Start With A Penny

I'm so happy to be back!

2011-07-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

I've had a difficult time returning to this blog. I hope my perserverance pays off and I'm able to submit this new blog post.

I also hope I'm able to return again. I'd like to transfer it to my gmail account too. I hope it works.

Good luck me...

Test

2011-07-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

Unable to post. Testing.

I'm Baaaaaccckk!

2011-07-01T02:26:00.000-07:00

It's July 1st 2011, the start of a long holiday weekend celebrating our country's independence. It's also an anniversary of sorts of the beginning of this blog. I've been away for a while. Now I have returned. Let's see if we can get this thing to work again.

Start With A Penny: The Bigger And Better Game

2009-09-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Red Paperclip Trades, mentioned in the last blog post, were a power version of the game "Bigger and Better" game. I have never played the game but here are a couple of videos which show teenage girls who are having a good time with it.

These two videos are embedded here courtesy of YouTube.com and the delightful young ladies you will see in a minute. I have chosen size 340x285 for these these videos. The video posted earlier, of the "Red Paperclip Trades" was a bigger 445x364 size. It's a little large for the blog so I am experimenting with the smaller size and leaving the larger one for comparision.

"Bigger and Better" - Part One

"Bigger and Better" - Part Two

Start With A Penny: What's it all about?

2009-09-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick review. Two years ago I read a forum post about a guy who bartered and traded his way from a red paperclip up to a house! OK, I like real estate and I like games; now I was hooked.

Crazy! I surfed the Internet and found the "red paperclip" web site and also some places where people were trading and starting with items of small value. Next, I found some bloggers who were doing something similar, making a series of trades or deal and doubling their money each time. The goal is to reach a million dollars.

A MILLION DOLLARS. Can it be done? Who knows? Trading up to $1,000,000 seems as impossible as an "Indiana Jones" adventure but I bet the journey would be thrilling. Here's a video showing the red paperclip to house trades.

Start With A Penny: I'm ba-a-a-a-ck.

2009-09-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

I'm back. I know, I know, I've said it before but this time I think it will stick. You see, I've had "a sign." A sign like the one in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle." In this movie, the heroine--played by Meg Ryan--has a torn wedding gown that foretells the wrong choice of man to marry.

My sign was, of course, a penny. Here's "the sign" (no kidding!):

Yesterday I was standing at the bus stop, minding my own business, when from out of nowhere a penny appears on the sidewalk about six feet away from me. It just appeared. It wasn't mine. There was no one else there. And yes, I had looked at the area before the penny appeared. Blank sidewalk!

I think, like Meg Ryan, "It's a sign!" How could this be? I really don't know. I was on a slight incline; perhaps it rolled down the hill...and then for some reason stopped and lay flat? Odd, right?

Anyway, I choose to believe that it's a sign that I should return to the penny project and do something about it! So dear readers--past, present and future, I will soon have more posts for you to read.

Twitter

2009-06-05T02:45:00.000-07:00

I've been away from the blog for a long while but I have discovered micro-blogging at Twitter, a so-called Web 2.0 (social media) web site. All posts are done in 140 characters or less, including spaces and your username.

It can become quite addictive, or as one user posted recently: "...like crack but with words."

Twitter is also a good practice for your regular blog. See, it works; I've returned.

Adding some javascript to blog

2009-01-30T14:47:00.000-08:00

I've returned to one of the original reasons for this blog: learning how to set things up on the blog, how it looks, code and such. I picked up and added a bit of javascript from Chris Farrell's blog. At the top of this blog there is now a date line which changes to keep up with the current date.

It doesn't look quite as I had hoped; I'll have to come back later. Also the date is in the form of day, month and year number instead of the usual American way of month, day, year.

Happy New York 2009

2009-01-01T13:24:00.001-08:00

It's been a long time since I have been here on the blog. Let's see if I can bring out the jars of coins (and a few U.S. dollar bills) and start doubling.

More coins from the street. When does the trading start!

2008-07-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

At last count:

STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD -- $1.00
SECOND CHANCE -- $2.00
TRIPLE MILLIONAIRE -- $3.98

More pennies added.

2008-06-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

I've found more pennies. So things are now up to:

STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD -- $1.00
SECOND CHANCE -- $2.00
TRIPLE MILLIONAIRE -- $3.79

More coins.

