All that change really adds up!

[SnackyStacky]

In my checkbook, whenever I make a purchase, I always round up. So for a purchase of $26.33, I'd round that up to $27, and keep track of all that change.

In about 3 or 4 days, I've accrued about $10 worth!

Not to mention all the loose change that I roll. I made a deposit of about $32 in rolled change!!!

Want to budget? Just collect all your change! :)

[bobbiwoz]

Good for you!

Saving change doesn't work for me, I'm the type that always feels that if I can use only change for a purchase, I haven't used any money!

Bobbi;)

[cyndibelle]

wow that is great..at that rate you should have your trip paid for and extra money..........

[Tiggerlover91]

From rounding up in my checkbook AND charging myself a dollar fee, I've accumulated about $221.00 extra in the bank since August of last year! :cool1: From loose change and dollar bills, I've got $171.50! :jumping1: Almost $400.00 just "lying" around, it's a very comforting feeling to know the money is there if we need it for anything. Income tax time is coming up too...wow!! I never give exact change for anything anymore...not even if it's something like $5.01. Not giving them the penny gives me .99 cents in change and all that adds up very fast in a week. I take all my change from my Tue-Sat work week at Ruby's and throw it into my change jar on Sat. It's amazing how much change I can have from TIPS and from purchases in that short amount of time.
It's a GREAT way to save money and so easy to do!
Denise :teeth:

[crz4mm2]

I have done this for years. BOught my 1960 VW bug to restore with the money I had saved :)
It really works for me.
Cathy

[vhoffman]

I've done the "save the change" thing, too. Whle it did add up to a nice amount, I found the minute I deposited it to our checking account it got spent. We recently opened an ING Direct account. Its an internet bank, with no deposit or balance minimums and no fees. Its become our vacation account. I send deposits as little as $5. They also pay 2% interest, and a $25 bonus is credited to your account when you open an account. Its great to keep your vacation money, such as the loose change, seperate from other funds. You need a referral from a current account holder to open an account. I have some referrals available. If you would like one, just PM to me with your first and last name and email. It does add up!

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by vhoffman
I've done the "save the change" thing, too. Whle it did add up to a nice amount, I found the minute I deposited it to our checking account it got spent. We recently opened an ING Direct account. Its an internet bank, with no deposit or balance minimums and no fees. Its become our vacation account. I send deposits as little as $5. They also pay 2% interest, and a $25 bonus is credited to your account when you open an account. Its great to keep your vacation money, such as the loose change, seperate from other funds. You need a referral from a current account holder to open an account. I have some referrals available. If you would like one, just PM to me with your first name and email. It does add up!

I'm the same way as you...as soon as it is in the checking account, it's gone!!! I used to keep a box with money in it in my linen closet. I found that was sooo much easier for me than to have it in my checking account and be tempted to just buy something with my "check card." Now I have the money in the ING account and while I can just transfer it to my checking account if I want to spend it, it takes a few days, so that eliminates impulse purchases :) I've made quite a bit in referrals, so for those of you that haven't checked out the "ING" thread, you might want to do so!!! :sunny:

[disneyjunkie]

Can someone please share more info about the ING accounts(search is down)or post a link to the threads?

The ING sounds like a good idea. It may be to late for our April trip, but may work for our Christmas trip.

[disneyjunkie]

I just found the ING thread.

[momm2four]

I found the ING account last night and signed up under someone here on the DIS. If you need a referral, I still have some available. Just need your full name and email address. Sounds like a win/win deal.

Lori P.

[patsal]

ING is awesome for the cahnge I also deposit my ebay earnings into the account. I found I was dipping into the "money jar" between paychecks, so making the deposits really helps me to keep my saved money. I also have referrals left if anyone is in need.

[floridagirrl2]

I have a separate checking account at my credit union where all my Ebay Paypal and Amazon earnings get deposited. Our regular accounts are at a different local bank so we tend to forget about my "slush fund" as my husband likes to call it. It paid for our Disney trip in November.

We also save change in a jar, and throw cash into the jar now and then too. This works well because my husband sometimes is paid in cash (note: customers are still invoiced and we still have to pay taxes on the money, just like I do on my Ebay and Amazon earnings!). That way we don't have a lot of cash in our wallets and aren't tempted to spend. DH is saving for a new mandolin and we even have a separate cash jar for that.

[debster812]

We had been doing the spare change in the jar for about 6 months. Not crazy about it, we would spend change if we had it, but if it ended up in your pocket or purse, at the end of the day, into the jar it went. I also have $50 every two weeks into a credit union savings account that is in my hometown (30 mins away) and I don't have an ATM for it. I've been grabbing the money every other month, and sending it to WDW. Our lodging it totally paid for.

We just deposited all the change into the account (~$200) and there there is another $200 in there. I'll be popping in there on Saturday (we fly Saturday night) and getting traveller's checks.

