Interesting, at least to me in observing something. I have some young employees and I noticed a little while ago because each has to keep their own space clean, that one of them was sweeping up and swept up a penny in the dustpan and just tossed it in the garbage. Now I know a penny doesn't buy much anymore, but I guess its lodged in my brain, from the olden days,.that you don't toss them out.

So my experiment was putting a penny on the floor of a couple other employees area and when I could watch them sweep up in the morning, I noticed they did the same. Later I did the same thing with a nickel and found that 2 of them the same thing with the nickel.

So my next experiment, (maybe have too much time on my hands,but hey its a long winter), I put pennies on the sidewalk in front of our place and at a couple and places that I have to go to like the post office. They seem to stay a long time before they were gone. I don't know if someone picked them up or they were gone by someone by just reaping up in front of their establishment.

Then with nickles and many times they would also stay there for a while before disappearing. Dimes and quarters went faster . So one day I brought some work with me in my car and I placed them close with in sight.,.(.no snow here rt now.). I noted that mostly older people would pick up the dimes and quarters and yet many of the young people didn't bother.

Yes I pick up every coin I happen across.

Always have and always will !

How do ya think a guy like me got to be a guy like me.

I get most of my loose change from the sidewalks and driveways, and parking lots of businesses around my rentals. Bending over to retrieve them keeps me flexible!

And, nope, I don't find loose change on the ground in more affluent areas. That says a lot!

I have my grandkids count up the loose change, then record the amount on a slip of paper, slip coins and the paper in a ziplock bag I keep in my purse. Then, when there isn't anyone in line behind me at a fast food place, or a grocery store, I use that change in its entirety, finish the transaction with the credit card. Often I have to tell the cashier, ' Enter the change first, then run the credit card.'

As disgusting as it might get cleaning up a rental, I will not consciously sweep up and chuck a penny. I will admit that I have bypassed some on the street recently like on my way to the PO and forget to pick them up on the way back.

I would say that most of the LL's here are different than the general population (In many ways) Perhaps because we value our money that we have worked for?

Yes, I pick up coins from the ground / floor. Bills, too.

I think it goes back to my frugal up-bringing, and my general knowledge that little things add up to be a lot when put together. It's the same ideal that helps promote perseverance in the face of struggles - every little step/accomplishment gets you closer to the goal.

I try to always be aware of the environment around me, so perhaps I notice them more than others. Recently, on a trip, I found someone's credit card & then a wallet on the airport floor.

When we have a vacancy my wife loves going in first and picking up all the coins-- penny's, nickels, dimes and quarters are usually thrown all over the place. She'll come out with a handful of change. I say to myself-- AH! THATS THE GIRL THAT MADE ME A MILLION!

I've said this here before: watch the penny's and the dollars will follow!

Oh forgot when she see's a penny she says it's a lucky one if it's laying face up??

Would you buy a $50,000 that you could sell for a $10,000 profit?

If not, then why do you pick up spare change?

I get the whole mindset thing, but there are two different ways to look at it. One mindset is never to leave ANYthing of value because value is value.

But, that said.... I just closed on a 16-unit, multi-million $ commercial property this past Friday. If I were still chasing $50,000 houses that I could sell for $10K profit, I'd have never had the time or resources to acquire this amazing property.

As we move through life, we go through stages. At one stage I needed to mess with those little houses. Now, I don't. I leave them for the newbies who are just getting started. I'm not saying I won't flip one if it falls into my lap, but I'm not going to spend any time or effort chasing them, or to continue the metaphor, bending down to pick them up.

Here's how I look at it: in the Bible the rich landowners are told not to glean (harvest) the leftovers at the edges of their fields. That is to be left for the poor who do not own land and would otherwise starve. Yes, that grain had value, but it's value wasn't for me. It was for those who didn't have access to the resources (land), skill (farming), and knowledge to be wealthy landowners. See Leviticus 23:22 for more detail about this interesting system of social welfare.

Just so with spare change: someone out there may need it, but not me. I leave it for those who are in need of it.

If you want to collect change, no judgment. Whatever works for you!

Sid maybe your analogy is wrong?

Using your info if a property was free you wouldn't pick it up (like a coin)? The coins are free you just have to bend to get them (and not always bend either)

You did say you would pick up a flip if the price was right-- the coin price on the carpet or sidewalk is right it's free.

Wow, Sid. That was the most bragadocious post I think I've ever seen.

