17 People Share the Most a Dollar Has Ever Gotten Them

Sometimes, a single dollar (or euro or other equivalent forms of currency) can have an outsized impact on one's life. Someone asked the people of Reddit to share the most they've ever gotten for one dollar. Answers ranged from lots to candy to a new job to a whole family, life, and future. This first story of a man, a woman, and the one-dollar bill that got passed between them for years is particularly adorable. 

Jfreak7 writes that, back in junior high school, there was this girl that he liked and flirted back and forth with quite a lot. During a band trip one day, they stopped at a gas station and she bought him a pack of gum. Presumably, she liked him, too. He tried to pay her back the $1 for the gum, but she wouldn't take it. So he slipped the single in her pocket when she wasn't looking. And thus, the cutest dollar bill war you could ever imagine began. 

She eventually found the dollar and slipped it back into his backpack. This sly exchange of the dollar bill went on for a long time. And it got serious. He mailed the dollar to her house. She "stuffed it in a gum wrapper" and then offered him a piece. Clearly, this dollar was so much more than a dollar.

Eventually, he worked up the courage to use the dollar bill to ask her out. He wrote, "Will you go out with me?" on it and gave it to her. She wrote, "Yes" back. After they'd been dating for four years, he used the same dollar bill to ask her to marry him. And it worked. 

"We have been married for 15 years and have three awesome kids." That one dollar got this man his whole life. 

This is... different from the first story but just as entertaining! In California, guys will sell huge bags of oranges on the side of the road. 7fw pulled over to buy some at the end of the night thinking he had cash. The guy selling them only had two 20-pound bags left. Unfortunately, he didn't actually have cash, just a dollar bill. The guy just wanted to get rid of his oranges, so he gave him all 40 lbs for the dollar. 

Sometimes, you can turn one dollar into many more dollars with a little bit of ingenuity and an empty jar. Combo531 was working a coat check at an auction and they weren't supposed to have a tip jar, but someone stuck an empty jar on the counter and people started tipping. They emptied the jar, then people stopped tipping, so they put one dollar back in, which prompted others to throw in their change. On that second round of tips, they made $92!

Be-hind-you did that thing with scouts where you're given a dollar to buy something and then you try to trade it up for better stuff. They ended up with "one of those VR headsets you put your phone in, a pair of glasses with a fake nose attached, more perfume sticks than any rational group of 16-year-olds could ever need, and a poster for a musical happening in the town that week." That's some good loot. 

Poetry_Peter lives in Europe, but he had a few U.S. dollar bills left from a trip to the States and gave one to a girl he'd just met. They started talking about America, and she was fascinated by it, and they forged a connection over the dollar bill that led to a beautiful friendship! How neat is that?

Wolverine-claws bought a cookie from a bake sale and gave it to their terrible boss. From that day forward, they were the boss's favorite and got treated way better at work. It's amazing what a cookie can do!

Spiderqueendemon bought a bottle of Coke for an old woman who approached them in the retail store they worked in asking if there was anything sweet she could have. Turns out, she was diabetic and near fainting. That Coke may have saved her life. 

Times_Hunger once spent a dollar on a McDonald's burger for a homeless man. The man was really grateful, so he taught him how to make origami cranes, and they became friends. Now, the man is no longer homeless and teaches crafts at a local community center. It's amazing what one seemingly small act of kindness can do!

With one dollar, A_White_Dude22 bought a giant book about how cars work at an old bookstore. Some of the information was dated, but it still taught him a lot about cars and now he's "essentially invulnerable" to mechanics who might try to scam him on something. He's probably saved a lot of money!

No one expects to actually win money off of $1 scratchers, so when it happens, even if it's not that much, it's nice! Callthewambulance once won $40, which may not seem like a huge deal, but I bet if it happened to you, you would jump with delight!

This is an interesting one. Mcameo6 worked in a classroom with "high needs" kids and they had a particularly tough boy in their class who just wasn't progressing. They made a new plan to keep his behavior on track and asked him what he wanted as a reward for sticking to the plan. He said the "blue machine drink," which they realized was a Slurpee. 

The boy earned his Slurpee three days before the end of the year, and "he was over the moon...By the end of the year, he trailed after me like a puppy, could read on level, and took pride in his work." 

You know those thrift stores where they sell clothes by weight? Well, GalavantingRhino bought an "interesting-looking silk blouse" for less than a dollar. It turned out to be "rare vintage Versace," and they sold it for about $700. I'd say that was worth it. 

Comeclosertome didn't often get sweet treats at home growing up, so it was special when their mom gave them a dollar to buy whatever they wanted at the local public pool. At the concession stand there, they sold Swedish Fish for a penny each, so $1 = 100 Swedish Fish! They say it's one of their "sweetest memories, in a literal and figurative sense."

Emperor_Norton has a shop, and one day a "rather bossy loud woman" came in. Their 6-year-old nephew told the woman she needed to leave so he could finish his homework, so the shopkeeper gave him a dollar for doing a good deed. Turns out, the local shelter was having an event where they were giving away black dogs and cats for $1. So the little boy bought a dog! With that one dollar, they, "got rid of an annoyance, saved a dog's life, gave my nephew a great pet, and annoyed the s--t out of my brother because he really didn't want another dog at the house." A win-win-win-win. 

When Krazy-Kat15 was a little kid, they were sitting on a curb fiddling with a toy guitar. An old man put a dollar at their feet and told them it was a tip. That's how they learned about busking, which they now do regularly and make good money from. 

Oh, Hollywood Blvd. It's not as glamorous as most people think, and it's much weirder than you could ever imagine. This story proves it. Stoneheart7 was on the L.A. subway (first mistake) when a guy dressed up as Jack Sparrow asked, in character, for a dollar for a subway ticket. They gave it to him.

That night, they got off the train at the station and were immediately confronted by two guys who tried to mug him. Out of nowhere, the same Jack Sparrow from the morning appeared, brandishing his fake sword. And slowly, more of his Hollywood Blvd. character friends arrived. Pretty soon, it was our storyteller, Jack Sparrow, Freddy Kreuger, and Jason Voorhees against these two muggers. Needless to say, the muggers backed off. 

JavaShipped paid for a homeless person's burger at McDonald's one day, and someone who witnessed their kindness immediately offered a job at their design company. JavaShipped ended up working there for two years and made some amazing professional connections. 

Goodashbadash79 locked themselves out of their apartment once. The locksmith was going to cost $50, but they only had $1 on them. So they walked downtown to the casinos and kept playing until they ended up with $50! Then they returned and paid the locksmith to get back into their own home.