Are you looking for a fun activity for kids? Maybe an inexpensive gift idea?
One day while sitting and eating ice cream, my kids were looking at the change and saw a dollar bill with the words “Track This Bill www.WheresGeorge.com” on it. We pulled up the site on our phones and saw that you could use it to track where a bill has traveled.
Upon further investigation I found out that Where’s George has actually been around since 1998. They have helped people track over 250,000,000 bills. You set up a free account with them and enter your bills. When someone else enters them in the future, you get a notice.
How do you get started? The best way is to order a Where’s George stamp so that you can stamp the bills before you enter them. That way, when people get the bills later they are more likely to go to the site and participate in the tracking. You can get the stamps at Holmes Stamp for as little as $7.20 (Sunshine Rewards also has Holmes Stamp coupons and cash back).
Why would you want to track your bills? First, out of sheer curiosity just to see how far your money goes and how fast. Second, it’s a great way to teach kids about geography without just studying a map.
I was a little worried about marking on the bills, so I looked that up. Apparently you only get in trouble if you mark on them “with intent to render such item(s) unfit to be reissued.”
Have you ever heard of Where’s George? Have you ever used it?
I order my stamps from Stamp Connection. (stamp-connection.com/george.aspx), but there are several places that sell inexpensive stamps.Good luck!
I’ve been tracking bills for almost 7 years and currently have a little over 50k entered. Its a great hobby. You learn about many new towns and cities you had never heard of. Swiping a card all of the time makes it easy to go over your budget while shopping. Spending more cash is easier to budget your money, plus track your bills and have some fun while you are at it.
It’s funny that you left this comment yesterday because my husband and I just came across a bill yesterday with a “where’s George” stamp on it. We keep saying we are going to order one of these stamps but I never get around to it. I’m hoping today will be the day!