Using up my coins -- strangely thrilling.

For the last week, I've been making a concerted effort to use up the big piles of coins we have in various corners around our apartment. I leave each day with a backpack that weighs an extra three pounds in quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.

It's a bit ridiculous how satisfying I find it to see the piles shrinking, and to count out $3.50 in change when I buy a cone of Tasti D-Lite.

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Thanks to a tip from Marci Alboher, of the always-useful, always-interesting New York Times blog, Shifting Careers, I checked out Zone by Zone. Lots of great material there.

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Comments

[Talli van Sunder, DPT]

I also try to use up my coins that are laying around the house. No point in having money just laying around not doing anything. I try to use it for small purchases,like a drink at a coffee shop! :-)

[KM]

My mother-in-law gave me a coin bank that has a built-in calculator, so I always know how much is in there. It's very motivating--now I put all my extra change in there, and I take it to the bank regularly.

[Melissa]

Another great idea is to donate change--you can do it at most of those change collecting machines they have at supermarkets and such.

Our church donates all the change that is placed in the offering basket to a charity, which is another nice way to see how change adds up. I know many people (including myself!) who hold on to change during the week and then dump it all into the collection basket. The lightweight, non-rattling wallet afterward is very satisfying, and it's a painless way to support a charity.

[Michelle]

I have change in a few places around the house, bedside table and a small jar in the kitchen. It builds up to quite an amount, and you’re right it is heavy to carry around, but about once a month it buys us a treat at the supermarket. I go when it's quiet and use the self serve checkout and just feed it my coins and get rewarded with a tub of ice cream and some magazines for the kids.

[Charlotte K]

For years I have been dumping my spare change every day into a single container. A couple of times a year I take it to my bank and use their coin counting machine (which doesn't charge a fee). I then deposit that money into my savings account. It adds up. I don't want to spend it on small random items at the cash register because then I don't have the satisfaction of depositing $300 or so a couple of times a year. Not to mention the annoyance factor for the people standing behind the coin counters in line!

[Jan]

I don't know, for a person who wants to make the world happier it doesn't seem right to make the poor sales clerk unhappy by throwing a hundred coins at him :/

[Mark]

The coin machines at our local supermarkets charge close to 10% if you get cash, but they give you 100% if you get an "e-certificate" to use at online sites like Apple's iTunes or Amazon or several others. It's a nice way to reward yourself for cleaning up.

[angie]

Great project you've got going! We're doing something similar at Year of Gratitude with our blog. Today I made my oogie morning better by surprising someone in the convenience store with a treat.

We save change in a huge antique pickle jar. It's always surprising to see how fast it adds up. ;)

[thatcoolbroad]

Serendipitous post...I just got back from Kroger where my 5-year old dumped a shoebox full of coins into the Coinstar machine. It IS thrilling to watch your tally increase (even though a few Canadian coins and Chuck E Cheese's token got spit out). We immediately went to Target where he spent half of his newfound cash on a Lego set. Probably a day he'll remember forever!

xoxo
tcb

[Stephan F-]

Actually the coin box is one of the 5 Things To Grab When The Tornado/Wildfire/your favorite local disaster comes because when there is a disruption being able to provide exact change is a godsend.

[fred]

I've been giving a roll of coins to my daughter each week which she then gets to deposit into her school savings account. Some weeks it a roll of quarters, others just a roll or two of pennies. still, it's added up to be quite a few dollars saved for her over the last year.

[adora]

I never have that kind of problem. I don't even know why coinstar machines exist at all! Those coin banks in Sky Mall puzzles me!

You can easily reduce getting loose change by always carrying 4 pennies with you. e.g. If the total is $19.78, give $20.03 instead of $20, then you will only get 1 quarter back instead of 2 dimes & 2 pennies.

(Am I the only one who loves math in here?)

On the other hand, just use pay pass.

[Deonne Kahler]

I thought it was just me who found unloading the change so satisfying! Although now that I've moved to New York and am back to dealing with coin laundry, quarters are GOLD. I don't give those babies to anyone.

