Pennies From Heaven: An Update

In the weeks since I first posted about picking up pennies off the ground, I've managed to find one penny lying around. Then on Friday I picked up a dime outside of the movie theater, and Saturday morning I spotted a quarter in a public park. That got me thinking about the subject again.

For the last month I'm up about forty cents. Clearly picking up change is not going to make a meaningful difference in one's financial status, whether you make the effort to bend over and grab, or not. So if there is going to be any value to the practice, it lies in the metaphorical realm. That is to say, that picking up loose change becomes a shorthand expression, an encapsulation if you will, of your entire outlook towards your finances. By defining who you are, the metaphor can then influence your financial behavior in other areas of your life.

The simplest way of expressing the metaphor is "I'm so cheap I pick up pennies in the street." Viewed that way, the practice becomes a physical reminder of the importance of frugality. If the memory of the effort expended to gain every penny is actually imprinted in into your muscles, you are less likely to be extravagent with your dollars.

I want to take the metaphor to another level, however, and view the practice as a expression of how we look for opportunity. I think there is a risk for searching for pennies on the ground. That risk is that we can become focused on looking on the ground, to the exclusion of keeping our eyes looking at where we want to go.

I prefer to take a more positive take on the situation. I like to think that although my focus remains on where I'm going, I have expanded my attention to take in more of what's going on around me. This expanded focus allows me to spot opportunities that might otherwise seem to humble to be worth pursuing. Sometimes those opportunities pay off bigger than you expect.

Like looking for pennies, and spotting a quarter.