Where's George

We all spend money. Do you ever wonder what happens to that dollar bill after it leaves your hand? Does it travel far or end up in a bank? Does it go more places than you'll ever see? Does it wind up in a kid's piggy bank or in the g-string of a stripper?

Now you can find out over on the Where's George website. I joined a few years ago and when time allows I enter a few new bills. The site will tell you when someone re-enters your bills into the webpage, along with how far they traveled and how long it took them to get there.

There is a Canadian version too.

You'll get the best results if your job is of the type where a lot of cash changes hands, like in a restaurant or movie theater.

Here's the link to the site:http://www.wheresgeorge.com/

Here's the link to my profile on the site: http://www.wheresgeorge.com/user_profile_popup.php?ukey=72a73381a452a49f87e591d0848fbc7d

Remember it is meant to track the random movement of your money. And please don't go to the bank and take out $500 in ones and mark them all. They makes the bankers nervous.

Also, you are not supposed to give marked bills to your friends to re-enter into the site. That defeats the whole point, savvy?

George is short for George Washington, whose image is on the dollar bill.

A sleeper is a bill that has been entered into the web site but the bill itself is not marked with 'where's george'. It is fun to find a sleeper.

Whenever you get cash, check the front and back to see if it's been tagged by the previous owner with 'where's george'.

If you are going to enter a lot of bills, it pays to get a rubber stamp to stamp the bills.

Don't mark every bill. On occassion a store won't take it because you know how they hate anything out of the ordinary. It would be a shame to not be able to buy lunch because the only five in your wallet says 'where's george' and the clerk won't accept the bill.

Teach your kids to read the website so they can find out more about how money is made and which mint produced it.

Most of all, have fun. If it becomes too much work, take a breather.

So far, other people have found Where's George bills and given them to me. So when I found a $20.00 bill on my boyfriend's desk, I figured he'd set it aside for me. So I entered it on the site. It was stamped with a red circular where's george stamp around the number on one corner. It was stamped on both sides. If it hadn't been stamped in red, I never would have noticed it. Keep in mind my boyfriend saw it once when he got it from the bank and stuck it in his wallet and then another time when he took it out and put it on his desk.

So I was all excited and emailed him. Well, he never knew it was a stamped bill. He never noticed! So does that count as my first find or not? Grab your wallet and check your bills. Who knows...you could have one right now.

 Recently when I mentioned the Where's George site at a social event, one of my friend's said the site no longer exists. So I looked it up just now and it's alive and kicking. Good to hear it because I think it's a great site, especially if you have kids and want to help them learn more about how money circulates. I haven't gotten any hits on my bills in quite a while so I should start entering some fresh ones into the system.