Another Penny

I took a walk down to the local grocery store at lunch time and found a penny wedged in the change machine (you put in a fist full of change and it spits out dollar bills after taking their cut). Now that would be a good business to get into. All you have to do is leave your machine sitting there and people voluntarily put money in; and in return they get back less money. You don't even need a product. The thing is I would never use a machine like that because I would feel like I wouldn't get any value out of it. Something to consider for the higher levels though - perhaps some sort of vending machine.

Flip

A penny

I found a penny under the East Sides restaurant stairwell. Boy am I ever regretting risking my entire stake. It was a cheap lesson though. Protect thy stake!

Ok, I'm back in the game as I found a dime under our vending machine at work. I also found a penny in the hallway. That vaults me back to level 5.

My busting out brings up an interesting question. Last time I tried doubling I was very very conservative. I didn't lose much money, but at the same time I doubled very slowly. Is it better to take it very conservative or very risky. If the goal is to get to a million dollars I don't see how you can be too risk adverse, however, it is obvious that if you take on too much risk then it will never happen for you.

A good example of taking on a ton of risk would be going to a casino roulette game and letting your penny ride 28 times, hoping to turn it into a million dollars. The odds of this happening are 1 in 268,435,456 Not very good. So it would seem that taking a moderately conservative approach is good, but this should be relative to your current level. A good rule of thumb would be to never tie up more than 20 percent of what your stake is in one thing (last time I aimed for 10 percent and I took FOREVER). That way you spread your risk around a bit, but still have a chance to make a significant dent into your current level when things go right. From now on I will aim for 20 percent. Going bust sucks even if I only took a week to get to where I was.

Flip

Busted!

Uh oh. Things didn't really go as planned last night. The first game i put 50c toward the buyin. I was doing ok - only one person knocked out with a decent stack when the big stack calls and I am showing Ace-King. Blinds are 100-200, so I decided to push, thinking to pick up the chips. The big stacks calls and shows King-Jack. Awesome - I have him dominated and I stand to double up, making me big stack in the tourney. Instead he hits a crazy straight on the river and I am out. That's poker. We played a second game, where I put my remaining 49 cents towards the buy in. This game didn't go so well and I end up pushing Ace-five suited, to which I was called and beaten. I've lost all the money in the project and I must start again. I'm not too devastated since it was less than a dollar over all, although that knocks me back 8 levels, which is actually pretty big in the doubling world. I'm off to the mall to look for coins.

Flip

Poker

I have some friends over for poker tonight. We usually play $5 games. I have decided that $0.50 of the first buy in will be from the Doubling Money for Charity fund, which means the project will get 10% of the winnings (if there are any). I usually would try to avoid risking half the Projects capital, but I think I'm pretty good and lets face it - it's not like we're risking thousands of dollars here. If I win then I will have money to give to charity since I only need 29 more cents to hit the next level. I'll let you know how it went tonight!

Flip

Is this your penny?

I was at the festival again tonight (fine by me since it's a goldmine for change). My family was eating at a table and I noticed there was a penny a few seats over from me (no one was sitting there). Last time I tried doing a double project I couldn't shut up about it and I drove my wife crazy, so I have been trying to be a bit more low key this time. I figured I would pocket the penny after we were done eating without her noticing. Then came the bees. Arrgh! I hate bees. There were five or six tormenting us - landing on our food, landing on my kid - so we decided to find a new seat in a hurry. We moved seats and finished up. We left the tables and I went to the mens room. Then I remembered the penny (the penny that was still in the urinal reminded me). Shoot! I had forgotten to get the penny. I finished up and quickly worked my way back over to the table where we were, hoping not to run into my wife. I made it, but there was a man sitting at the table right in front of the penny. Shoot. Remarkably, there was also a two dollar coin in front of someone else at a near by table. I definitely thought there was no way I could grab the two dollar coin since it was probably theirs. By the same logic, I couldn't take the penny because it was in front of this guy, even though I knew it wasn't his. Grrr! I was so mad at myself - how could I have left my treasure just sitting there? I decided this was one of those moments where I had to decide just how important this project was to me. I got up the nerve, walked up to the man, pointed at the penny and asked, "Is this your penny?" He looked at me like I was from mars and shook his head. I picked it up and said, "I think I accidentally left it here." and walked away. He must have had a good laugh because I sure did. Now I am at $0.99!

