Blogging for Change

New Yorkers chronicling the fortunes found on the streets of the five boroughs

It began innocently enough with a nickel and two pennies. Three years later  Barbara Humphrey' has collected more than $1,000 and kept a running tab of every cent on her blog.

"I thought, 'Let me start a little blog about finding change,'" the Staten Island woman told the Daily News. "So that first day I found seven cents. The next day I found a dime. Then my husband started finding quarters here and there."

She enlisted her husband and their two kids, sharing each discovery with the readers of The Changepot .

Beginning on Columbus Day 2005, the family started dumping their booty in a votive candle holder. They soon moved up to an Utz pretzel jar and then a five-gallon water jug.

The family has become so dedicated to their endless quest for treasure that they've taken to carrying around hand sanitizer in the event of a less than hygienic discovery, like the penny in the public bathroom sink Barbara once spotted.

Twelve months later the family deposited $365.50 in the bank.

Like Humphrey, Mame McCutchin tracks her daily score on Found Money, which she launched in May after finding a twenty and a ten on consecutive days.

"It's a rare day I don't find anything," she told the Daily News.

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