What would you do if you found £100?

By Steve Pierce | 15 February 2010 | Comments (3)

Research from Santander Current Accounts suggests that half (49 per cent) of us now say that if they found £100 in cash on the street with no-one around, they would keep it for themselves - a rise of 13 per cent from 2008. Almost two thirds (62 per cent) who said this said they would feel no guilt in holding onto the cash

It is not only our sense of civic duty that is being tested! Just one in 20 (6 per cent) would choose to give the money to charity. When asked how they would spend the £100 windfall, 18 per cent of Britons said they would spend it on their family, a further 15 per cent said they would put it towards paying off their debts, and one in ten (11 per cent) said they would spend it on themselves.

So what is going on here? Is this a response to the chill of an economic winter? If we would hand in £100 would it be different if it was a £50 note, a £20, a £10? Do we do things with money that we might not do with other things?

Posted by Steve Pierce

Steve Pierce was born, raised, educated, ordained and employed in Liverpool and is the Director of Learning and Stewardship for the diocese of Liverpool. He supports, of course, Everton.

comments:

Andy Brown

February 16, 2010 6:02 PM

When a boy of about 10 I found a £1 note. My parents took me to the Police Station and a record was made of my find. Three months later it was mine. I had kept it safe! Can't remember what I spent it on. I would do the same now, although finding a £1 coin wouldn't require me visiting the Police Station.

Trevor

February 23, 2010 7:20 PM

When I was 14 I landed my first after school job in a local supermarket. My first wage was 5 pounds but to my surprise there were actually two 5 pound notes stuck together. I immediately handed one of the notes back to the manager without thinking. A colleage saw this and said...'He was testing you. Better to know if you are honest now than find out you were dishonest years later".

Anthony

February 19, 2010 3:40 PM

My wife and I had a surprise find - in the form of a very large sum of money for Child Tax Credits. The Inland Revenue wouldn't take the money back, but we chose NOT to spend it. Just as well, because the Revenue eventually reasiled their error and stopped paying the monthly sum for the next two and a half years. So we still had it available as and when needed.