How often have you seen coins on the ground, left on a counter where you pay, or just dropped on the ground by someone at a grocery store who looks, and then walks away without a care? It's probably happened more than you think or can remember. The fact is, coins as currency have been around for centuries, dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans at least, but today they seem extremely obsolete. So, no surprise, many people treat pennies, 5 and 10 cent pieces as trash and can't be bothered. The same might even go for 25-cent pieces as well. However, if you make a point to simply pick them up where you see them and put them in a container for a year, you might have enough for a quick meal, a 12-pack of beer, or pair of tickets to a movies or similar.
Coins are a bit of an antique in the modern world. Government actually lose money on the cost of manufacturing coins today, especially when they involve a purity of a given metals. It's one of the reasons why silver was phased out in the 1960s altogether from common coins. Even copper is too expensive now, but it was used for centuries for the lowest value coins in the U.S. and Europe.
Throwing away money is common in highly developed societies. Some people simply don't care. Others assume that someone so poor or destitute will take care of it and clean things up. While that might be true, for the person willing to bend down and be a bit humble it can add up to hundreds of dollars. Two of the most common forms of free money, literally on the street, involves coins and recyclable cans and bottles. Coins are easy; just keep an eye out for them and pick them up. Put them in a pocket or small bag and then stack them in a piggy bank or jar at home at the end of the day. On average, I make about $20-25 in free money just paying attention to where I'm walking. Not to mention, it's a good habit to have to avoid accidentally sticking your foot in unmentionables as well.
Recycling is a bit messier. So, I invested in a simply can grabber which I keep in my vehicle trunk, about $10. Then, whenever I happen to be in a parking lot or a gas station or somewhere with a lot of people and a few minutes on my hand, I whip out a used plastic bag and whatever cans and bottles I see I use the picker and pack them. Tie the bag, throw it in the trunk with the picker, and off I go. Annually, recycling nets me well over $300 a year, easily $25-30 a month. Again, this takes seconds and the value is literally free transfer of money. Granted, recycling is a bit messy in that you have to take the cans and bottles to a recycler to get your cash, but doing that once a month with a pair of garden gloves for 10-20 minutes is a small price to pay for an easy couple of tenners.
That said, there will be plenty of folks who will read this and say to themselves, "Oh no, I would never stoop that low. No one's going to see my picking up money off the street or empty cans." Okay, no problem, I'll do it for you. And, you remember that crypto winter last year? All my recycling cash went into multiple small purchases of ETH and BTC using Venmo. Guess who's riding high now?
