In today’s Pocket Change, Dave takes you to a small town in Germany where a nursing home came up with one of the simplest and smartest ideas ever: a fake bus stop.

Designed to help protect residents with dementia, this imitation bus stop became an unexpected lifesaver, giving comfort, familiarity, and calm to people who needed it most. Other countries copied it, families loved it, and the story has since become a brilliant example of creativity and compassion in action.

It’s clever, it’s heartwarming, and it’s exactly the kind of story Money2Byrne loves:

a little bit of genius… hidden in plain sight.

Listen now to hear how a simple bench and a sign made a world of difference.

What would you do if a café charged you €2… just to cut your sandwich in half?

That’s exactly what happened at Bar Pace, a real café on Lake Como in Italy and when the receipt hit the internet, the story went global.

In this week’s Money2Byrne Pocket Change, David dives into the strangest “service fee” ever charged, the café’s unusual explanation, and how a simple knife movement turned into an international headline.

You’ll hear:

🥪 The true story behind the viral receipt

💶 Why Bar Pace defended the fee and why they’re still in business today

🌍 How the internet reacted (including the funniest comments)

💡 What this teaches us about pricing, customer psychology, and expectations

😂 Plus some top-tier slicing jokes at no extra charge

If you love quick, funny, true business stories, this one’s a must-listen.

🎙️ Money2Byrne The Podcast That Looks at the Lighter Side of Business

Black Friday might be the biggest shopping day of the year… but it didn’t start that way.

In fact, the real origin of Black Friday has nothing to do with bargain TVs or midnight queues it began decades earlier, in a way almost nobody knows.

In this Money2Byrne Pocket Change Special, David W Byrne breaks down the wild true story of how Black Friday got its name, why police invented the term, why retailers originally hated it, and how it somehow transformed into a global shopping event worth billions.

You’ll hear:

🕵️‍♂️ The forgotten 1950s story behind the name

🚗 How crowds, traffic, and football fans created the first Black Friday

💰 The moment retailers flipped it into a profit machine

🛍️ The strangest early Black Friday promotions

🌍 How it became a worldwide phenomenon (and kept getting bigger)

Whether you’re bargain-hunting, avoiding the shops, or just curious how Black Friday became what it is today this episode delivers a fast, funny, true story to kick off the weekend.

🎙️ Money2Byrne The Podcast That Looks at the Lighter Side of Business.

Ever been in IKEA so long you felt like you lived there?

Well… one woman actually did.

In this hilarious True Business Story, David W Byrne dives into the bizarre case of a woman in Japan who secretly moved into an IKEA store sleeping in the showroom beds, storing her belongings in the drawers, and eating every meal in the cafeteria without anyone noticing.

She blended in so perfectly that IKEA only caught her because staff found a used toothbrush in one of the display bathrooms and realised something… wasn’t very Swedish.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

🛏️ How she picked her “bedroom”

🍝 Her daily routine of meatballs and stealth

🎥 How CCTV finally exposed her

😂 And IKEA’s surprisingly chill reaction

A fun reminder that if you design a place like a home… someone, somewhere, will move in.

🎙️ Money2Byrne The Podcast That Looks at the Lighter Side of Business.

What happens when a pizza company promises free pizza for life to anyone brave (or foolish) enough to get their logo tattooed?

Chaos. Beautiful, cheesy chaos.

In this episode of Pocket Change, David W Byrne dives into the unbelievable true story of the 2018 Domino’s promotion in Russia where the company accidentally inspired thousands of people to get permanent tattoos for a lifetime of pizza…

only for Domino’s to panic and pull the plug days later.

You’ll hear about:

🍕 The man who tattooed the logo on his forehead

🍕 Tattoo shops running out of ink

🍕 Domino’s realising they’d just given away millions in pizza

🍕 The desperate rule change to cap the winners at 350 people

🍕 And the people who STILL got the tattoo afterwards

A hilarious reminder that the internet will ALWAYS say yes to free food and that marketing teams should probably own a calculator.

🎙️ Money2Byrne The Podcast That Looks at the Lighter Side of Business.

Ever checked into an Airbnb and heard footsteps when you’re the only one there? 👻

Welcome to the booming world of haunted short-term rentals where creaky floors, flickering lights, and ghost stories aren’t complaints… they’re selling points.

In this spooky-season episode of Pocket Change, David W Byrne dives into the real-life business of haunted Airbnbs, ghost-themed stays, and the people making a killing from fear.

From Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania to haunted inns in Savannah and York, discover how Halloween tourism, viral storytelling, and a little supernatural branding are turning normal houses into profitable ScareBnBs.

🎃 In this episode:

• The real haunted listings that triple bookings every October

• Airbnb’s “Icons” campaign guests in Dracula’s Castle

• Why fear is one of the most profitable emotions in marketing

• The funniest real guest reviews from “possessed” properties

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, one thing’s certain spooky season is serious business.

Would you ever pay a thousand dollars for a single cup of coffee? ☕💸

Well, believe it or not, some people do.

In this Pocket Change episode, David W Byrne takes a sip of one of the strangest luxury trends in the world the $1,000 coffee, made from beans that have literally been eaten and digested by an animal before being brewed.

From Kopi Luwak to Black Ivory Coffee, this episode explores how marketing, rarity, and a touch of madness turned a humble cup of joe into a status symbol for the ultra-rich.

You’ll learn:

💎 Why people pay small fortunes for coffee beans that took the scenic route through nature.

☕ How exclusivity fuels the “luxury food” industry.

😂 And why the real secret ingredient might just be good storytelling.

So grab your (hopefully cheaper) cup and tune in for a tale that proves in business, perception really is everything.

When life gives you taxes… grab a wheelbarrow.

In this episode of Money2Byrne: Pocket Change, David Byrne tells the unbelievable true story of Nick Stafford, the man who settled a $3,000 tax bill using 300,000 pennies and made government employees count every single one.

From viral headlines to a seven-hour coin-counting marathon, discover how one taxpayer turned frustration into performance art and proved that sometimes, the system only listens when the penny finally drops.

🪙 A $3,000 tax bill paid in copper

🚗 A grudge, five wheelbarrows, and one very long day at the DMV

💰 The legal loophole that made it possible

😂 And a reminder that protest doesn’t always have to make cents it just has to make noise

A short, sharp Money2Byrne story about money, madness, and the ultimate petty payback.