[nichole]

Reminded of a story I heard - maybe on This American Life? - about a child's recollection of her nanny always exhorting her to "use your small money first."

[Alex Fayle]

We collect all our change below 50 cents (20, 10, 5, 2 & 1 - yes Europe has lots of coins). Before our trip to Canada in October, we'll take it to the bank and use the money to buy a dinner or something special while away.

[Pete]

I used to own a soda machine, and it was thrilling to count up the coins. It is nice not knowing how much you have. It makes the sum that much more special.

http://yinvsyang.com/

[Most Offensive]

I keep a piggy bank and whenever I find spare change at the bottom of a purse or in piles on my desk, I dump it in there. The plan is that at some point the piggy bank will get full and then I will buy myself something I would never ordinarily slurge on.

[Peggy]

"Change for Change" is what we call it. Our office has a very large glass jar in which we watch accumulating coinage grow to the brim when we tally it up and donate to a selected charity.

We invite everyone to take a stab at guessing the total as the "fill up" begins ... whoever is closest has the delight of selecting the next designated project.

There are so many worth organizations who need financial support ... it's great to have one more way to funnel funds. And a great way to cultivate "team spirit" as we share in the joy of giving as a staff.

[Peggy]

"Change for Change" is what we call it. Our office has a very large glass jar in which we watch accumulating coinage grow to the brim when we tally it up and donate to a selected charity.

We invite everyone to take a stab at guessing the total as the "fill up" begins ... whoever is closest has the delight of selecting the next designated project.

There are so many worth organizations who need financial support ... it's great to have one more way to funnel funds. And a great way to cultivate "team spirit" as we share in the joy of giving as a staff.

[Bonnie]

I never pay with change; I am too impatient. Change always accumulates, so I put it in a jar at home and when the jar is full I do my favorite errand: dumping the change in the Coin-Star machine at the supermarket and getting cash back! It is so fun, and I always buy myself lunch with the proceeds. I like Peggy's Change for Change idea. You can also choose to donate to several organizations through Coin-Star.

[sw]

I too try to spare cashiers the hassle of counting handfuls of change and store my spare change in a jar. When the jar is mostly full, I take it to the corner Commerce Bank and use their coin counting machine to get cash back. The machine is free (no fees!) and available for anyone to use, even non-customers like me.

The machine even has a "guess how much change you have" game, aimed at kids. If your guess is within a dollar of the actual amount, the bank gives you a prize. What the prize is, I'm not sure, as I've never guessed correctly.

[Mer]

That's okay; I did something similar yesterday - only it was to return an appliance bulb (the salesperson gave me the wrong one for my microwave) to Lowes and use the cash refund to get a tall mocha Frappucino at the Starbucks next door.

I keep my spare change in a biscuit jar and it's nearly full - will be heading to the CoinStar machine soon. It's worth it to me to not have to count the coins myself.

[Emily]

This post made me laugh!
My parents are HUGE on using change. One time we went into Taco Bell with nothing but the contents of our change jar and paid for dinner. My siblings and I were humiliated.

[therapydoc]

Makes us feel richer, paying with change.

[Gabrielle H]

My friends and I do a lot of car pooling, and I'm often the one driving. I have a tin on my dashboard, and when I give people a lift they put change in the tin to help cover the petrol costs. I am yet to figure out what to do with the change that accumulates there

[angela]

I had so many coins and i used them to go to italy~so save them

[Todd HellsKitchen]

I subscribe to your feeds on BlogLines... Just so you know...

hehehe

[Chris at HumanKind Media]

Gretchen - I love such a simple idea for the coins. Odd that we both wrote about the coins around the house within days of each other. Here's what I did with my coins this weekend, but I like your idea a lot, too:http://humankindmedia.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/gather-up-that.html

[tessa]

I collect change- but usually try to just use my debt card because I hate keeping up with cash. Thankfully my bank has a machine that's free to use- they count it and then deposit it or give it back to you in cash.
When collecting it- I've found that having a glass( I think mine is a tall glass from Hard Rock Cafe- somewhere you pass by often- the laundry room- or the kitchen counter to collect change in. You see it and remember- and it looks cool. :)