Today was very windy. I was struggling past the shopping center when some rubbish blew across my foot. My good angel prompted me to pick it up, intending to put it in the trash. To my surprise it was a scratch-and-win ticket - and it hadn't been scratched! I carefully scatched it off and - ta da! it was worth $5.

It is really neat because I never buy those scratchies. I also found 10 cents by a parking meter. I have been seeing how much money I can find this year, and this brings the total up to $NZ91.65 (We have no notes smaller than $5. It is really nice when I find a gold $2)

Ten dollars! I found me a TEN DOLLAR bill just walking across the supermarket lot. There wasn't anyone in sight, so I put $1 from my wallet into the Blind Foundation collection box and then I bought:

eggs
lentils
carrots
cabbage
bread
peanut butter
cottage cheese
rolled oats

All very good value for money. Then I quickly scuttled to the bank and emptied my wallet into my savings account. $105.15 so far this month.

A few little bits of income have come my way in the last 2 weeks. I got a tax refund of $43.83. I got reimbursed by my Toastmasters Club $30 for an ad I'd placed in the newspaper months ago and practically forgotten about. I knitted a scarf for a friend and she paid me $10.

I also got the statement for my retirement account, and it grew by $2,700 last year. I'm now looking for a little part time job, so I can begin contributing again. I can earn up to $80 a week without it affecting my benefit.

I went out shopping for the first time in a while today and had a great find in my favorite thrift store. 5 cones of yarn for a $1 each, 4 of Shetland wool and one of laceweight. It will keep me happily occupied for a long time. They also had trousers on sale at 2 for the price of 1. I will need to get some more as I have lost weight.

And I just learned i earned $2.51 interest on my online account last month. So I had a think about what I could buy with that. I got some eggs, rice and veggies and made myself a stirfry. Just think, even if I lose everything else, I'll still be able to afford one meal a month.

but the car is gone. I now have another $1700 to put in my hungry little bank account.