Gonna make a change... for once in my life...

I've decided that it's kind of difficult to make transactions using nothing but a ridiculous amount of pennies, nickles, dimes, and quarters. Earlier this week I decided to reduce my number of coins by exchanging them using, appropriately, a vending machine. It's pretty simple; put your nickles and dimes in, push the coin return button, and out pops a shiny new presidential dollar coin. So now I've reduced my:
Two dollar bills, eleventy billion pennies, nickles, dimes, and quarters, into

Two dollar bills, four presidential dollars, three dinged-up quarters that the machine would not accept, one dime, two nickels, and eleventy billion pennies.

DoND Game Sold

I have sold the Deal or No Deal DVD game for $2. For the first time, I can add dollar bills to the stake! I originally bought it for $.50, so I'm feeling pretty good about that.

I am still trying to find a buyer for the typewriter.

I can't wait until I get to the $180 mark... I will finally be able to make transactions in something other than cash...

Step 10: COMPLETED

Will it never end? I went over to help my neighbor move yesterday. And, like most people, my neighbor had all sorts of spare change lying around their house, in places that can only be reached when you're moving (such as underneath the refrigerator or oven). I asked them if I could keep the change I found, and they agreed. This adds over $1.50 to my stake, and rockets me into step 10.

I am going to sell the typewriter for $5. I've offered it to a friend, who made an offer for it. I told them that I would take it, but that I couldn't sell it right at the moment and I would let them know when I could. I guess it's time to contact them now. If they haven't changed their mind, this will shoot me up into step 11.

Step 9 COMPLETED

I haven't forgotten about the Penny to a Million project, I've just forgotten to update this blog on a regular basis.

After finding a bunch of spare change (including around $1.50 from vending machines), and selling that wall clock for a quarter, I have reached step 9. I now need to turn my $3.90 into an even $5. I plan to sell the Deal or No Deal DVD game for $1.50, if possible, taking me to step 10. Afterwards, I plan to sell the typewriter for $5.00 and begin work on step 11.

New investments made

Sorry that I haven't updated this in a long time, but that's life for you. I made two more investments with my stake money, at yard sales. I got a Deal or No Deal DVD game (how appropriate) marked at $1.00, for which I offered $0.50. The woman in charge accepted. I also got a small wall clock for free.

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I haven't been able to get on for a while.

First Investment Made!

I have finally decided to invest with my stake money. My strategy was to get something cheap from a yard sale and resell it for a higher amount of money. Granted, there's not a lot you can get with just over a buck and a half, but I went for it anyways. And I was in luck. I found an old, manual, Sears Roebuck Typewriter going for just $3.00. After talking to the woman in charge of the sale and explaining that I was doing an economics expirement to see what you can buy with spare change, we agreed to lower the price down to $1.00. (I wanted to typecast this post,, but unfortunately my scanner is not behaving [Bad scanner. Go sit in the corner]. Besides, the ink ribbon is in bad shape.) So now I have a Sears Roebuck Keyboard with case and manual for resale. I think I'll save it for a later step, so that I don't have to cut off the extra money.

Do I have a manual typewriter worth $5.00?

Or do I have an antique word processor worth $35.00?

If you guess the reference, you win a cookie.

Step 8: COMPLETED

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been quite busy, and have not had a chance to get to a computer.





It seems that whenever I say that I'm through using spare change, that it's done all it can, that It won't be able to get me through another step, I find enough to bump me up. I've been intending to get to a yard sale and buy & resell items for a greater value, but as I said I have been very busy. Again, most of the coins have been dimes. They were found at various places, and I can't remember all their exact locations. I won't be able to get very far by collecting Coke cans. $1.60 should be able to buy a fair amount of goods at a yard sale. Hopefully I can resell them somehow.

My pile of coins keeps growing and growing.

Step 8: Update

I found another two dimes today. One was outside, underneath a metal grille-type ramp, and the other was on the floor in the food court. Strangely enough, I now seem to be finding dimes with more consistency than I am finding pennies. And two in one day? Either I'm getting really lucky, I'm being trained to spot loose change, or, somehow, the steps are becoming much less daunting then they appeared at first. Strange.

Also, I would like to thank Thin Air Millionaire for deciding to swap links with me. He is currently at step 20, and has become subscriber #2. His site can be seen at the hyperlink... or to the right.

Step 7: COMPLETED

I've been meaning to update this for some time, but my monitor burned out and I had to get a new one. I now have completed step 7.

Last Saturday, I found a dime in a Wal-Mart. I also found a dime in the lawn as well as a nickel in a public bathroom (the first nickel since starting, I washed it thoroughly before continuing) on Monday, and yesterday found a penny (again, in the street) and another nickel in a local grocery store.

