How a Found Aldi Cart Equals 26.5 Cents
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (97120)
United States
February 23, 2025 11:36am CST
Welcome to another wild and zany episode of how Porwest thinks about money. Hey, it may sometimes be a bit twisted, even at times borderline ridiculous, but I can also say, with absolute confidence that these are basic money principles that work.
What I generally focus on are the pennies and the importance of the smaller wins when it comes to money as it applies to adding up to bigger savings. Because as I always like to say, "If you never mind the pennies, you'll never have dollars to mind."
Take a quarter and my incessant quest for abandoned shopping carts in an Aldi or Ruler Foods parking lot which require a quarter in to get one that you get back when you return it.
Many people think, "It's just a quarter. Big whoop!" And then they just leave their cart by their car and someone like me comes along and finds it, and takes the quarter they obviously couldn't give two hoots about.
Is it really a quarter gained when I find one? Well, it is if I ONLY consider the 25 cents. If I consider the hidden value, which of course is only hidden if you don't consider the way Porwest thinks about money, that quarter is actually worth 26.5 cents, because based on a conservative (very conservative actually) expected 6% return if that quarter is invested, it will earn me 1.5 cents.
When you start to think of money in terms of what it can produce, it changes the way you think about even a penny.
How much is a dollar worth according my thinking? 6 cents. Or, more specifically $1.06. How much is $100 worth? $6. Or, $106. How much is 1 cent worth? 1.0006 cents.
The bottom line is that every single penny you leave behind has an opportunity cost attached to it. If you don't mind the penny that gets left behind, you lose the opportunity for the penny to be worth more than its face value.
Very simply put, I hear a great many people say to me, "I need the money," and yet, at the same time, say, "It's only a penny, who cares?"
If you need the money, you can't say that. Because every penny matters, and every penny is worth more than the penny says it's worth when you consider what it generates every time you keep one in your pocket and put it somewhere that offers it the opportunity to become more valuable.
6 people like this
4 responses
@kaylachan (75996)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Feb
George once collected a doller in quarters collecting abandoned shopping carts at Aldi and helping consumers who couldn't figure out how to return their carts.
2 people like this
@kaylachan (75996)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
15h
@porwest Yeah, it sure does. When people say they don't want their quarter back, it makes me sad, but then a second later I'm thinking 'more for me'.
1 person likes this
@porwest (97120)
• United States
11h
@kaylachan Exactly. It may sound mean, but the saying a fool and his money will soon be parted is very real, and I don't generally pity fools. lol

@BarBaraPrz (48833)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
24 Feb
@porwest I always get my quarters back. 

1 person likes this
@porwest (97120)
• United States
24 Feb
@BarBaraPrz I do too. Trust me, I mind every single penny. Every single one counts.
1 person likes this
@porwest (97120)
• United States
23 Feb
Are you denying my math or just happy being poor? lol. I am asking since if you have some Aldi carts you want to leave behind, I will gladly take them. But don't come crying to me when the rich get richer and you willingly help them to do it. 

1 person likes this


@TheHorse (224444)
• Walnut Creek, California
24 Feb
@porwest When I find a penny on the ground, I turn it heads up so the superstitious will think they will have good luck. When I find a quarter on the ground, I pick it up. When I leave a big tip, I give away most or all of the quarters I have picked up. That said, I did use what I learned in your class at Trump University today. Maybe I'll do a post about it.
1 person likes this

@lovebuglena (45941)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Feb
I never understood the quarter thing for shopping carts. Is that their way of ensuring customers don’t steal the carts?
If I see a penny on the ground I don’t always pick it up. Should I? I shouldn’t care what people will think if I pick up a penny off the ground. Yet sometimes I feel awkward picking it up.
Once I saw a dime on the ground as I was crossing the street. I bent down to pick it up only to realize it’s embedded in the asphalt. 

1 person likes this

@lovebuglena (45941)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Feb
@porwest I was really bored once so while waiting for hubby to pick me up from wherever I was I decided to walk around and look for pennies lol. Found none.
1 person likes this
@porwest (97120)
• United States
17h
@lovebuglena I am still considering just hanging out in an Aldi parking lot for a few hours to see what I could get. I'd make a YouTube video, of course. I think that might get a lot of views. Especially if I get a lot of carts. lol
1 person likes this
@porwest (97120)
• United States
24 Feb
It is supposed to encourage people to put their carts away rather than leave them scattered throughout the parking lot. Most people will return their carts, but some still won't. I will happily scoop them up. As for finding pennies on the ground, I always pick them up. Now, in the case of the dime, unless I had a pick axe... 