2008-05-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

I've added a few more coins this past week and increased the third fund:

STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD -- $1.00
SECOND CHANCE -- $2.00
TRIPLE MILLIONAIRE -- $3.67

I found some more money

2008-05-05T13:38:00.001-07:00

Finding money is fun, especially for amounts larger than a penny. Whenever I find a dime--I've found a couple of them in the last week--I get a little more inspired.

Today, was really a windfall: I found three dollar bills, folded together, on the street. My third fund is suddenly a lot nearer the $4.00 target amound.

The three funds so far:

STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD -- $1.00
SECOND CHANCE -- $2.00
TRIPLE MILLIONAIRE -- $3.37

Another buyout!

2008-04-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I found another dime which brought the SECOND CHANCE fund up to $.2.02 so I started a third fund with the two pennies and bought out the SECOND CHANCE coins with two of my own dollars. Since then I've added another dime and a few pennies to the third fund which I now call the TRIPLE MILLIONAIRE fund.

So far:
STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD -- $1.00
SECOND CHANCE -- $2.00
TRIPLE MILLIONAIRE -- $.16

A word about multiple funds.

2008-03-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

Totals to date:

STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD fund -- $1.00
SECOND CHANCE fund -- $1.77

As soon as the SECOND CHANCE fund hits $.2.00 Ill buy it out and start a third fund. I'll pick up coins (and I hope more bills) and create another fund which will build up to $4.00.

Start with a penny and have fun with the penny doubling project.

2008-03-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

My latest additions are the two dimes I found side by side on the sidewalk; these were added to the SECOND CHANCE fund.

Totals to date:
STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD fund -- $1.00
SECOND CHANCE fund -- $1.60

I've been teaching myself Internet Marketing and "noticing" as 30 Day Challenge leader, Ed Dale, calls it. I've also taken a look at the Craigslist's barter section for possible opportunities in bartering a small object.

And I love, love, love, eBay. I have a little Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz Dorothy doll that I could barter or sell on eBay as a dollar object. The problem is I don't want to give her up! So I found myself on eBay looking a lists of McDonald's Madame Alexander promotions for past years. There are so many adorable teeny weeny dolls that I am now determined to buy a few for myself. If I can find an extra Dorothy for a good price in a lot sale, I might give up my own Dorothy which is still in the original package. Maybe.

Start with a penny and learn to blog.

2008-02-29T12:13:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons for starting this blog was to track progress of penny doubling and the other reason was to learn how to become a blogger. I borrowed from by local public library a book to help me do that: PUBLISHING A BLOG WITH BLOGGER book by Elizabeth Castro. Oh, when I read the book it customizing the Blogger code look rather easy; I knew a bit of HTML and the book made everything look oh, so pretty. I like the book so much that I bought it on eBay.

I just tried to follow all the easy directions and I've found that the Blogger site has changed and gee it's going to take a bit more effort to play around with this thing and get it to look different without making this blog disappear altogether. I've gone through several nasty-looking colors and some other weird arrangements. Oh-h-h-h-h. Scary.

Back in the Game!

2008-02-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

My two doubling funds have been mostly sitting dormant, the STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD fund was still the dollar bill which I used to "buy out" the $1.00 in coins and the SECOND CHANCE fund was only $.28 in coins I picked up from the street. Then suddenly last Friday evening, I stepped off the bus and there at my feet was a very shiny dime. The next morning I found a dollar on the sidewalk. These two finds have really sparked my enthusiasm.

The SECOND CHANCE fund now is up to $1.38

Start with a penny and don't forget to blog.

2008-01-25T15:00:00.000-08:00

Uh-oh. I just noticed that the New Year is well under way and I hadn't posted yet. I now have two funds. I "bought out" the original fund which I am now calling the "Streets Are Paved With Gold" fund. Since I am still picking up coins, now and then, I have another bunch of coins, $.12 so far, which I am calling the "Second Chance" fund. I think I'll let this second fund go up to $2.00 before I buy it out and substitute my own two dollars.

The eBay how-to book which I borrowed from the public library turned out to be not so helpful. It was written for people who were already eBay sellers and looking to get their sales up to the six-figure???annual revenue mark. I'm now reading a more simple eBay beginner how-to. I already have 35 positive eBay feedback (as a buyer) and I thought that would be a help to me when I became a seller. I've been considering a snappy seller name to change from the insipid letter and number combination that was assigned to me when I first registered as an eBay buyer. However, the eBay book mentioned something about having to start all over if I change my account name. I'll have to check out what eBay has to say about this on the eBay site.

