Now THAT'S What I Call a Change Jar!!

[MEM]

Couldn't resist sharing this news item from today's Boston Globe...I know I couldn't wait 40 years though!

Man proves penny pinching a worthwhile hobby

12/1/2003

REEDSVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- After four decades of pinching pennies, a Mifflin County man decided that it was time to cash in his collection -- over a million coins.

It took several months of bank visits to bring in 37 buckets of pennies
to be cashed but, by the end, Lynn Wagner ended up with $10,060.

"I thought that it'd be interesting to have a million of these so I
thought that I'd try," he said last week.

Wagner, 53, collected one million pennies in August. The pennies
were stacked along a wall in Wagner's garage in 4 1/2-gallon
buckets. "I can get 30,000 of them in one bucket if I shake it so that
they settle to the bottom," he said.

Along with saving his own pennies, he also received contributions as
word of his collection spread.

Friends and family began passing along a year's worth of pennies at
Christmas. A waitress at the Honey Creek Inn, where Wagner and
his wife, Brenda, eat breakfast every Saturday, saved pennies that
customers left.

"I had people whom I didn't even know calling me. They'd say that a
friend or brother had told them about this guy who collected pennies and asked if I wanted a jar of pennies they'd collected," Wagner said.

"Some people think that pennies don't add up to anything, but this is proof that they do," Brenda Wagner said.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

WOW!!!!

 

[Blondiex46]

how cool is that, wonder if he would treat some of us to DW, lol

 

[cyndibelle]

now that is what you call some pocket change..ha ha ha

 

[Mickey527]

Now I know why they announced that there was a shortage of pennies. That guy had them all.
I just counted up my penny jar today. I had $5.50. guess I have a ways to go before I can catch up to him.
Peggie

 

[shleybird]

We cashed in our change jar tonight, we keep it in a 2.5 gallon water bottle. It was getting to hard to lift.
After 2 months we had 82.07 in mixed change. It does add up quickly, as long as you are faithful about putting it in every night. For me and my two boys, that is at least a day and a half of food at WDW

Shell

 

[Doug123]

I keep a change jar too. The last one took three or four years to fill. I just put my (mostly) non penny change in there whenever I have it in my pocket at the end of the day. Believe me, you won't miss it at all.

I don't really think of how much is there until it nearly gets full. The key is to not allow yourself to take anything out.

This last time I filled up one of those large crayon banks. I ended up with just over $900. Would it be better to invest the money, even at a savings account in a bank? Yeah, probably. But the coin jar method is an easy way to save that offers a nice surprise at the end when it's counted.

 

[mrsheppo]

I cashed in my change jar today. Had been saving since September and I cashed in $100.00.

Not too bad. That pays for my towncar transportation.

 

[afsi3838]

DB changed in his jar today, $78. Wahooo, he's paying for the keys behind the magic tour

 

[Stepharoonie!]

The most I ever saved in my change jar was about 6 months worth of change...came to about $800. Woot! Now, I hardly deal with cash, so I'm lucky if 50 cents a week makes it in there

 

[robinb]

We're keeping a change jar for my DD's WDW braid. Those things are *really* expensive! I'll be counting the money in a couple more weeks.

 

[ncbyrne]

We have been saving change for years and yup, it sure does add up! Pennies are saved in an old Nescafé instant coffee jar. I've marked it with a line near the top that indicates $10 saved. For quarters, I have one of those coin saving tubes with the $ indicator on the side. It holds $25 when full. Easier to roll when you do it more often. Dimes and nickels go into a clear glass bank. My grown DD thinks we're nuts for rolling it ourselves, but I'm not paying 7¢ on the $1, at one of those coin star machines! In fact, I've told her that she can pay ME the 7¢ and I'll roll hers too! LOL

 

[jgates]

Won't your bank take it loose? Or do you want to just keep track more of how much you have?

 

[jlp651]

I should show this to BF...then he would believe me and not throw away his pennies...(he does that for kids to find-or so he says...)

 

[Melann]

Just counted my "piggy" with loose change and bills. Had $82 in bills shoved in (I would clean my wallet out everytime I got paid, and would put any bills left in there in my piggy bank), and then rounded up $131 dollars in change (100 in quarters alone!), for a total of $213...this was savings from three months! I am very excited now!

 

[Boomdocker]

This year my penny jar is paying for 2 Cirque du Soleil tickets at Downtown.

We have been to WDW 4 times before and have wanted to see this show but thought it was very expensive, this way we won't miss the cash and are really looking forward to a treat.

 

[Valentine]

Okay.. so you all inspired me... I have been sort of keeping a change "tin".. not religiously".. but whenever I clean.. i find change lying about and throw it into the tin... well ... I decided to sort and count it up after reading all of these posts... and in quarters alone.. got too tired to count the rest!!!.. I had $340!! not bad!! Gonna use that towards my cruise next year!!!! Yippee!! Happy holidays everyone!!

Kathy