saving change & small bills

[alliecats]

Just have some random questions for all you dis-budgeters out there.

What do you save your change in?
How did you get one of those giant water cooler bottles or pretzel jars I've heard some mention on here--if you have one?
What is the most you've saved in a year in your jar & did you set a certain amount each week? And did this include change only, or bills as well?

Please speak up!

Thanks!

 

[ericamanda01]

My best friend owns a candy store so she has a ton of tins and containers that she receives filled with candy. I got one ,that she was gonna throw away, that was filled with chupa chups suckers. It is just a tin that I can't see threw, that way I never think to steal just a little. I count and roll the coins every once in a while and I am amazed everytime that I have so much. It's only been a few months and I nearly $75!

 

[ericamanda01]

PS. We put ALL of our loose change in it at the end of the day.

 

[Doodlebug939]

We got our change jar which is a water cooler bottle by buying a bottle of water and using it then keeping. We bought it from sams club. That is also the place where you can get the pretzel jars.


I have saved at much as $647 in one year. This past 5 months we saved another $253. We dont ever have change and always break a dollar so to speak. Then we clean out the purse and the truck for change and turn that in as well. Also we add dollars to get it going. It seems to me that if I put in a $20 one week the next week I want to keep putting in $5 or $10 to keep it going if not the $20. I love to save change.

For our family it is always our spending money at Disney so it makes it less interesting to rob from it.

 

[preb]

We use a one gallon milk jug decorated with disney stickers. It's really, really hard to get anything out of it, which is good! Once we're closer to our trip, I'll cut it open and roll it up. We put change, extra bills and any "found" money (bottle returns, rebates, garage sale proceeds) into the "Mickey Money". We've been saving since January and I'm sure that we have several hundred dollars in there, but I won't find out until October!

Good luck!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I use one of those old HAWAIIAN PUNCH JUGS for my savings jar.

I cut the lid off as I was having trouble getting my paychecks into it. At one point, I was throwing my Ruby's paychecks in and cashing them 4 or 5 at a time.
How much have I saved in a year? I have no clue, but I've saved as much as $300 in 3 months. Currently I have a Disney fund going for my trip in 2006 and there's almost $200 in it and I've only been saving since the first of May. Not only do I throw loose change and odd dollars into it, I put $20 of my tip money into it every week, whether I work one day or three. I'm not going to miss the $20, so why not put it to good use??
I rarely pay exact change for anything anymore. If my total is even $4.01 I give them $5 as I want the .99 cents for my savings jar. Loose change adds up so quickly and you would be amazed at how heavy your wallet gets when you tote it around for a week.
Have I "borrowed" money from my savings jar...sure I have, but it's been in emergency circumstances. Out of work for a week, so I had to pay my bills so I borrowed from my jar, but replaced it quickly upon returning to work. I've got float funds everywhere...at home, in my checking account....etc. It's quite reassuring to know that if anything comes up, I've got a few places to pull money from.
I need to decorate my jar with my Disney stickers so the closer I get to my trip, the less likely I will touch it.
Best to you in your savings!

Blessings,

Denise

 

[etwinchester]

I have a disney castle bank that I purchased last year at DTD. When it gets full, I roll up the change, deposit in the bank, and now transfer to my ING account.

My DD has a monorail bank (also purchased at Disney last year) for quarters. We also got a wooden box at AC Moore (for like $1), stained it and decorated with stickers. She uses that for cash and disney dollars. The cash and quarters, once they build up, are taken to the bank and transfered into her ING account as well.

 

[HenDuck]

I save my change in a glass candy jar that has mickey and friends on it. I save my "ones" in an empty tea tin and my disney dollars go in a japanese cookie tin.

My goal this time around is to fill up that candy jar until no more coins fit in and THEN count out the change. Since we're not going to Disney until 12/05, I can let it accumulate. Then I'm going to deposit the $ at my credit union so I can't touch it.

I have not saved one dollar bills before so I am very excited about seeing how much I can save.

Good luck to everyone!

 

[MELSMICE]

The change & $ bills add up very fast. We roll the change every few weeks & put it into a bank account.

The $'s get turned into Disney $'s for souvenir money!!!

 

[pjlla]

In the kitchen I keep a ceramic jar that says "vacation fund" on it. In my bedroom I keep a WDW popcorn bucket. If DH ever wonders why I am so quick to hang up his pants after he gets home from work, maybe he will realize it is because I like to empty his pockets!!! But as soon as there is a decent amount in there I usually put it right into my special vacation bank account. Otherwise I might be tempted to dip into it!! ANY money found in pockets goes in to the bucket... even if it is a $20 bill!! My recommendation would be to either us a jar you cannot get your hand into or put it in a bank account without an ATM card if you will be too tempted to spend it!....................P

 

[kayt]

We picked up a velvet wine bottle bag for $1.00 when a store was closing out. It's our "disney magic bag," and DH doesn't know where it is so he doesn't get tempted to "borrow" from it. Each dd also has her own disney fund (one in a piggy bank; one in an envelope). We put in loose change and bills -- every now and then, I'll toss in a $10 for fun. We also use it as incentive -- our kids get a bonus on their allowance if they do extra chores -- but instead of the $ going directly to them, it might go into their personal disney fund or into the family magic bag. I haven't counted in a while but we've only had it since February and I'd be surprised if we don't have over $100 by now.
kayt

 

[crisi]

The big water jars are great, but they get really heavy as you fill them. We have one now (my dad brought it over, don't know where he found it).

