If you are wondering how to eliminate debt, look no further than those pennies, nickels and dimes that line the streets and couches of America. At one time, picking up spare change on the street had a negative connotation, but now see it as a way to accomplish your financial goals.
When paying off debt, every cent can help.
How Picking Up Spare Change Can Help You With Debt
My dad was a mailman and a very thrifty individual. While walking his route, he would stop and pick up every coin he saw. The spare change went into a little cardboard box for an offering at his church.
Each year he would bring his box, (or two, or three!) to the church on a specified Sunday for the missionaries. He averaged over $300 in found coins every year for nearly 27 years. That adds up to $8,000 just laying there in the street! Imagine using that kind of money toward credit card debt.
An Easy & Creative Debt Reduction Method
By my calculations, it takes approximately one second to stoop over and pick up a penny. Times 60 seconds per minute, times 60 minutes per hour. So, just the act of picking up a penny earns me $36 an hour. A nickel is over $150 per hour, and the holy grail – a quarter – is $900 per hour! Debt management doesn’t have to be a difficult and stressful gig all the time.
I keep a coin jar specifically for the spare change that I find on the street or around the apartment. I had to empty my coin jar two weeks ago. From January 1 to June 23, I picked up $17.50 in pennies, and $12.50 in quarters, nickels, and dimes. Some people might think of pennies as disposable and throw them away, but money is money. Every penny can help pay off debt.
My point is that picking up pennies here and there really does add up. As my idol Benjamin Franklin would say, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” I might add, “A penny FOUND is worth even more!”
If you’re struggling to pay off debt, ACCC can help. Schedule a free credit counseling session with us today.