I started with a penny and now I have TWO funds.

2007-12-29T15:52:00.001-08:00

I just noticed that I now have five pennies in the new fund. So to date, I bought out the originally penny fund at $1.00 using a US dollar of my own money and set aside the found coins. I've put additional found coins (the five pennies) in another little jar.

I think I am in need of an entrepreneurial project. I stopped by the library today and borrowed a book about selling on eBay.

Start with a penny, or start with a dollar.

2007-12-14T15:01:00.000-08:00

Some doublers begin their journey to a million with a dollar instead of a penny. This eliminates the first seven steps. Instead, I started the traditional way, with a penny but I planned, at some step in the doubling process, to substitute the coins that I found with my own money. Thereafter, I would not add any more of my own money.

My plan was to use my own money when I reached $1.00 during step eight instead of going from $.64 to $1.28. Then step nine would double $1.00 to $2.00. Starting with a good old U.S. dollar bill seemed like an inspirational way to jump start entrepreneurial activity. I could imagine saying--after I had accumulated the $1,000,000--"I started all of this with only one dollar and if you pick up a dollar in coins off the street, you don't even need a dollar to start."

I expected to have a dollar in coins by the start of the new year 2008...and suddenly I found a dime at the bus stop last night and I have now gone over the dollar amount. Total: $1.01 and it isn't even Christmas yet. I put the $1.00 in coins into a little glass jar (The Streets Are Paved With Gold Fund) so that I could look at them for inspiration. I am now using a dollar of my own money which is in an envelope on my desk.

That leaves one penny extra--so I have started another fund: Start with a penny.

Start with a penny, step seven.

2007-12-09T14:46:00.000-08:00

Step seven is completed. Total: $.91 to date.

I found more coins and then decided to add in the twenty-eight cents that I picked up from sidewalks early in the summer months before I started this blog. I am now on my way to completing step eight.

Start with a penny, start exploring ways to double.

2007-11-25T20:23:00.000-08:00

Another penny added. That's all for now.

Start with a penny, and keep on going.

2007-11-18T12:41:00.000-08:00

This week I added one more penny. And I found another dime!
Total so far: $.56

Start with a penny, and keep adding to it.

2007-11-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

Today's total: $.45

This week I added six more pennies to the pile. All of them where found on the street. I could have added a few more as the last coin added was found on the street right next to a pile of coins, maybe five or six more pennies, but they were underwater in a tiny little tea-cup sized pothole. I didn't want to dip my fingers into dirty water so I only took the penny on the edge of the pothole.

Start with a penny and start a blog.

2007-11-02T13:31:00.001-07:00

One more penny added: total to date, $.39

The penny doubling "rules" require keeping a record of your penny doubling activities and many penny doublers use a blog to do this. I've seen many penny doubling blogs start off with a bang and then dwindle down and die. Hoping to avoid this, I made a smaller commitment to post only once a week. So far not too much is happening here, blog-wise.

But...today I found that this month--November--is National Blog Posting Month. I ran across the NaBloPoMo site and I got a little excited. The deal is you make a commitment to post to a blog every day in the month of November. The challenge began yesterday. Maybe I'll start another blog so I'll have something to write about.

The annual Month of November writing challenges started with National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo, when each year thousands of people take on the challenge to write and complete a novel during the month of November. Last year, Script Frenzy, an annual November screenwriting challenge was started.

And now...drum roll...a November challenger for bloggers.

Start with a penny, step seven.

2007-10-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

I found five more pennies in the street and added them to the others, total: $.38.

Start with a penny, step six completed.

2007-10-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

I found five more pennies this week. I'm taking it slow, adding pennies to the pile from time to time. Last night, I dropped the little container holding the coins and they rolled everywhere, under the desk. If I found them all, I now have thirty-three cents and I have completed step six which is 32 cents. On to step seven. So many steps but not much money yet.

Start with a penny, maybe find some silver in the street.

2007-10-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

I finally found something larger than a penny. I found one shiny dime on the sidewalk. I also stood back and watched a police escort drive ahead of a jazz funeral march. I'd never seen one of these before in real life, only on television or in the movies; I never expected to see this in Manhattan.

