Counted out our change last night

[Clang]

We broke my piggy bank last night. It was a plastic pig I got at the dollar store about a year ago & throw all my hubby's change into when he leaves it on the dresser. Anyway, we rolled all the silver - left the pennies for tonight, and so far we have $112.30!!! Woohoo!!!

I bet we have another couple dollars in pennies left. Tonight we will break into the kids "DISNEY PIG". They have been saving all their change since we booked our trip in early April - for their own spending money.

We leave on Friday!!!!

 

[chrispooh1963]

We do the same thing every year. This year we had 430.00 in change. I couldn't believe it. Its amazing how fast the change adds up. About a week before the trip we dump it out. This year my husband took it to a local store where you dump it in a machine and it counts it for you and they give you cash. Much easier than counting and getting dirty.

 

[LauraMc]

Just something to think about -- if you take your change to the machine at the grocery store (coinstar), it takes a pretty significant percentage out (close to 7%). So, for $400 worth of change, they'd take $32.

It's better to take it to your local bank and have them count it (they have the same machines usually). Call first -- sometimes you have to deposit it for them to count it, and rarely they impose a fee. But even if you have to deposit it, you can then withdraw the money.

Enjoy!

 

[patsal]

Congratulations! I have saved and rolled change monthly for the past year. I average about $50.00 per month. I figure I should be able to do my 40th birthday in style if I keep this up! I stillhave 3 years and nine months!--but at over $500. per year I should be in great shape!

 

[disneydreamer1970]

We find that saving change really works for us! None of us at home use change at the store, it all goes in the piggy banks! My DS saved all of his change, left over change from school lunch, bottle return money, allowance money, b-day money, etc. for two years and had $432 for spending money at Disney.

I know just how excited you must be!! It is amazing how quickly change can add up!

 

[prncess674]

Originally posted by LauraMc
Just something to think about -- if you take your change to the machine at the grocery store (coinstar), it takes a pretty significant percentage out (close to 7%). So, for $400 worth of change, they'd take $32.

It's better to take it to your local bank and have them count it (they have the same machines usually). Call first -- sometimes you have to deposit it for them to count it, and rarely they impose a fee. But even if you have to deposit it, you can then withdraw the money.

Enjoy!

This is very true. take it to your local bank. I used to work as a teller in college and we never charged to count change. However, we didn't "run coin" everyday. The way we did it was we took the bag of change and deposited it as the amount the customer said it was and then credited the difference to the account on change day. You never waited more than a week if any difference were found for them to be credited to your account.
There is no need to count the change. Just dump it in bag and make an educated guess and the rest would be credited/debited to your account.


We were not allowed to accept pre rolled coins so be sure to call before you invest in those roll sleeves. Ziploc bags are fine for this purpose.

 

[Gillian]

Also, if you're in NJ, NY, PA or DE check to see if there is a Commerce Bank in your area. They have free self service coin counting machines. You dump your money in and get a receipt. Bring the recept to the teller & you'll get "real" money back!

http://bank.commerceonline.com/information/branch_locations/index.cfm

 

[Shells9]

Only it went towards a new car, not the Disney trip. It kind of counts, though, since we drive to Disney and don't need to worry about airfare.

Anyway, I rolled a BUNCH of change, and the people at the bank were so nice -- they even came out with a HAND TRUCK to help me carry it, lol! (I am on crutches). We had to put it in two duffel bags. To make a long story short -- there was $545!!

The VP of the bank was telling me even he saves change. He said he takes a roll of quarters home when he cashes his check every week, and he has $700 in quarters that he and his wife are using toward a cruise.

Wonder how much coin in the US is tied up from people saving it?

 

[vellamint]

I CANT WAIT to break open our piggy....plastic one from Toys-R-Us....I have been saving since Aprill 2002 and it is almost full!!!

 

[asa'smom]

My husband made us a wooden box bank which we dubbed "Mouse House". We counted it up a week back and the grand total was $760.00(Been saving at least 9 months). I put every nickel, dime, penny and dollar in it I could find. When we finished counting I was amazed at how much. Was able to finish pay for everything disney. And boy that was a relief.

 

[ScarletIndigo]

I love this thread! It's so ironic too, because I was going to post one asking if anyone had managed to pay for their vacation with spare change!

My DF and I have a jar specifically for this purpose, and after several months it's getting pretty darn heavy! It originally said "Rainy Day Fund" on the outside, but I took a big black marker to it, and it now reads (somewhat illegibly), "Disney Fund!!!" And yes, I really did use all those exclaimation marks. ;-)

I hope our stash ends up being as plentiful as all of yours! Keeping my fingers crossed that I find a few rolls of quarters under the couch one of these days!

 

[disneyeveryyear]

My DH and I did this one year when we wanted to go to WDW, but were a little short of cash.

He keeps a big water jug in his closet and it was 1/3 full. When we took it to the bank, there was over $1,200 in it!

I couldn't believe it. It was a great start to that trip.

I need to do it again. We are cruising on the Magic in November and I am struggling with the budget.

 

[JetMom]

I went to the Disney Land planning site and put in the numbers for airfare, 4 nights hotel, and 3 day hoppers. I advanced my DS's age by 2 years - - and figured that I would need $2600 to go to California for the 50th Anniversary.

I figure that if I can save $100/month I'll be set. I started a change jar and so far for may I have $47.

I know that prices will go up, but at least I'm on the right track.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I saved a little over $400 from Feb to now by throwing change, odd dollars, and paychecks into my savings jar. I'm a waitress, so my paychecks at the least were nothing and the most about $25...so I never missed not cashing them. I also have extra money in my checking account because I round up after writing a check. For example...I write a check at Walmart for $67.34, I deduct $68.00 from my ledger. I hate odd amounts in my checkbook so this works out well. When I make deposits, I leave out the change also. I've been doing this since February and the bank has $55.00 more than I do. (Hey....that's just from the odd change too. Cents add up quite quickly!!) That's another way to save money for trips for those of you who haven't tried it.

The money I've been saving is for our anniversary trip to New Orleans and the trip is all but paid for. When DH and I return from New Orleans I'm going to continue throwing money into my savings jar. Our $306 check from our amended tax return came today in the mail so that's a big start to a new savings.

~~~Denise

 

[Coll0610]

We save our change in old tennis ball cans. Each one holds about $70, and they aren't as heavy to carry when it's time to cash them in.

 

[MELSMICE]

Tiggerlover91 - we do the same thing as you with our checkbook -we always round up. It's much easier that way. We have quite a bit "extra" in our checking account.

About the change - we had saved it from the time we were married (over 15 years) & had been rolling it every few weeks & putting it in a bank account. We were going to use it for the Disney cruise but then decided instead of just having one trip we would use it to join DVC. We had over $6,000 saved & put it towards our DVC purchase!!! Now we get the benefits of it every year instead of just that one trip.

Keep saving your change. It adds up so fast & to me it's like found money. We are in such a habit of it that I know we'll do it forever!

 

[feenie]

We are saving our change too, we put in all of our change we get shopping and whatnot and i buy a roll of quarters a week. We have only been doing this since Mid march and I have almost 150 in quarters alone. Not sure about the rest. I am becoming a little obsessed though!!! (My Hubby does not DARE to spend a quarter!) Oh well, he will thank me when it's time to go!!!

 

[diznee25]

I tried to save change for awhile, but without quarters, it takes a long time to save a substantial amount! (We live in a condo and need quarters for the laundry room.)

Diznee25