Look - A cent... Ewwwww

Will I do anything to further my doubling project? Apparently the answer is no. My latest find was a penny in a urinal. I stared at it for a few seconds, but I couldn't bring myself to actually pull it out. (my wife was relieved - pardon the pun) I feel good about that decision. This was at a festival and a bit later I was going down a slide with my son. When I got to the bottom I found a nickel. Cool. Then I found two pennies near the food cash registers. So I'm up to $0.98. Only two cents to go and I have my first dollar out of a millon. Only $999,999.02 to go! Oops - I'm not supposed to look ahead. I guess I am supposed to only think about being 30 cents from completing Step 8. 30 cents sounds easy so I guess that rule is a good one.

12 more cents found

It is starting to amaze me how much change I am finding on the ground. Is it that people are really that careless with their money? Do they reach into their purse and drop a penny when pulling out the old pocket book? Do they notice that the penny dropped? Are they lazy or do they just not notice? Perhaps they throw them out on purpose because they are so close to worthless? Whatever the reason, their loss is my gain as I have found 12 more cents. 10 under a coke machine, 1 on the street and one at the movies (had to sneak that one quickly so the teens didn't laugh at me. Whew!)

Flip

More coins the hard way

Want another example of how badly I want to double up? Picture a mid 30 year old man reaching behind a coke machine, wearing his work clothes reaching a dime that is barely in reach. Yep - That was me today. I took another stroll to the grocery store and I looked behind the machine. Part of me was hoping I wouldn't find anything, but when I did I knew I had to go for it. No one seemed to notice, which is good. If one of my co-workers saw me I'd have to do some pretty quick thinking as I think they'd laugh at the truth. Found a penny on the street to. I'm up to 75 cents only 4 days of looking. Not bad.

Flip

Completed Level 7!

Just how determined am I to complete this doubling challenge? Let me tell you. Picture a middle aged man at a gum ball machine trying to pry out the dime and penny that are stuck in the money slot. That's right - that was me an hour ago. I was just commenting to myself (yes, I talk to myself - more hints of middle age) that you never find any coins in the gum ball machine. As I said this, I turned the knob on one back where you would need it to be to insert money. Low and behold there were two pennies stuck in this one (like they put two pennies in the same slot so they were stuck). I took out my keys and pried them out. I tried the others and found another one that had a dime and a penny. As I was prying this one out, I had visions of mall security arriving and asking me to come with them. I could certainly understand if someone thought I was vandalizing them. Fortunately, I had no such incident and ended up 13 cents richer for it. Top it off with 2 more found pennies and voila - I have completed level 7 and am on level 8 ($0.64 to $1.28). I've got $0.68 burning a hole in my pocket. Strategy for this new level - keep finding coins.

Flip

Found another dime!

I was at the mall today and saw a dime on the floor. This one was easy. I pocketed it so we're up to $0.48!

Sprucing up the Site

I decided to spruce up the blog - not that anyone is looking at it yet. Build it and they will come I say. If you direct your attention to your right, you will notice a nice Total Profit counter, as well as a Charity counter, current level, hits counters and traffic info link. I also added a list of other doublers - check out thier sites to see where they're at. I'll be adding select other links that are interesting from time to time as well.

I found a penny at the grocery store again, but this time I had to donate it because my son likes to put money into this charity piggy bank type dog for the blind and I didn't have any other money. It was difficult this time, but I let it go. I think I'll just add a penny from my own money since it's not fair to the Charity side of the project. Am I really typing all this about some penny I had to let go of? I really gotta get a grip!

Levels 2, 3, 4 5 and 6 Completed!

That's right! I completed FIVE levels today. I decided to go for a walk at lunch time, thinking that perhaps I might find some coinage at the grocery store. At first I didn't see anything, but then I spotted it. A beautiful shining dime sparkling on the floor (this one really was shiny). Someone was standing near it so I had to use some skill to get near it, but I got my dough. Success! I was walking out of the store and a lady sitting in a chair said something to me. "What?" I asked. "Would you like to donate to the hearing impaired?", she asked. There I was holding my jackpot in my hands and this Lady wanted a piece of the pie. How does a Charity geared program turn down a Charity? I stood there thinking of the past painstaking minutes. I put so much effort towards this dime. How could I just let it go. NO! I decided I had to look at the big picture. What's 10 cents when I will be writing a cheque for $500,000 some day? But I won't be writing that cheque if I give this 10 cents away. "No thanks" I told her and walked away. I think I know where my first donation will go to - or at least a dime of it. That leap frogged me to Level 4 for a total of 11 cents!