There were robed clerics holding high colorful religious standards of some kind and a matched pair of silver white horses, with white head plumes, drawing a while lacquered hearse. The hearse had glass sides and interior fringed drapes which revealed the black casket contained within.

A half-block long crowd of mourners, carrying black umbrellas and fluttering white handkerchiefs, marched behind a small brass band playing a jazz gospel song. It was very moving.

Start with a penny and take your time.

2007-10-05T11:40:00.001-07:00

This week I found two more pennies, just a few feet apart, on the street and then nothing else.

Start with a penny but there's competition for those street pennies.

2007-09-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

This morning while I was on my way to get coffee, I stepped off the curb and saw a penny but a young woman a few steps ahead of me bent down and picked it up. I congratulated her on finding a "good luck" penny and asked her if she were "doubling"; she replied, "no...I'm German." (LOL)

I explained penny doubling and she looked amazed when I mentioned one million dollars. She kept the penny. She was entitled to it. I'll have to swoop faster next time. On the way back, I took a different route home to my apartment but there were no other pennies to be found.

Start with a penny and sometimes you stall or worse.

2007-09-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

Nothing much happening this week, no pennies found; however this poor little Blogger blog has become quite ill. Whatever I type is coming out scrambled.

Eeeeeeks! This is the weekend and I just can't stand this but next week I will try to find out what happened.

Hmmmm, I just noticed that if I type the draft in Microsoft notepad and then copy and paste that it looks OK. What's up with that? Of course, it might turn sick again after I post. Ah, the mysteries of life.

Start with a penny, or two...: step five, step six

2007-09-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

This past Monday I found two pennies--step five is now completed and step six started.

Yesterday, I found two more pennies, really bright coppery ones, in the subway station. I glanced down from the bench where I was sitting and there they were...shining. Step six is underway.

Start with a penny but sometimes you get a nickel.

2007-09-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Today I found a nickel on the sidewalk and added it to step five of my penny doubling. I now have $0.15. During this project this is the first coin I've found that's worth more than a penny.

In the past I have found money worth more: dimes, quarters, dollars. Once I found a $20 dollar bill just laying there on the sidewalk. If I found a $20 dollar bill now that would jump me ahead seven steps!

Step four, step five.

2007-08-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

Every day or so I've picked up a penny from the sidewalk or the street; I now have nine pennies. Step four is completed and I'm working on step five. I joined the The Doubler's Den online forum.

Step two, step three.

2007-08-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

I found three pennies on the sidewalk. That completes steps two and three. Total so far: $0.04. On to step four.

Where have all the pennies gone?

2007-08-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

I'm still in step two which means I haven't found another penny. This is very odd. Usually you can't walk off the curb or down the subway stairs without stepping over several coins.

First Day Up!

2007-08-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I came across an Internet story of a guy who traded his way from one red paper clip to a house! That's remarkable. I want to do it too! But...I don't think bartering would work for me; I want to work with cash instead of bartering objects. Then I came across a group of "doublers" who were doubling their way from one penny to a million dollars.

A bell went off: "Hey, that's something I can do." One penny doubled 28 times equals more than one million dollars. So I got really excited and during the next few days I picked up 28 coins off the street and I read a of lot penny doubling stories online. I also did a lot of Internet surfing and brain-storming for money-making ideas. Creating money-making ideas was the real fun part.

Life stepped in, I got busy and stopped picking up coins off the street. I put what I had in a tiny glass jar but I kept up the fun part and that's coming up with little money-making ideas.

I've decided to start again and this time I'm using a blog to keep track. Today I am starting with one penny I found on the sidewalk. So I have officially completed step one and I am now in step two.

I plan to complete the first steps with found coins and use the time during the doubling steps to investigate ways to grow the money. I have some doubling rules of my own. I'll write more about them over the next few weeks.

My first personal rule: I have decided that I want the end result to be grown from money that I have already earned and paid taxes on. I will save found coins and at a some point--and I haven't determined yet exactly in which step this will be--I will have the GREAT CROSSOVER and use my own money equal to what's in the jar. Maybe I will start another fund with the coins in the jar. I don't know yet.

My second personal rule: I plan to post at least once a week, a week being Monday through Sunday, whether or not I have increased the money amount since the previous post.