The "Found Change Challenge"

I was reading a blog tonight and although it's nothing new, I really liked an idea I saw there.

The writer, Kady, picked up and saved any money she found on the ground for one year.  Her plan was to add it up on December 31st and let herself spend it on something new that she really wanted.  She usually buys second hand.  She ended up putting the found change in her son's college savings account.  Nice.

I have been saving change for a long time.  Who doesn't save change in some way?  I have containers to put it in all over the place; in the laundry room, in the car ashtray, in jars...  you name it.  Recently though, I've been saving quarters.  I came up with a plan  to save them sometime last fall and I now have almost $40.00.  I could have more, but I had to have a Diet Coke one day and used a couple of them at the corner convenience store. Sadly a bit of a habit came from that.  A refill is .52 and they will cover the .02, so I only need two quarters to buy said beverage.  I may try to stop buying them next month though, because refills are going up!

Anyway, I am going to take this challenge.  I might even kick it up a notch.  (You gotta love Emeril.)

Here's my version:  I'm going to save any money I find (on the ground, in the washer, etc.), as well as the quarters I receive in change when making cash purchases.  I might save some of the other change I get back too, I just haven't decided yet.  Then I'll keep track of everything and add it up at the end of the year.
That's the big thing for me; keeping track of it rather than spending little bits of it here and there.

I don't know what I'll do with it yet, but I'm giving myself permission to use it however I want to. Ooh, already something to look forward to at the end of the year!  Wish me luck.

A New Year

Wow!  Last year seemed like it would never end at times, but the year really just flew by.  I can't believe it's 2013!

I've been thinking a lot lately, about what I want to do
in this new year.  I'm not always the best at following through with my resolutions (yes, I make them), but
I still want to set some kind of goal.  I still want to do something.

I like thinking of the new year as a time to start fresh.  It's like flowers in the Spring; bursting with all kinds of opportunities, (even though it's cold outside).  I'd really
like to believe that "anything is possible."  And when the end of December rolls around again, I hope to see a difference in myself.

So after spending a few hours on the computer last night, I've taken some time today to think of this new year in a new way.  I'm not just going to set a specific goal.  There are things I want to accomplish, but more than that, there is something I want to become.

I heard a man say on the radio a couple of days ago that he'd had 20 knee surgeries during his football career.  And that after each surgery he'd had to figure out what his new 100% would be.  This year I'm going to discover what mine is.

These two quotes also inspired me. 

Do more than belong:  participate.
Do more then care:  help. 
Do more than believe:  practice.
Do more than be fair:  be kind.
Do more than forgive:  forget.
Do more than dream:  work. 
 ― William Arthur Ward

This year my plan is to get out and push...
to do something!