For all those times you’ve wished it would suddenly start raining money, the odds are you haven’t been that lucky… yet. The lunchtime crowd enjoying the great outdoors in Grand Rapids, MI enjoyed a fleeting brush with unexpected fortune when a mysterious drone flew over head, dropping cash as it flew. [More]
cash
SEC Reportedly Investigating Bank Of America Over Customer-Protection Rule Violations
By 4.28.15
Financial institutions are required under federal law to follow an array of rules that aim to protect consumers’ accounts. Bank of America may not have followed one of those rules over the course of several years, and now reportedly faces an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. [More]
Bag Of Cash Falls Out Of Armored Truck, Scatters Across Highway
By 10.31.14
Some commuters this morning in Maryland encountered some unexpected excitement when they saw a huge amount of cash blowing across the highway. This was not the most dangerous radio station promotion ever, but a mishap when a bag of money fell out of an armored truck, scattering its contents across the highway. Naturally, motorists stopped to pick it up. [More]
Troubled Atlantic City Casino Even More Troubled After Bag Of Cash Falls Off Armored Truck
By 8.20.14
Imagine you’re a struggling business that will soon have to shutter your doors after failing to make enough money to survive. Wouldn’t you keep any money you do have left wrapped warmly in your embrace, tucked close to your heart, or somewhere else super safe? And not say, on the roof of an armored truck where it can, and will, slide off and be lost? [More]
Study Confirms That Most Of Us Carry Less Than $50 Cash
By 5.12.14
Sometimes the effort needed to fumble inside my wallet for cash and change just seems too much of a burden. So I rarely use the tender and instead go straight for the debit card. And it appears I’m not alone in my preference for not carrying cash. [More]
Mobile Wallets Failing To Tear Consumers From Their Cold, Hard Cash – And Credit Cards
By 4.28.14
Nothing beats good old paper money and credit cards. That seems to be the consensus among most Americans when it comes to preferred ways to pay for goods and services. The impending explosion of mobile wallet use has once again taken a back seat to traditional payment methods. [More]
Does Less Cash Mean Less Crime?
By 3.28.14
This might seem like a completely backwards question, especially when you consider the recent mega-breach of credit and debit card numbers at Target. But it could be that the wider adoption of credit cards and electronic payments contributed to huge decreases in crime rates in the United States in the 1990s. [More]
Goodwill Worker Returns $43,000 In Cash Found Stuffed Into Pockets Of Donated Clothing
By 1.31.14
You know the feeling when you reach into the pocket of some jeans or a jacket you haven’t worn in a while and come up with a $5 bill? Multiply that feeling by a whole lot and imagine what it’d be like to find a suit stuffed with cash for a grand total of $43,000. [More]
Xbox 360 Update Bids Farewell To Microsoft Points In Favor Of Real Money
By 8.26.13
Tired of paying for Xbox Live content with Microsoft Points? Your life is about to become so much easier, or at least more consistent. Just like you buy things in the real world with local currency, a new update to XBox 360 will have you plunking down whatever the going rate is in your local currency for all things Xbox Live. Any leftover points will also be converted to their equivalent cash value. [via Engadget] [More]
Senators Continue Push To Ultimately Replace Dollar Bill With $1 Coin
By 6.6.13
In spite of decades of studies showing the long-term cost benefits of dollar coins over Federal Reserve Notes, and the fact that most of the world’s leading economies have already switched to coins for similar denominations, the U.S. has remained steadfast in its use of printed dollar bills. So once again, lawmakers in the Senate are making the push to gradually make the transition from print to mint. [More]
Golf Course Worker Doesn’t See Bag Filled With $36K In Cash As Her Tip, Returns It
By 4.24.13
Working all day serving drinks on a golf course might make one think, “Hey, I deserve a really nice tip.” But for one woman employed by a golf course in Miami Beach, Fla., there was no way she was going to claim a bag full of $36,000 in cash as her just desserts for doing her job. She found the bag o’green on the green and turned it in instead. [More]
We Spend Crumpled Money Faster Than Crisp Bills Because Eww, Other People Have Touched It
By 4.1.13
Look in your wallet. Which bills make you happier — the smooth, crisp new ones, or the dirty, crumpled, well-worn notes that have probably been passed around a bajillion times and handled by goodness knows how many people who don’t wash their hands? A new study says the crisper the money, the less likely we are to spend it because everyone wants to get rid of the old, dirty money as fast as possible. [More]
Bus Driver Finds Elderly Woman’s $500K Cash In A Shopping Bag & Turns It In
By 12.6.12
We’ve often mused about what we’d do if we were to stumble on a whole lot of cash, seemingly without any owner to claim it. Maybe sneak a few bills? Quietly tuck it all away and pretend like it never happened? We couldn’t, we just couldn’t. And when a bus driver in Vienna found a shopping bag filled with 390,000 euros ($509,700) in cash, he did the right thing, too. [More]
Dollar Coins Save The Government Money Because You'll Just Throw Them In A Jar
By 4.23.12
Here at The Consumerist, we have a long-standing anti-penny stance, but we’re somewhat in favor of the gold-colored dollar coins. They’re shiny! The Sacagawea ones have a woman on them! They save the government money! Except a new Government Accountability Office report mentions something interesting that we haven’t discussed here before. Just replacing more fragile dollar bills with durable coins doesn’t save any money at all. Minting and distributing all of those coins costs a lot. Instead, all of the cost savings would come from Americans throwing dollar coins in jars instead of circulating them. [More]
Places At Home To Stash Your Cash
By 12.19.11
Most financial experts don’t recommend keeping large amounts of cash stashed at home, but that doesn’t stop people from socking their savings in corners they believe to be safe. Those who do so leave themselves vulnerable to losing huge amounts of money due to burglaries or forgetfulness. [More]
80-Year-Old Man Accidentally Donates Life Savings To Goodwill
By 12.1.11
Check your pockets before sending clothing and household goods to Goodwill, especially if you’re in the habit of storing your life savings in the pocket of a favorite suit. An 80-year-old man in Illinois with a Depression-era mistrust of banks stashed his savings around the house. That cash was in the pocket of a suit jacket that the main claims he donated to a Goodwill thrift store. He didn’t realize what had happened until a week later. [More]
Another Reason To Cut The Cards And Go Cash-Only
By 11.23.11
Back in July, we discussed several reasons that using only cash for purchases makes financial sense. Among the pluses were a lower risk of identity theft and simpler budgeting prospects. [More]
Canada's New Plastic Money Won't Rip, Melt Or Be Mistaken For A Sex Toy
By 11.16.11
Canada, which dropped its $1 bill in favor of coins decades ago, is continuing to tear up its paper currency. This week, the country introduced a plastic $100 bill, which the government says is rip-resistant, virtually impossible to counterfeit, and won’t melt in the dryer or freeze in the winter. It’s also been modified, since some early reviewers saw sex toys and naked women in its original design. [More]
