This is submission for the HP Magic Giveaway. Feel free to leave comments for this article as you see fit – your feedback is certainly welcomed! If you’d like to submit your own how-to, what-is, or top-five list, you can send it to me. Views and opinions of this writer are not necessarily my own:

Are you a coin geek like me? Or are you saving up for a new gadget? Finding money that people have left, forgotten, or lost is really quite fun, and it can quickly become a habit. So, whether you’re looking for some loose change to help you get just a bit closer to being able to buy your next new gadget, you’re trying to find some money so you can keep your home, or just because the ride home can be really boring, here is my how-to guide for finding lost money.

When you are riding home from work in a bus or train, check under the seats, where change can be dropped while loading baggage or sitting down. Also check between the seats, as it is really easy for a few quarters to fall out without you even knowing.

When in public, check the not-so-obvious places. I’m talking about really not obvious places, like at furniture stores. Pretend you are looking at the rocking mechanism of the chair out for demo, while you really scour the ground under the chair for change lost by people who have sat in the chair. Also check similar places like under movie theater seats and park benches. Another one of my recently-discovered places is on top of phone booths. Yes, the return drawer is pretty common, but sometimes unknowing victims will place their change on top of the machine and simply forget to pick it up when they’re finished. Another place that usually has a good turnout is in a parking lot. When entering and exiting a vehicle, the angle sometimes causes change to fall from the pocket to the asphalt.

Then of course, there are the just plain strange (and sometimes, gross) places. When at a drive thru for a fast food restaurant, look under the window where you pay the cashier. If you don’t really want to appear to be exiting your car for no apparent reason, drop a coin of your own and retrieve your coin and your newfound treasure. But, be very careful, because there are all sorts of items that can be found under these windows. Check in storm drains and in places where puddles of water form in parking lots, as it’s easy for a coin to be washed into the crated in a hard rain.

If you are a student, check your cafeteria. While eating and being distracted, it fairly easy for that dollar or dime to slip out of your pocket. If your school has drink machines, go up to them and press the change return button, people commonly forget to take their change. Also, if your school has lockers, check under them. If a person has recently put some money in their pocket, it can slide out, especially if it’s a dollar bill. Then of course, there are field trips. After everyone has moved on to other places, snoop around the gift shop or other places requiring money to enter or use.

I hope you are successful in finding loose money, so you can do whatever you want, and enjoy your new hobby!

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