'I found something unexpected in my mailbox and can't decide what to do with it'

Checking the post isn't always the most joyful experience. It often seems like all that comes through the letterbox are bills demanding money or adverts trying to get you to part with your hard-earned cash. Outside of birthdays and Christmas, it's not often something comes through the door which leaves you feeling better than you did before you opened it.

But one Reddit user found something very strange when they checked their post. Posting on the social media platform, they said someone had left £76 ($100) in cash in their mailbox, with no indication of who had left it, or why.

"On Sunday, my husband checked our mailbox (it’s attached to our house) for the first time in a while and found two $50 bills just sitting there," they said. "No envelope, no note, nothing.

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"We were super confused. We have two kids and stable jobs, and we haven’t had any kind of hard times with finances recently, so it seems unlikely someone we know left it as a random act of kindness.

"We texted close friends and family, everyone denied it being them. I also posted on a local Facebook group asking if anyone was missing a sum of money. Lots of supportive comments, but no leads, no one trying to say it was theirs.

"At first I wondered if it was a Facebook Marketplace mixup (like maybe someone left payment in the wrong mailbox after picking up an item from a neighbor), but we checked and that’s been ruled out. So now I’m at a loss.

"Do I just keep it? Pay it forward somehow? Keep searching for the rightful owner? What would you do in this situation?"

The top-rated reply said they should "just keep it and spend it". "The 'rightful owner' is you now," they said. "Someone deliberately placed the money in your mailbox."

Replying to that comment, another user said: "This. It's yours to do with as you please.

"If you feel guilty for accepting it because you're not in need, find a good cause to donate to. If you're in the US, I recommend donating to a local food bank right now.

"But there is also no shame in keeping it and putting it towards your own uses. Do whatever you want with that money that gives you the most joy or satisfaction."

Another suggested there may be a more nefarious reason for the cash. "Probably some teenager paying somebody for weed or something and they just left it in the wrong mailbox," they said.

Someone else replied: "That was another thought that crossed my mind. Someone in the neighborhood might be a drug dealer and one of their customers left their money in the wrong mailbox."

Others suggested they should take the money to a bank to check if it is counterfeit before deciding what to do with it.