This may not apply to many people, but will definitely apply to some. I used to live in a suburb where this was not that feasible due to the distances I would have to cover on a morning jog. Now I live in an apartment near some small business centers and restaurants.
Every morning I wake up before 7am and go on a quick 1 mile run. I make it a point to run through the drive thru’s of the restaurants near me and quickly pick up all the coins I see. I average about $3-6 a week. Sometimes there is nothing there, other times I come away with more than a dollar.
Either way, I’m still getting paid to go on a run that I would normally go on anyways. It pays more than the Sweatcoin app at this point, but I have been thinking about doing that. I usually avoid apps that track my location all of the time and prefer apps that only track location when I’m using the app.
I mostly use coins for my small children's chore commissions after giving the coins a good cleaning.
Survey Results
I took a survey in a financially minded Facebook group, along with asking the same questions to my normal peers and the results were interesting. In the financial FB group I got 707 responses. Here’s how they break down:
- Only 3 people reported doing what I do
- Additionally 2 will open their car door whenever the buy something at the drive thru to reach down at the coins on the ground
- 26 people, or about 3% of people surveyed are going to start incorporating drive thru’s into runs for this purpose
- 19% said this is crazy
- 56% say they will pick up coins anywhere they see one
I’m not reporting numbers from my normal Facebook friends, because my sample size was a measly 15. This probably has to do with how unpopular money discussions are in mainstream America or how unpopular I am in general :'(
I’m curious what you all think about this. May not be doable for many people, but it a quick way to make a little money each day doing something that would be done anyway.
