28 CHOICES | 2013 SPRING ISSUE
FOUND MONEY
ccording to the National
A
Retail Federation , an estimated $ 26.3 billion will be spent on gift cards . Of that , $ 8 billion or more will never be used . A Consumer Reports survey determined that 27 % of people questioned had gift cards from last year and 51 % of that group had two or three cards .
What about the items we buy and need to return ? Oops ! Where is that receipt ? So , we go to the store and what do we get in return ? Most merchants will issue a store credit .
Do you have found money and you don ’ t even realize it ? The merchants are banking on it . Think about it . You can ’ t blame the merchants . They want you to come into their stores because once again they are banking on you seeing something you want to take home . So , they give you credit you can only spend in their store .
Let ’ s say you buy a package of gum with 10 pieces in it for 99 cents . Because you are a nice person , you offer your friend a piece of gum every time you take a piece for yourself . So , you buy one package each week . The chewing gum is at the check-out counter of your grocery store which makes it easy to pick up after you have been shopping without your grocery list and grabbed items you aren ’ t sure if you need … just in case you really do need them ... after all , the items are on sale . Do you see where this is going ? That stick of chewing gum is one tiny item in a sea of many items you might buy . At end of a year , you have unintentionally spent around $ 51.00 on chewing gum . This can be applied to any other repetitive buying you might do . Pay attention , you will find areas of found money .
With all the talk these days about the market and what the government is or is not doing , it is bringing attention to the way we handle our resources . Being organized in our own lives takes on even greater purpose .
Being organized does not take a special talent nor does it mean having just the right container . We don ’ t need an app on our phones or a new program for our computers . If you want to find the real lost treasure , using consistent organizing steps will show you the path to found money .
Keep all of your receipts . Yes , all of them . Do this for at least a month . Yes ,