Quit Wasting Your Time Saving Change!!

[ELLE-TN]

Nobody will refuse paper money.

I know that this isn't exactly your topic of discussion but there are places that absolutely refuse paper money and only take credit cards. What? This in my opinion is crazy. And yes, I am speaking from experience. I've had this happen to me at three different places in the past few years.

 

[MEM]

Not everyones bank counts coins for free.

None of the banks in my town in Greater Boston will even take rolled or loose change. Instead, we have to take the change to my kids' credit union, have them count and deposit it and then withdraw that amount. Not as simple as others have posted.

If all you have is a Coinstar you can use it for small change like pennies and nickels and then roll the dimes and quarters.

 

[PinkRhombus]

I stopped using it for cash 10 years ago when I noticed the fee. It was only 12% at that time.

But I have used it since then and opted for store credit. Then I just transfer that money out of checking into savings.

I pass the grocery much more often than the bank.

 

[sherabby]

Our bank also has coin counters and they are free to use if you have an account with the bank. We use it all the time.

 

[Chelley00]

I sit with my smaller kids and roll change. It's a good way for them to work on money concepts, and about how much money it takes to save for a trip. It doesn't really take that long.

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I love our "coin jar"! We cash it in for bills for free at our credit union and it's a great way to save $$$ without even missing it.

We are going to cash it in before our WDW trip next month and it should be at least $200.

 

[annagirl]

(15 miles away, not just 'up the block') would cost me about $5 in gas

30 miles round trip for $5? Either gas is really high where you are or your car gets terrible milage.

 

[afeld111781]

about a year ago, my dh and i started NOT spending our change and Dollar bills to save for disney (now I throw in the occasional 5, 10, or 20 to pad it a little which my dh says im cheating) but we have close to 2,000 dollars saved up to cover all our spending money, gas, and a lot of the extra costs. Our bank also cashes in our change for free. A great way to save and really fun to count up!

 

[Tink-n-MrIncredible]

We bank at two BIG NAME banks. They both will take your change and count it for free. Here's the hitch, one will take it as is and the money will not get counted until Thursday of the week and not get deposited until Friday. At the other bank the MANAGER told me if was less than $25.00 they would NOT take it unless it was rolled. Anything over $25.00 they would send out to be counted. If it was not enough to be rolled they would not take it at all. I guess it depends where you live.

 

[soccerchick]

I don't need to do any of that. My bank provides a change counter as a FREE service.

easy peasy lemon squeezy

No work for me!

Ours too! No way would I use Coinstar or pay a fee!

 

[disneyfantotheend]

There is a better way. It takes discipline but you can save just as much and keep it all for yourself. Get rid of that change!!

I have not read any of the responses to this, but another way to do it without losing anything is save your change, wrap it yourself and take it to the bank. I don't know if all banks do, but my bank gives me 100% of the money back. I have never paid anything to cash in change. Some may say too much work, but to me it isn't work at all.

 

[dizkids]

I like to make change with only the pennies in my wallet. This way when i toss the coins in the jar i toss only the silver and leave pennies in the wallet for whenever i make change again. So my jar of silver adds up quicker

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I roll my change jar once a month (myself) and deposit it at my credit union to earn 3% interest before my trip. I don't understand people who have hundreds of dollars in change and don't earn interest on it, even if it's only 1%. I guess it prevents spending it but I don't touch the money once it's in savings before the trip.

 

[koima]

I am MUCH more likely to spend dollars than change on frivolous things. The change jar sits untouched for months at a time, with deposits only, while I've regularly pulled dollar bills out of it to pay for coffee, lunch, or tolls when I didn't have cash in my wallet that day. I don't do the same with the change. So for me, even the inconvenience of taking it to a Coinstar machine (which is free at the bank) is an advantage because I actually SAVE that money rather than fritter it away.

 

[scrapquilter]

I use the Coinstar (its about 9%, not 20 to 25%, btw) but I don't pay the fee, instead I collect Amazon.com gift cards. Last year, my change added up to over $500, and I did ALL my christmas shopping that way, so saving the coins is definitely not a waste of time.

 

[kimnvbva]

I think the whole point of the "change jar" in our house is to show my kids that there is more to life than spending. They know that the jar is for Disney. They want to have a great vacation and they put any loose change in there. It's fun for our kids. The excitement of it getting fuller each day makes it fun! I don't mind rolling it or dragging it to our bank. But when we do the kids will know that the extra $$$ was better to save then buying some plastic toy at the Dollar Store than broke 2 minutes after they bought it! I think it is showing our kids the value of all money. Not just dollar bills.

 

[annagirl]

Our penny jar (which is actually a plastic to-go cup) is for our Christmas presents. Whatever we save over the year is what we spend at Christmas.

 

[blanq]

I know it's almost a tradition: the big jar, bottle, piggy bank, whatever that you toss your spare change in. When it's full the typical saver takes it to the local supermarket where they dump it down a hopper, get a slip of paper and trade it in for some cash. It seems those change machines are popping up everywhere nowadays, and for good reason. They make 20 to 25 cents on every dollar collected, a nice tidy profit for whoever owns the machine but a lousy deal for you. There is a better way. It takes discipline but you can save just as much and keep it all for yourself. Get rid of that change!!

Every chance you get, pay for purchases in change. Every chance you get, swap pennies for nickels, nickles for quarters, quarters for dollar bills. When you get a dollar bill, throw that in the jar. Dump all of your change, save all of your dollars. Why? Nobody will refuse paper money. You don't have to roll it up, don't need a sorter and, best of all, you don't have to pay a commission to get rid of it. 100% of the money is for you.

So, start dumping your change in ways that give you 100% of your money back. Carry around a change purse and don't be shy about paying exact change for purchases. If you go to a yard sale or a small business ask them if they need a few dollars worth of change, many times they are grateful to have it. You have a purchase that costs $8, give them a $5, $5 in change and ask for 2 dollar bills back. Keep track of what you take out and swap it dollar for dollar until your change is gone but don't forget to replace it.

Once you are rid of your extra change (or if you want to start from zero) put your change in the jar until you have a dollar or two, then swap it out. Once you get in the habit you will find that it's as easy as saving pennies, just with all of the pennies for you

I personally do not think that saving money, whether it be dollar bills or coins is ever a waste of my time. I, like many others have stated here, can run my coins through the change machine at my bank for free.

 

[Goofy'slady]

I do all of my banking with thru my credit union and while most of the time I use the online method of paying my bills and what not every once and a while I will walk into the lobby of my CU and it's those rare times when we take all of our coins we've been saving throughout the year and give it to our girls for spending money while we're on various trips with Disney being the biggest trip of the year. However, we collect so much change that they also have spending money for other smaller summer trips to places like Williamsburg and the beach - then at the end of the year they take some of that money to help buy small gifts for the winter holidays. At the end of the year my aunt, their great aunt always makes sure to give them a good head start with saving for the following year buy making sure to save her tallest medication bottles and the girls get two each - one with pennies and the other with silver coins. Then it starts all over again.

T.

 

[NYCDiane]

Rude.

Not rude... just tossing the OPs sarcasm right back at him. Here's the full post since you only quoted my reply:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Purseval
You are free to do whatever you want. The advice is for people who aren't so enlightened. Coinstar wouldn't be in business if people didn't diasgree

Originally Posted by DianeNYC
I guess there are still some fools who will pay Coinstar for counting their coins instead of going up the block and having them counted for free at a local bank.