Used car finance windy city

A $20 bill. A refund check. Couldn't we all use a little extra? As these eight sisters can attest, if ye seek, ye shall fund. Plus, the nine places you should look if you want to strike gold--from $10 to $10,000 and more

Quick--without looking--how much cash is in your wallet right now? Is it stuffed among receipts and stale gum, or nearly tucked away? Too many of us can't answer the first question but can readily cop to the crumpled bills. We may allow bank statements to, go unopened or promise to get to bill paying "next week."

Is it any wonder so many of us feel strapped? Too often we hide from our money. "Not paying attention to your money is tantamount to pushing it away," writes Suze Orman in her best-selling personal-finance book The Courage to Be Rich (Riverhead). The opposite is also true: You can make room for more money in your life by knowing what you have, by letting go of what you no longer need or want, and by valuing what you own. It's all about thinking abundantly. As Orman puts it, "Where there is a flow, any flow, of money, even a trickle, you have the power to increase it." She adds: "When you unleash powerful thoughts over even small amounts of money, you are turning toward more."

So why not discover the wealth that is already yours--dollars you won't have to work, save or invest to attain? Money is all around you, waiting to be found. But, like the sisters profiled here, you've got to learn to see that abundance. A pile of old clothes, a rusty old car, loose change and other items you've neglected can be worth hundreds of dollars or more. "Found money could be in our attics or our closets," says Jesse Brown, a Chicago investment adviser and author of Investing in the Dream (Hyperion). "It could be in the spare room with the extra cable TV nobody really watches."

Ready to join the treasure hunt? As the following sisters discovered, steering your consciousness toward money will make your life richer--no matter how much or how little you turn up.

RAGS TO RICHES Nailah Shami, 39, Redmond, Washington Found: $700 (and a lucrative new business)

"In April of last year, I was driving around with my honey, brainstorming about ways to make $200 to $300 extra a week without working a traditional job, so that I could finish writing my book, Taking the High Road: How to Cope With Your Ex-Husband, Maintain Your Sanity and Raise Your Child in Peace (Plume). My publisher's advance and savings were running out, and to top it off, my ex wasn't paying child support, so I was really short on cash. We happened to drive past a garage sale, and just like that my boyfriend looked at me and said, `It's in your closet. The money's in your closet.' I looked at him a little puzzled, trying to figure out when he could have stashed a couple grand in one of my suitcases the last time he was over. Then it hit me. He actually thought I was going to sell my clothes.

"Like most of my girlfriends, I have a special relationship with my clothes, and I couldn't imagine orphaning even one dress. I suggested we sell his clothes instead. He smiled lovingly at me and asked me to mull it over for a few days while he scouted out some flea markets. When I got home, I wandered into my closet (it's a walk-in) like a mopey child and began to pick out the merchandise. Surprisingly, I discovered I could pare my wardrobe down to half its size and still be a fashion diva.

"The next day my honey located two flea markets with dirt-cheap vendor fees that were half an hour from my apartment. I had never been to a flea market and didn't know what to expect. But I made a few inquiries and learned the ropes fast: That first weekend I made $250, and netted about $700 total before I ran out of saleable clothes in my own closet.

"By then I was hooked--I'd found my new job. I got new inventory at thrift stores for as little as 99 cents a pound. My teenage daughter became my booth assistant. We learned pricing, display and bartering techniques that would have made our African market-women ancestors proud. Each weekend we packed a hundred or more garments, three clothing racks and a 14-foot canopy into my Toyota Corolla. I even branched out and sold vintage thrift-store finds to boutiques. Two 1930's dresses I paid a dollar for went for $40 apiece. Some weekends we were rained out, but for the most part, between our flea market and resale business we netted about $300 a week."

THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE Monique Johnson, 36, Chicago Found: $800

"I had a horrible job. When I left to continue my education, I was told that I didn't have any vacation pay or overtime, and that if I did, it would be included in my last check from payroll. Well, I was so glad to leave that company that I never bothered to open any mail I received from them after I left. Almost a year later I was cleaning out my kitchen drawer and found a letter from my former employer. I decided to open it. It was a check for $800. Why they sent it to me I don't know, but it really came in handy and was a blessing. The lesson? Open your mail!"

COUPON QUEEN Noret Williams-O'Neal, 28, Nashville Found: up to $30 per week

"Years ago my coworkers and I started a coupon club, and we really rake in the savings. We shop at the stores that double and triple your coupons and sometimes get items for a few pennies or even free. It's really fun and exciting, but you have to commit yourself to clipping. My husband can't go out on Sunday without bringing home a paper. I have saved as much as $30 on a $70 grocery bill. An extra $30 a week adds up. Next month the money we've saved with coupons will help us make a deferred dream come true: We're having the lovely wedding ceremony we couldn't afford when we married."

GIVE AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE

Lisa Smith, 36, New York City

Found: $1,000

"Last year I donated five bags of used clothing to charity and claimed a tax deduction worth $1,000. Getting money back from the IRS is like finding money."

EXTRA CREDIT Jacqui Welch, 30, Atlanta Found: $625

"My husband, Tarik, and I do quarterly sweeps of all bank and credit-card statements to check for errors. One quarter last year we found $125 worth of erroneous fees. Another time we were billed twice for a $500 item. It pays to keep your eyes open."

DIGITAL DUCATS Fatima Hollis, 25, Chicago Found: $350

"When my money's low, I'm looking around the house trying to find something to sell on-line. I use auction sites (ebay and amazon.com) all the time to unload stuff I don't need. Last year I made $150 selling a computer hard drive that I'd originally bought for $75 and another $200 selling Pokemon collectors' items I'd purchased at Burger King for $1.99 each. I had 18 of them that I sold in sets of six for around $65 each. The Pokemon toys aren't as hot as they used to be, but whatever new toy or doll becomes hot this year, you can bet your last dollar I'll sell it."

MONEY MOBILE E'toile Libbett, 50, Southfield, Michigan Found: $1,000

"My husband and I are relocating. I still had the first car I ever paid for, my beloved red convertible Fiat. I hadn't driven it in years, but I'm a sentimentalist and hadn't had the heart to get rid of it. I decided to donate it to the American Kidney Foundation in memory of my mother, who died of kidney disease. My car went to a good cause and I got a tax deduction worth $1,000--money we can put toward my son's college expenses."

CASHING IN Meagan Mitchell, 38, Detroit Found: $525

"My mother's a big Oprah tan, and I had promised I'd take her to visit Harpo Studios in Chicago. But my cash flow (I own a hair salon) was strained as our trip date drew near, and I didn't know how I would come up with the money. Round-trip tickets from Detroit were $99 each. I thought if I could come up with that cash, I could charge the hotel rooms for one night only. I took two jars of coins to the supermarket counting machine, hoping they'd add up to enough. After the service charge (four cents on the dollar), I was left with $247. People at the grocery store were amazed.

"With the money left over after buying the tickets, I decided to get my clothes from the cleaners. Inside the pocket of one jacket was a $20 bill and some checks I'd forgotten to cash two months earlier. Amazingly, nothing was damaged or tampered with. Needless to say, Mom and I had a great time in the Windy City. I had enough cash left over to splurge on souvenirs, and confirmation that I stand protected."

WHAT TO DO WITH THAT WINDFALL