If you like to hide large amounts of cash around your house, make sure to remember where you put it. And if you do tend to forget, make sure to check the crevices and pockets of everything before you donate it to charity or throw it away. This goes triple when cleaning out the home of an elderly relative. A 96-year-old woman in Asheville, N.C. recently donated a blanket that contained more than $5,000 in cash–and the Goodwill store managed to locate her and return the money.

The money belonged to Stella Hoyle, and on Saturday, Garnace and others gave the money back to Hoyle’s family, who they tracked down through a Burke County Schools paycheck stub dated 1975 found with the items.

Hoyle is 96 and lives at Chunns Cove Assisted Living, said her niece Ruthie Browning, who also is Hoyle’s power of attorney. Browning said the family found roughly $65,000 in cash stashed around her great aunt’s home when they cleaned it out last month.

“She hid (money) in the hamper, under the mattress, in old purses, under the bed, in closets tied up in handkerchiefs, all over the house in anything and everything,” Browning said. “That’s how she saved her money.”

Not really a sound savings strategy, but she’s old enough to not trust banks.

Asheville Goodwill store sorter gives back senior’s $5,365 found in sock [Asheville Citizen-Times]

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