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I StumbledUpon onto this and had to share it with SOMEONE; therefore needed to relate it to personal finance in some way to get some validity out of the post. It’s a break from my normal personal finance path to inject a little humor into this post to jazz it up a bit. Hope you get a chuckle out of it too…

So I will start out with the video, and then we can discuss all that he saved by being in there for nearly 2 days straight:

1.

So let’s say he got there in the morning; so he saved $ on gas not needing to drive to, from, and then back to work again the next day. We’ll say he lives 20 miles away for the sake of argument and drives a car that, coincidentally gets 20 miles per gallon. He saved 3 gallons of gas, putting about $11.43 ($3.81 for gas here today, I know ridiculous, eh?) back in his pocket!
Gasoline savings: $11.43

2.

No need to flush any toilets at home! for 40 hours. I usually hit the loo about 2 or 3 times a day. I’m not privvy to the $ saved by not flushing but my water bill is like 30$ per month. Furthermore, no need to shower for those 2 days, let’s peg another $1.26 on for those long showers and $0.05 for that splat of toothpaste you won’t be needing!
Bathroom savings: $3.31

3.

Lighting at home? Nope, not needed. $1.39 in saved the non-use of lighting, although he DID have those new bulbs that last for years longer. He was going to watch some tv that night also which pegged the wattage to the tune of about $0.82.
Lighting electricity savings: $2.22

4.

Didn’t need to wash those clothes for the next day! Saved on that scoop of laundry detergent ($0.11) and tack on another few cents for saving water by not running the clothes washer ($0.61) and no need to use electricity for the dryer ($0.18).
Total laundering savings: $0.90

5.

How much do you spend on lunch per day? Are you one of those types that eats out a lot? I remember when I got my first full-time job I ate out every day. I didn’t have to worry about anyone else so I ate a lot of fast food.

In 40 hours starting at 8am, I’d have to get a cup of coffee from Starbucks ($3.25), then eat lunch at Applebees ($12.95+$4.00 for generous tip), dinner would be quick from McD’s off the dollar menu ($4.32 with tax), back around to another Starbucks coffee ($3.25) and a ham croissan-wich ($2.95), and finish up the 40 hours with another lunch from Taco Bell ($6.48 with tax).
Total food savings: $37.20

6.

Petey the parakeet was home all alone for those 40 hours, and conveniently they don’t need a lot of new food or water to be added to his dishes, but for the sake of argument again, let’s tack on that $0.07 of bits.
Total pet savings: $0.07

All in all I have to commend the guy. I would have been hammering at those ceiling tiles I’m pretty sure after about 4 hours. He kept his composure pretty well and even looked to play a game of solitaire in there it appeared with makeshift card! all the while savings a total of $55.13 for being trapped in an elevator for 41 hours…

Update!!!!:

Rumor has it (Thanks disembedded)that he made a few more dollars off the ordeal than that. He apparently went to court to sue for 25 MILLION dollars and made out with a little over 100k. That being said, someone please trap me in an elevator for 40 hours for 100k.

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