I used to use a big jar that once held spaghetti sauce. When it would fill, I'd move the change to a ziploc freezer bag and stash it. Every so often, go to the bank with a ziploc freezer bag or two of change.

A gallon jug of wine works well too - the nice thing about smaller necked bottles is that its harder to fish out the quarters and spend them.

 

[Disney4me04]

I have tin that was a cookie tin. Then I covered it with white paper. And I wrote Disney Fund 2005 on it. I put tons of stickers all over it. I am not sure what is in there. But I am going to count it and then stash in my LOCKED file cabinet. So DS does not touch. I also get Disney Dollars when I go to the mall. Tomorrow I am going to pick up 20.00 dollars worth. The change will pay for Tickets. Or some of it. I plan to buy then in April of 05 or before if I hear prices are going up again. I have an evelope in my drawer for disney dollars already started. Once 2005 trip is over. I will cross off 2005 and start on the 2007 cruise saving trip!

I do not plan to touch the change jar.

I do need 3.50 in change a week for bus. I am going to pick that up at the bank tomorrow.

Every Friday before payday. I tranfer what is left in my checking to my Disney savings too.

 

[PhotobearSam]

We have a giant Coke Bottle (plastic) that I bought at Toys R Us a few years back for my boyfriend(now my DH) and we save everylittle bit for our vacations.

For our first trip it was great saving it but ended up byuing a condo and used the $950 a part of our deposit. I was so sad by not going to WDW after saving for a whole year.

Then DH lost his job but we still wanted to go...We decided in January that we wanted to go in November...Then DH said he wanted to move it up to October...

I was so stressed that we might not have all the money we would need and I became the Disney Drill Sargent...

Every night, DH would get home from his new job and I would pounce on him and say...Money...In the bucket...NOW!!!

I did the same after every trip anywhere...I never used the change in my pocket and that is not so easy here in Canada as we have coins for our $1 and $2 denominations.

At the end of the 10 months...We had $1296...!!!!!! That was just about $1000 US. I was sooooo happy.

We had already paid for our tickets and our motel so this was for food and travel cost driving from Canada and food once there for 16 days. My mom then sent me $106.50 US in US change that she saved from our store...It paid for Sea World...

Saving change is the best...Good luck everyone. As of now we have $230 in there just in bills for our cruise which we hope will be in October 2005.

 

[Lynn CC]

I got one of those change dispensers, you just throw the change in and it goes into the wrappers, so you don't end up rolling a bunch of change when your ready to use it. I got it at a yard sale for $2. I've used it for years now.
I take the rolled change and put it somewhere safe until I'm ready to use it. I also save $5 bills. I get a ton of them back for change and I really don't miss them that much.
I've saved thousands in a year this way. Good Luck Saving and don't Dip into that change jar!

 

[canwegosoon]

I use 2 glass canister (about a half gallon size) jars my DH received as a gift. One is for loose change and the other is for rolled change. The second one is hidden away in the cabinets, and every once in a while I return the rolled coin for bills. The bills I keep as big as possible so no one takes a "few singles for work". In one month I have saved $60-100. I also try to get too much change...eg. cashing $5.00 to wash the car, when I know it will cost $2-2.50 for me to wash it by myself. (It would cost $5 for the automatic carwash anyway.)
I personally don't want to spend money on counters or coinstar machines, so I always roll the coin myself, and the corner deli near my house is always happy to get "full roll "coins from me. I know that several posters have mentioned a bank that will cash the change for free...I wish they were near me. Easy way to save for the food or ticket part of our next trip. I also have over $120 in Disney Visa points, and I started in March. Love that too!!!

 

[EsmeraldaX]

We save our change and each week end up with anywhere from $15 - $25 dollars. We tend to not save our small bills because we use them for things which require them (like parking money etc.)

We save the change in a large plastic cup.

 

[Taja]

I save my coins and small bills in a large plastic vitamin jar. It's probably about the size of a .5 gallon condiment jar.

It still has it's original label and is in the back of my current vitamin jar. The label has changed, but since no one else is likely to realize which is new and which is old, I feel pretty comfortable with having the cash in it!

I roll my coins about every 3 months and usually deposit them into my bank account and withdraw the same amount in currency for my "stash". Sometimes I check first with a couple of small, independent retailers to see if they need coins, as they have to buy their change from the bank. I do shop at these stores periodically, so they know me and appreciate the thought.

__________________
Taja

 

[barbeml]

My change "jar" is a four-foot tall plastic aqua crayon bank. We save coins and singles, plus $100 in twenties from my pay every month. Also, any expense checks or other "found" money goes in there.

The most we ever had in a year was $1800.

 

[Misty89]

kinda off subject, but i also have a change jar we use a old cookie jar, and i also have container i collect the 2$ bills and 1$ gold and silver coins....i am less tempted to break the 2$ bills and 1$ coins as there are sorta rare ( i dont see them everyday, and i work with money)
so mabye that will help someone else also.....so far i have LOL 2 - 2$ bills and 5 1$ coains ( just started collecting them end of may)

ps.i am too jumpy to let my change jar ever get filled
all the way.....i have changed it in 2 times ( credit union has change counter machine)

both time it was half full and it around $65.00 each time. - so full would be double that if i ever get to that point!

Tina