[SnackyStacky]

I'm so glad I started this thread! Some GREAT money saving tips!

Thanks to a generous DIS member, I took the ING referral, and opened the account.

Patsal (and for anyone else who has a Charter One Bank around...), I don't know how the money works in your house, but Charter One offers MegaRewards. You accrue points for everyday purchases made with your check card. We just got a $200 gift card that works wherever master card is accepted. I'll be using that to make a payment on my honeymoon. :)

Anyone else have some great money saving tips?

[Gillian]

I also have an ING account (and available referrals if anyone needs one, LOL) and it's great.

We save all our change in a jar and periodically bring the jar to Commerce bank. If you have one near you (I'm in NJ), call to see if they have a "penny arcade." It's a machine where you dump in your change. It counts it for you & spits out a recipt. You take it to a cashier, who then gives you real money! You don't have to have an account & you don't have to roll anything! :bounce:

[vhoffman]

Gillian,


Does that coin machine charge anything to count the coins? There are machines like that in grocery stores here in Texas, but they charge about 7-8% of the coins counted. Kind of eats into your profit.

[travel with kids]

We have done the 'save the coin in a jar' for the last few years. We use a glass 1 qt. milk jar. It holds around $200.00 of coin. Last year, we had 2 3/4 jars. This year we already have 3 full jars and are working on our 4th.

We purchased a coin roller from Wal-mart many years ago on clearance. We do not roll the coin unitl a few weeks before our trip. Then we exchange it at the bank for travelers cheques.

[nowellsl]

We take our change to the bank and they put it in their change machine. They do not charge for this like the machines in the stores. We just cashed ours in a couple of days ago and we just started it around the end of October - we got $162.00! It does add up fast!

[tonysgal34]

We collected change in a tall jar for a couple of years prior to our trip last Nov. We went to the store and poured it into one of those change machines. 45 minutes later(it takes awhile)we were $312 richer. It was really nice.....almost covered our airfare!!

[darlene9947]

I use the change in the jar method also. It really does add up fast! When I go shopping, if I am paying with a debit card, I round up by a couple of dollars and get the cash back, and that goes in the jar also. We count the money about every 3 months and deposit it in the checking account, then transfer to the ING account immediately!! Can't spend it that way!

The ING account is set up to automatically draft money from my checking account 2 times a month ($50 each) so that is adding up also! Can't wait till December!! I also have some referrals left if anyone needs one. Just PM me.

[peanutzmom]

Wow! It seems like I share a lot of saving ideas with the rest of you! We always have a change jar going that is designated for something special (it has ranged from new flannel sheets -- yes we were starving college students at the time -- to spending money for family trips). We wiped it out in September when we took a three week trip to Europe, and now it's slowly growing again for our Disney trip in November. We're going to roll it and hang onto some of the rolled pennies & quarters for pressed pennies, then put the rest toward our trip. I also opened ING accounts for myself & my two kids. I transferred $100 my mom gave me for Christmas over into it, then my $25 bonus, plus $10 referral for both of my kids accounts. So I now have $145 for souveniers, which will do me fine since I'm not a big spender. I transferred $10 for each of the kids (Christmas money from Grandma), plus they each got th $25 bonus, so they each now have $35 for souveniers. Since they will be 4 & 6 when we go and we'll pay for things like ice cream & t-shirts, I think $35 in spending money will be enough for them. So, in 4 days I turned $120 into $215 in souvenier money!! BTW,I can send referrals out, too, just PM me with your full name and e-mail address. ;) Finally, we're also doing the Ebay/Amazon reselling bit, and all of that money goes into savings for the trip. My DD (4) cracked me up this weekend. I was cleaning up some of her nicer baby toys to sell on Ebay. She got really upset when she found out I was selling them. When I explained that I was selling them so we had money for our Disney vacation, she ran around and gathered up almost every toy she could find (including new Christmas toys) and wanted to sell them so we could go to WDW longer! That's my girl! princess:

[vhoffman]

Yes, that change does add up. I did a "Spring cleaning" this week and went through the whole house. As I went, I kept a ziploc bag with me to put loose change into. Well, when I took it to the coin counter at the grocery store I was pleasantly surprised to find I had $65 in change! And that's not including the 8% fee the machine took. Next time I'll roll my own. That would have been another $7. I'm going to put that money immediately into my ING account. BTW, if anyone would like a referral to open an ING account and get a $25 sign on bonus, I have several referrals available. Send a pm with your first and last name and email address and I'll get the referral out right away. I've found the ING account a great way to save for Disney. (Or if you're not sure what an ING account is, PM me and I'll fill you in on the details.)

[EsmeraldaX]

We always throw our loose change into a change cup, then at the end up the month, we take it to the grocery store's automatic change counter and always end up with $20-$30.