I have always picked up loose change. Since my back surgery, it is still hard to bend over, but if I have something I can lean on to bend over I will pick it up. Recently at a gas pump, I had to kick a penny nearer to a quarter where I could lean and pick up both.

Wilma, thanks for the smiles!

I once saw a study that said many people don't really register that when they pay by check and especially with a credit card that their brains don't fully register it as "money" in the same as paper and coin money. Maybe that is changing with very young people and maybe some older people can but the article pointed out that it was one major reason why people run up Credit cards. But somehow paper bills and even coins means real money to most people.

Busy... relax. Read it again. I'm not bragging. I'm offering perspective on why I would or wouldn't pick up change.

Think of it like this: Does the CEO of a company clean the toilets at his office, or does he hire a janitor? If he's smart, he'll hire one or more janitors to do that job. It's also generous. He's leaving work and the money it creates on the tables so that others can do and earn a living from it. It has nothing to do with pride: it has to do with spending one's time and effort doing the things that are the most critical.

I don't work to pick up small deals any more. Not because I'm too proud. It's because I don't need them any more. I used to do them when I started out, but not any more. I've decided to focus my time and effort on larger deals that in my calculation will pay off better in the future. Sure, if the el-cheapo deal literally falls in my lap, I'll do it, but otherwise I've got other stuff that needs to be done, and sadly... there are only 24 hours in the day to do the things that need to be done.

Gene, yeah, I hear what you're saying. I probably pushed the analogy too far. Maybe it's just a bad analogy in general, and I'll apologize for that if that's the case. But was I bragging? Nope. As I stated earlier, we move through stages in life. Some of us stop earlier than others. Others go beyond us. It is what it is and to each their own.

Hollis,

Interesting experiments! At first I thought this would trigger all the LL stories about collecting coins at turnover.

As I think about it we don't see many coins at clean up anymore. Local factories pay by debit card so most folks don't deal with cash. Remember the recent coin shortage??

SID, Good explanation about growing a business! Congrats on your big deal! (cue music "Movin On UP!") Was this property on the "East Side" by any chance:)

Me? You beat me to it. I leave it for the Gleaners. I don't need the coin but someone else will.

Also, with out sounding too braggy, It's not worth my time to fiddle with coins. Pick up, carry, put in a jar, take them to the bank...

I get the whole penny saved is a penny earned crap.

But a penny saved or a penny picked up is silly.

How much effort did you expend to earn that penny? If you picked up change strictly for a living perhaps you could be making yourself $2.00 an hour as you walk down a street. Is there anything else that you can be doing though so that you can earn the really big bucks - maybe even $3.00?

I don't think it has ANYTHING to do with acquiring wealth, but its perspective. I ALSO pick up ANY loose trash whenever I visit the rentals. But, then, I'll get into it with those who want to argue that its not their job to train tenants. Or kids, or others watching.

As far as business, oh, for sure, the phrase don't step over dollars to pick up pennies applies. But that wasn't what was asked.

Ray, I always appreciate hearing your input or reading your responses, as well as others.

Although you may be right in that you cannot save your way to wealth, as I am learning even more from this current time of inflation, I do think that saving can change a person's life. I believe that I am an example of that.

No, I am not financially intelligent as lot of you on this form. Growing up in a welfare home of an uneducated, single parent, and never being around anyone who was business savvy or that talked finances, I think becoming a saver made a huge difference in my life. By all means, and by laws of physics(?), I should be a renter and living on welfare, as my other siblings have done. The only thing that I could think of to do, as a young person with no financial education, and bad examples, was to work and save as much as possible. I was able to buy my house (not much, I know) when I was in my early 20's. I am pretty proud of that, considering the odds. I have been ridiculed by "friends" for not going anywhere and doing anything because I wanted to save money. I had a plan and was on a mission to accomplish a goal. Mission accomplished because of saving.

I know that I am ignorant compared to most and that I have a long way to go in my education, but slowly as it may be, I am gaining ground. Maybe I will be wiser to not save too much and learn more investing, now that I realize about investing as an option. I appreciate savers as I know what it can do and has done. I just need to switch gears.

6X6, almost all of us had to save to be able to start investing. I saved for four years to have the money to buy my first rental property. I have saved over the years to be able to pay off my properties and am working to get the last few paid off this year. Since I am now officially retired, I am looking not so much at saving or investing, but at spending. That is a hard mind set to change.

You have done well for yourself and should take pleasure in knowing that you have done well and are working to do better in the future.