Greetings from NYC. I’m here meeting with the crew from Pencils of Promise for a few days and visiting the city for the first time in over a decade before coming back to Chicago tomorrow and running the 50k ultramarathon this weekend. Things are busy!
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If you’re like me, you rarely use cash anymore. Nevertheless, I probably have about $25 on me at all times for random purchases, cash fare, or in case of emergency, etc. Here’s 25 things to do with the $25 laying around in your wallet.
- A week’s worth of coffee.
- 1/2 monthly gym membership
- 2lbs of bison jerky (actually ridiculously good)
- 70% of a Bucky Balls set.
- 2 “new” outfits at goodwill
- ~6, 7-11 Big Gulps
- 1L Bacardi Oakheart
- 157 Chinese Yuan (just in case the whole U.S. economy thing doesn’t work out).
- A couple dvds (if you still buy them) or movies off iTunes or Amazon.
- 25 new apps for your iPhone.
- 1 Kiva Loan
- 4 trips to Jamba Juice.
- Basic monthly cell phone bill.
- 1 Impossible Tshirt
- 4 hours of internet in the Auckland Airport
- 2 1/2 full albums on iTunes
- 3 Chipotle Burritos
- One of these lego sets.
- 25, $1 coins at the US Mint (sorry the Frequent Flyer hack doesn’t’ work anymore).
- About 10 pounds of Twizlers.
- ~40% of a typical race entry fee
- Almost enough for a new iPhone 5 lightning adapter.
- One $25 gift card to any store you can think of
- 3 poorly-thought-out domain names.
- Education and a whole nes set of possibilities for a kid in Guatemala.
You can burn $25 on a lot of different things. Some of them will have more impact than others. You might not remember the couple of beers you spent $25 on, but $25 can change the trajectory of someone’s life.
I’m running an ultra marathon this Saturday to help raise $25,000 to build a school in Guatemala. Find out more about the race and donate here. Something as small as $25 can make a big difference.
Alan Reeves says
Great list Joel. For #3, you could substitute goat jerky (also very tasty).
To most people, $25 is just pocket change or a little more. It can change your life or the life of someone else if spent wisely.
A while ago, I heard about a charity that allowed you to purchase livestock for needy families in Asia. It is similar to #11 (Kiva loan) but on a much more basic needs level. Since I raise goats and chickens with a few rabbits, this charity really got my attention.
Kurt Swann says
Joel,
I just added $25 to Joanna June’s “Abs For Education” since it’s part Impossible HQ 🙂 I see you’re over 50% towards the goal. Hope everyone gives up bison jerky and makes a donation to this project instead!
Kurt
jamie flexman says
Where I come from $25 is about £15 which doesn’t go very far at all. Right now I fancy having a nice meal in a pub with that kind of cash.
davidd says
I rarely carry cash anymore… because I rarely have any money!
🙁
Michael Charalambous says
Not sure everyone really saw the point of the post, but rest assured #25 will impact some people 🙂
Joel Runyon says
🙂 Good to hear Michael.
Mary Slanker says
Amazing list. Thanks for sharing.