Later that day I was walking through my parking lot at work and what do I find? Another beatiful dull penny. BAM! 12 cents!

Later tonight, I went to a bar and told my friend Bonnie all about this project. She was so excited about it that she reached into her purse. I knew she was going to donate to it. Would she give me 4 pennies to complete level 5? Would she give me another dime? The suspense was killing me, but finally she pulled out... No... It couldn't be. YES! A Quarter! My eyes bugged out of head. I couldn't see straight. Let's see. 12 cents plus 25 is. 37 cents! That vaults me to level 7! Woot! I'm only 21 doubles away from a million dollars! Somehow that makes it feel so close. Who knew 37 cents was so close to a million?

Completed Step 1 - Find a Penny

It happened when I least expected it. I had been periodically keeping an eye out all day and even went for a walk around some stores, hoping to score my first bit of money for the project to no avail. I was rushing off to a meeting at work and low and behold, a shiny beautiful penny caught my eye at the entrance to the building. Ok, it wasn't shiny. It is actually quite dull with a huge scratch across it, but it is a beautiful site. I now own half a penny and am sharing it with some unnamed Charity. Hmm... I think it's time to find it a friend so I can have one all to myself. It would also be a good idea to start thinking about what Charity might be getting the half million. On one hand it is a good idea to select it early so I can envision who I am doing this for (ok, half doing this for), but on the other hand, if I pick one and then later on decide I want to send it elsewhere, it would be kind of mean. They would be crushed and I would feel terrible.

I know, I know... Get a grip Geoff - you have a penny.

The Doubling Money for Charity Project

This blog is an attempt to complete the 28 steps of doubling layed out in Stuart Goldsmith's report, entitled "How to Double Your Way to a MILLION", which details a plan for starting out by finding a penny and repeatedly finding ways to double this until you have over a million dollars. Amazingly, it only takes 28 doubles from a penny to earn a million dollars. I have tried this before and ended up using the money on myself (After I had about $800). I would like to try this again, but in order to help keep my grubby hands off my double money I am adding my own twist. During my double adventures, half of any money that goes into my pocket will be donated to a Charity of my choice. This way I can feel good about donating and at the same time, there will be serious pressure not to just take the money and run. I won't feel very good with a new laptop if I know I'd be letting down some sick kids or something. Just to be clear - this doesn't have to be an official Charity. I could 'donate' to the local kids hockey team, or to some random Joe on the street that I feel can use the money. I won't be issuing charity receipts if someone wants to donate to keep things simple (it would really be me that you're donating to anyways and I in turn would donate to something else). I will pick the charity, but I welcome suggestions. The way the Charity side works is just the same as how it works for me. The only time I get any 'real' money in my hands is when I overshoot a level or when the project is done. Say for example I overshoot a level by $50. In this case, I would buy myself something nice for $25 and donate $25. At the very end of the project I would write a big fat cheque to some Charity for $500,000 and at the same time have a cool $500,000 for myself. Everyone's a winner! I definitely can't wait for that day. It's all about discipline and this time I plan to have it.

In case you're too lazy to click the link above, here are the 28 levels:
Step 1: Find a penny
Step 2: 1->2 cents
Step 3: 2->4 cents
Step 4: 4->8 cents
Step 5: 8->16 cents
Step 6: 16->32 cents
Step 7: 32->64 cents
Step 8: 64 cents -> $1.28
Step 9: $1.28 -> $2.56
Step 10: $2.56->$5.12 (Donate $0.06, Keep $0.06 to make it easier)
Step 11: $5->$10
Step 12: $10->$20
Step 13: $20->$40
Step 14: $40->$80
Step 15: $80->$160
Step 16: $160->$320
Step 17: $320->$640
Step 18: $640->$1,280
Step 19: $1,280->$2,560
Step 20: $2560->$5,120 (Donate $60, Keep $60 to make it easy)
Step 21: $5,000->$10,000
Step 22: $10,000->$20,000
Step 23: $20,000->$40,000
Step 24: $40,000->$80,000
Step 25: $80,000->$160,000
Step 26: $160,000->$320,000
Step 27: $320,000->$640,000
Step 28: $640,000 ->$1,280,000

The first step is to find that first penny. I am on the hunt!