This brings me up to exactly $0.64, precisely what I need to begin step 8. I am still trying to think of a way to turn these pennies into dollars, as you can't really make much of an investment with $0.64. Yet if not now, when? I'm going to take this money to a yard sale and see what I can resell for a higher price. Expect to hear back on Saturday.

Step 6: COMPLETED

I found a scratched-up dime and three scratched-up pennies while crossing the street today. This brings me up to $0.36, and up to step 7. I'm getting up to the area where found money won't do so very much anymore. It's been shooting me up through these first few steps, but it won't be able to sustain me much longer. I suppose that if I REALLY wanted to, I could find $1,000,000 entirely out of found money. If I keep finding money at the rate that I've been going at, it will take well over 114,000 years. On the other hand, this program is not even close to being a failure. I may only have $0.36 now, but it's $0.36 more than I would have had had I not started the program. It was a success from the moment I picked up that first dime.

But sooner or later I'm going to have to make some investments with this $0.36 if I want to complete the project, and I intend to do that. I'm going to try my "Trade $0.36 for $0.64?" expirement one more time. If it works, we'll see how it goes from there.

Step 5: Completed

Today I've completed Step 5. Previously, my stake was at $0.14, but I found another $0.06 in pennies... and they were all within 150 feet of the vending machine where I found my original dime. In addition, I found another (grimy) penny outside in a gutter. My stake is now at $0.21. I now need to turn this into $0.32.

I've wisened up and decided to use a scanner.

What's my next strategy? I don't know. I've read quite a few accounts of people getting to higher steps by collecting cans for recycling, but unfortunately, I don't have a program like this in my area. For the moment, I think I'm going to keep going with my "money in the street" strategy.

Step 5: Almost, but not quite...

Well, the "Would you like to take part in an 'experiment'" technique yesterday didn't work very well. I tried quite a few times, maybe 7 or 8. I knew that if I doubled my dime to $0.20, then I would have to "cut off" the extra four cents. So I posed the question as, "Would you like to try a social experiment? See this dime? I will give it to you for only $0.16. Are you willing to go through with it?" I don't know what went wrong. Maybe it was the wording. Maybe people are unaccustomed to playing Let's Make a Deal with their spare change.

A few of the people had no pocket change with them, and most of the others decided that they didn't want to try it. I did manage to persuade one person (who happened to be the last). After she checked her wallet, she found that she had no nickels and could only make $0.14, and asked if this was enough. I said it was, and thanked her. So now my stake is up to $0.14. I don't think that this method will work again after the mostly negative response I got, so I am hoping to obtain the final $0.02 through found money.

Excuse the blurriness, but my camera is NOT made for close-ups.

Also, I would like to thank Xinfinitum for being the first one to comment on and follow this blog. He has offered to exchange links with me, and so you should see his webside under "Other Doubling Blogs" on the left. Thank you, Xinfinitum!

If you would like your doubling blog to appear, just fire off an e-mail or post a comment with your request.

Steps 1, 2, 3, 4 COMPLETED

Well, I had a close call on Saturday. At the self-checkout counter at The Home Depot, I noticed that several coins were wedged between the bagging area and a wall. Unfortunately, the space they were wedged in was very small, and I could not get them out easily. I tried to pry them out, but there was a bit of a line behind me and I did not want to hold the line up for no apparent reason other than to extract a few coins. So I had to let them go...

But today, I hit the jackpot! Figuratively. I've completed not one, not two, not three, but FOUR steps! And it's all thanks to somebody leaving a dime in the coin return slot in a vending machine slot.

I found a dime... I found a dime...

And this shoots me up to the $0.08 to $0.16 mark, despite Rule #4. According to the rule, "Any money in excess of the target must be removed from the stake." But this is overridden by Rule #1: "There is magic in finding money. Say you find a $10 bill in the street. You can use that to immediately leapfrog you to step #8." According to my interpretation, found money is special, and does not have to be removed from the stake after a doubling.

Whenever you see a 1993 "D" dime, you'll think of me.

Well, I have some plans for doubling this. I'm going to try asking some friends to trade my original dime for double the amount. If I tell them that it's an expirement (which it is) and that I can't tell them exactly what it's about (which I can't), than it might pique their curiosity enough to get them to trade. According to the rules, this is not "asking" for money. We'll see how successful I am tomorrow.

Step 1: No luck yet...

Well, after two days, I still haven't found a stray penny yet. I'll try again tomorrow.

