the Los Angeles ABC 7 News ran a report about the cost inflation in minting pennies and nickels. Several people were asked how they thought about the expense of making the coins... The first lady's response, "I just usually throw the pennies in the trash." THROWING AWAY MONEY! DAMN HER! The next few people thought that the government should no longer produce the penny.

Not producing pennies will lead to rounded prices, price inflation, and gouging! It's anti-competitve and not good for the average consumer! Please think twice when considering getting rid of pennies... For young children and the poor, the penny represents an easy form of savings. Let's keep the penny! Save and treasure it! And, of course, keep it to leave them around for the FOUND MONEY JAR!

FMJ Blog - Day 43

Just another penny added on Day 43. We found in at the Wood Ranch Shopping Center on Biscuit's evening walk. Thought we'd "bagel" the day... but, the dog came through. On a side note... sometimes it not money you find but other things on economic value. During last nights walk, I spotted a bag on soda cans left at the recycling machines. In California, there in is a bottle and can deposit... you return your recyclables for deposit return. I turned in last nights cans for a grand total of $3.20! Thanks go to the good citizen who left them for me. The kids and I have another fund for our bottle and cans finds - its total is just over $338.00 since moving to Simi Valley in October. I'll report that total here from time to time.

FMJ Total Found: $466.50
Since Blog Inception: $6.98

FMJ Blog - Day 42

We found just one penny on Day 42. Didn't get out very much yesterday... The penny was found lying near the newspaper vending machines at the Denny's on L.A. Ave. in Simi Valley. Day 43 should include a trip to the ATM, the kids school and the tennis courts, we'll see if we have better luck...

FMJ Total Found: $466.49
Since Blog Inception: $6.97

FMJ Blog - Day 41

Found three cents on Day 41. First penny find was in the Panda Express restaurant in Cerritos, CA. The next find was in the parking lot of the Jewel Art store on South Street in Cerritos. The final find was at the Carl's Jr. in Cerritos.

FMJ Total Found: $466.48
Since Blog Inception: $6.96

FMJ Blog - Day 40

Day 40 was looking to be a real slow one. This morning, I found a penny at the gas station. It wasn't until a trip out in the evening to the Camarillo Outlets that the real fun started. There, we found 35 cents in the form of 2 dimes, 2 nickels and 5 pennies. First find, a penny in the entrance of Restoration Hardware. Then, 15 cents at Auntie's Anne's. Our fourth find was a nickel at the vending machines. Fifith find - a dime and penny at the Burger King. Our final find was three pennies at the ARCO Gas Station.

FMJ Total Found: $466.45
Since Blog Inception: $6.93

FMJ BLog - Day 39

Found just one lone penny yesterday - Day 39. A really beat, run-over penny that cracked in half while in my pocket... It'll need replacing at the bank.

FMJ Total Found: $466.09
Since Blog Inception: $6.57

FMJ Blog - Day 38

Found twelve cents on Day 38. First find was a penny and dime at the ARCO Station on L.A. Ave in Simi Valley. Doesn't seem like much with these gas prices - $3.35 per gallon... OUCH! Next find was this evening at dinner -- a penny -- found on the floor at Coco's on L.A. Ave.

FMJ Total Found: $466.08
Since Blog Inception: $6.56

FMJ blog - Day 37

13 cents found on Day 37 in the form of 8 pennies and 1 nickel. I decided that I would park the car in town and walk to my various errands as I would not be carrying anything back home. Thought I'd save some gas... walked about 4 miles. First stop along Madera Rd. found a penny. Then, I went to lunch at Carl's Jr. and found 4 cents left near the soda dispenser ( a placed gift to the found money jar.) Later, as I was finishing my meal, the restaurant was mostly empty of patrons. A worker-bee came out to sweep up the dining area... as she swept, a few dropped pennies came across her broom. Rather than pick them up, she kept sweeping them into her neat debris pile... she was about to sweep the precious pennies into the trash when I deftly removed them from her pile saving the coins from entering the trashbin never to be seen again. Funny, she works for money but doesn't think two cents is worth her work in picking them up. Weird. Next find was a lone penny along the sidewalk from my daughter's school. Then, upon returning to our car , I found a nickel resting near my left back tire... kind of like it was placed there for me to find. Maybe the god of conservation rewarded my humble start in trying to conserve gasoline. Hmmm?

FMJ Total Found: $465.96
Since Blog Inception: $6.44

FMJ Blog - Day 36

Two pennies found on Day 36. First find was at the bank ATM. Second was at Jack in the Box in Tampa in Porter Ranch.

FMJ Total Found: $465.83
Since Blog Inception: $6.31

FMJ BLog - Day 35

We found two pennies on Day 35. The first one was found near my parking space at Albertson's on Madera Rd. The next one was found near the tennis courts at the Villas at Wood Ranch Aparments on Country Club Dr. One of the pennies was just about the best looking 1980 Lincoln Cent coins I have ever seen... looks as if it was uncirculated for a very long time... still has its shine.

FMJ Total Found: $465.81
Since Blog Inception: $6.29

FMJ BLog - Day 34

We found just one coin yesterday. It was 1981-D Jefferson Nickel. It was lying along our walk on Pioneer Blvd. in Artesia, CA. My wife enjoys the Indian shops there... and the exquisitely delicious delites at Jay Bharat Restaurant. My son and I do a lot of walking there.... making temporary collections out of all these interesting things we come across. We play a game called "what can this become" with the items we find. Total for Day 34 - 5 cents.

FMJ Total Found: $465.79
Since Blog Inception: $6.27