to pick it up

[monkeyandlion2012]

So on my way home dropping dd of at nursery I found a five pound note in a puddle so I picked it up anyone else my lovely sister thinks it's scaffy (her wording not mine )

Yanbu! But suspect you'll get a lot of people telling you to hand it in somewhere.

As the emperor Vespasian said (after raising funds through a tax on Rome's sewers), "money doesn't smell". Crack on I reckon.

I've done it before, a few times, then felt really guilty after spending it that it was some old persons shopping budget for the week :(

It's not like you can get it back to whoever lost it though, so do something nice with it.

I don't know what I'd do about £5 to be honest. I'd feel uncomfortable spending it. I'd probably put it in a charity box.

I was once out with a couple of friends and one of them (who was a student at the time) picked up an envelope that was on the pavement. We looked inside- it had £120 in it. He pocketed it! I told him it was wrong, but my other friend (who is a solicitor) told him to keep it too, as it was the original owner's fault they'd lost it!

I really kicked off and said it could be somebody's pension, a child's savings, somebody's rent money for the week... He kept it and said he'd buy me a drink with it. I went home, I was so angry. It still affects how I think of him today. I'm tempted to ask him how he feels about what he did now, as a minimum-wage earner with a family to support. Losing £120 would break him financially now. I just hope that the person who lost that money could 'afford' to lose it. Obviously this is way over and above your £5 though!

Anyway, I guess the point of my rambling story is- how much money would it be morally wrong to keep?

Tbh it was near a school so will be telling school just in case some poor kid lost there money if not I'd spent it am already eyeing up a nice costa

The law says you have to take reasonable steps to locate the rightful owner. In the case of a lone £5 that would amount to no more than telephoning your local police station - although since it's near to a school, I think calling the school as well is very thoughtful of you.

For £5 I would be amazed if anyone has contacted the police about losing it so I think you could reasonably spend it on a costa secure in the knowledge you could pay it back in the unlikely event of someone reporting.