On an unrelated note, I've found some other people trying to do the same thing:

http://dtamp.blogspot.com/ (Currently at Step 20)
http://sparechangedoubling.blogspot.com/ (Currently at Step 12)
http://doublingchallenge.blogspot.com/ (At Step 19, but it looks like the blog died in April 2007. Still interesting to see!)
http://zero2amillion.blogspot.com/ (Currently at Step 15)
And a forum: http://doublersden.co.uk/.

Check them out.

Intro

Okay, this is Chad here, and I have decided to undergo a quest. What do I need to do? Simple. Within the next 5 years, I must make a total of $1,000,000. And that's not even the worst part. I must start... with absolutely nothing. At first, any money I make will be pocket change. You see, I have found this eBook on the Internet, which challenges you to make $1,000,000 by following 28 steps.

1) Find a penny in the street, or have somebody give it to you (without asking for it).

2) Somehow double that penny to $0.02

3) Double $0.02 to $0.04

4) $0.04 to $0.08

5) $0.08 to $0.16

6) $0.16 to $0.32

7) $0.32 to $0.64

8) $0.64 to $1.28

9) $1.28 to $2.56

10) $2.56 to $5 (It cuts you some slack)

11) $5 to $10

12) $10 to $20

13) $20 to $40

14) $40 to $80

15) $80 to $160

16) $160 to $320

17) $320 to $640

18) $640 to $1,280

19) $1,280 to $2,560

20) $2,560 to $5,000 (Here you get another break)

21) $5,000 to $10,000

22) $10,000 to $20,000

23) $20,000 to $40,000

24) $40,000 to $80,000

25) $80,000 to $160,000

26) $160,000 to $320,000

27) $320,000 to $640,000

28) $640,000 to $1,000,000 (The big one!)

You can work towards doubling your money by using the stock market, selling on eBay, money in the street, anything. But there are some rules:

1) I MUST FIND THE PENNY. I can't cheat by using one of my own. I'm starting from absolutely nothing!

2) NO USING MY OWN MONEY. I can only use "stake" money. It gives an example: If I have $20 in the stake, and find something for $30 that I can sell for $80, tough toenails. I can't add $10 of my own money.

3) THE FIRST 15 STEPS HAVE TO BE DONE WITH CASH ONLY. In addition, I have to keep the original bills and notes. Afterwards, I can use Paypal or a bank account or a credit card or anything else.

4) IF YOU MAKE MORE THAN YOUR TARGET, I MUST SPEND THE EXTRA ON MYSELF. Say, if I wind up turning $20 into $45 instead of $40, I have to take the extra $5 out of the stake and keep it.

5) I DO NOT HAVE TO DOUBLE MY MONEY WITH ONE TRANSACTION. I can make as many transactions as I want, all I have to do is hit the target.

6) I MUST KEEP A JOURNAL. Hence, this blog. Hopefully, this way I'll stick it out.

7) LIVE FOR THE PRESENT. I should ONLY focus on the current doubling. This is so I don't get discouraged. The example says: "Avoid deadly thoughts like this: 'Sure, I can double $5 into $10, but how am I going to double $40,000 into $80,000? It's impossible. I may as well give up now.'"

8) NO SPENDING THE MONEY! The rules state that I may not touch any of the money until I reach $1,000,000. Then, I can keep it. BUT, I am going to make ONE exception. In 5 years, I plan to serve a mission for the LDS church. I will be serving abroad for two years, and the money will do nothing but sit in the bank and collect interest. If I have not reached my goal of $1,000,000 by this time, than I will cash in any stake money I have and use it on my mission. Hopefully, after my mission, I will try to undergo the challenge again, starting back from $0.01.

9) NO WORKING EXTRA AND ADDING THE MONEY TO THE STAKE. See Rule 2.

10) NO CHEATING. This rule just basically states to use common sense about what is okay and what is not. I can use this computer to blog, trade stocks, and sell on eBay, buy I cannot sell the computer and add the money to the stake.

11) IF I SOMEHOW "DROP" A STEP, I NEED TO WORK MY WAY BACK UP. If I have $160, but make a terrible deal and lose $100, than I'm back two steps. Too bad. Make it back up.

12) I "CAN" ADD MY OWN LABOR. I can buy an art set with the stake money, and sell the paintings. The rules say that this technique has limitations, but I can at least try.

13) USE THE STAKE MONEY TO CREATE A VALUE WHICH YOU CAN SELL FOR MORE. Apparently, this strategy will work for EVERY step. I'll see if I will learn.

I, the undersigned do understand and agree to abide by all 13 of the above rules.

Chad the Doubler

(My real signature looks better. You try using your mouse in place of a pen.)

Hopefully, I will be able to complete the program! If not, then I'll take a second try in 7 years. But I'm going to try my hardest. Excuse me, I'm off to search for that first penny!