Author Topic: What do you do with your spare change jar?  (Read 5135 times)

Cool Friend

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What do you do with your spare change jar?
« on: May 02, 2019, 02:00:26 PM »
If I have loose change in my pocket at the end of the day, I drop it in an empty coffee can on my dresser.  The last time I filled it up I took it to one of those change counting machines that takes a small cut, and used the money to buy a bouquet of roses for my GF at the time.  My can is almost full, so I'm probably going to put the coins in rolls myself so I don't have to bite the fee (just looked up CoinStar--they take near 12%!!)

I'll probably just put the money into my savings account or something, but was just curious what other penny pinchers do with their loose change!

Cranky

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2019, 02:02:54 PM »
If you get Amazon credit, they don't take any cut. So, that's what we do.

lentil

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2019, 03:51:01 PM »
Once I have a jar full, I bring it along the next time I visit the bank. They have a coin counting machine and don't charge a percentage.

Dave1442397

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2019, 06:45:40 PM »
I don't spend as much cash as I used to. I took my change to a local bank with a free coin machine last July and got around $120 out of it. I gave it to my daughter as spending money for our summer vacation.

Since then, I'd say I have accumulated maybe $10 in change.

On the positive side, my wife and I take $100 each per week as pocket money, and I've saved $4600 of that over the past two years. I use it to buy books, stuff for my bike, walking-around money for my daughter, etc, but since we cut way back on eating out there's a lot left over most weeks.

Buffaloski Boris

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2019, 07:05:00 PM »
I use most of my change, at least the quarters. Here is a trick if you want full value from the change; take it to to the grocery store and use it to pay for items using their self checkout machines. Fewer banks offer to take unrolled change these days.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #5 on: May 03, 2019, 02:20:53 AM »
I use the spare change to top up my public transport smartcard, at the card vending machine at the train station. Sometimes I'll put $50 worth of silver coins in there (I tend to use the gold coins if I'm paying cash).

I do try and time it so it's quiet, so I'm not being an asshole putting coins in the machine when others need to use it.

Unfortunately the machine doesn't accept 5c pieces. Hopefully they're phased out soon enough, they're a nuisance. :)

Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #6 on: May 03, 2019, 06:42:43 AM »
I use most of my change, at least the quarters. Here is a trick if you want full value from the change; take it to to the grocery store and use it to pay for items using their self checkout machines. Fewer banks offer to take unrolled change these days.

I do this too. You just dump the change in first then pay for the rest with a credit card.

I don’t hold on to spare change anymore. If you think about it, that money sitting in a jar for years is losing value to inflation. Plus it clutters up the house.

lizzzi

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #7 on: May 03, 2019, 07:31:08 AM »
Like others have said, I don't have as much loose change as I used to. But when I get quarters, I add them to my small wallet of laundry quarters. Pennies, nickels, and dimes go into an old pink plastic piggy bank--yes, it's really a plastic pig--got it from a now-defunct bank years ago. I have a bag of coin rolls that I got either at Target or Amazon years ago. Every six months or so I roll up the coins and take them to the bank to exchange for paper money, which I just put in my wallet and use for walking around money. I pick up quite a few coins while out walking the dog, so that helps the stash. But I doubt that I get more than maybe $20 per year in spare change these days--ever since I started needing quarters for the apartment's laundry room.

horsepoor

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #8 on: May 03, 2019, 07:51:36 AM »
If you get Amazon credit, they don't take any cut. So, that's what we do.

Yep, that or Lowe's.

It's also handy for random times, like when I need to go downtown and grab some change in case I need it for the parking meter.

Loretta

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #9 on: May 03, 2019, 08:43:03 AM »
When I go through the self-checkout at a particular grocery store, I can put in my coin stash to reduce the total, then pay for the balance with my debit card.  I like to keep my wallet as lightweight as possible.  I have noticed lately that more self-checkout lanes do not have a cash option any more. 

Roadrunner53

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #10 on: May 03, 2019, 08:45:02 AM »
My Hub and I filled a 5 gallon glass carboy with change and bills. We put in some $100's, $50's, $20's, $5's and $1's plus gobs of change. The jug was full to the neck. It was located in the bedroom and was so heavy we had to use a little dolly with wheels to move it out to the living room. Hub had to use a special tool to grab the bills out of the narrow neck. The coins had to be shaken out and was not easy! In the end we rolled up every coin and made piles of the bills. It took us days to count and roll up all that coin! In the end we had a little over $5,000. This took quite a few years, maybe 7. I schlepped it little by little to the bank in bags and it was so heavy to carry! LOL! I was thinking of loading it into a suitcase with wheels but thought that might look like I was going to rob the bank so I just toted it little by little. The tellers were nice and told me we could have brought the change in a bucket and they would have sent it somewhere to be counted. NOPE! I do not trust my money like that! I was NOT going to load my money in a coinstar machine either so they could get a cut of the action. It was kind of fun and definitely a memorable thing! However, lesson learned, no more 5 gallon glass carboy. Now saving change in a jug that is much smaller with a wide opening!

Never did spend any of that money. it is tucked away for a rainy day! I put my Costco rewards money into the jug each year and that is around $500- $580 a year. I have put in about 3 years worth so far.

catccc

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #11 on: May 03, 2019, 10:22:09 AM »
I don’t hold on to spare change anymore. If you think about it, that money sitting in a jar for years is losing value to inflation. Plus it clutters up the house.

This.  Just carry it around for use.  You'll never have more than $0.99 cents on hand.

I feel like asking what you do with your spare change is like asking what you do with all the money under your mattress.  I don't keep money under my mattress.  Change in a jar on the dresser is the same thing... Money that isn't working for you.

ketchup

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #12 on: May 03, 2019, 10:39:02 AM »
I fill up a small jar and eventually dump it into the Coinstar for a little Amazon credit (no fee) as others have said.  I barely ever use cash these days though, maaybe $100/yr, so it's less than $5/yr in change (and really, probably even less than $2/yr).

GettingClose

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #13 on: May 03, 2019, 11:44:58 AM »
We saved up about $400 over about 6 years, and used it for a blowout weekend for a milestone birthday.

Dare2Dream

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #14 on: May 03, 2019, 12:07:05 PM »
I used to save it up, my son and I would put it into rolls then deposit it into his savings account.  It added up fast in the past. 

These days with change being less plentiful and banks being less helpful about accepting it we just use it for wishing money..  " I wish I was retired"



brandon1827

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #15 on: May 03, 2019, 12:10:34 PM »
We have an empty 5-gallon Primo water jug that we drop all of our spare change into. I also will drop an extra $1, $5, $10, or $20 in there on occasion. We started doing it to help my son learn the importance of saving. We call it his "piggy bank" and have had the discussion about the fact that this is not spending money, it's saving money. So we haven't touched it in several years and if I had to guess...there's probably close to $500 in there. At some point, we'll take it out and deposit it into a savings account for him as we progress in teaching him how to manage his finances. 
« Last Edit: May 06, 2019, 06:53:48 AM by brandon1827 »

MountainGal

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #16 on: May 03, 2019, 12:28:22 PM »
I save it in a penguin bank, and toward the end of the year count it up to buy a gift card for a family who will appreciate it during the holiday season.

Cranky

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #17 on: May 03, 2019, 04:35:59 PM »
Almost all my change is money that I find when I’m walking, so it’s fun to see what it adds up to when the jar is full.

okisok

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #18 on: May 04, 2019, 11:10:25 AM »
Mine, too. I  used to save it all up like other posters have described. I even have a ceramic piggy bank! But then I read Marie Kondo's works, and she says just put the change you find in your wallet and spend it. Otherwise it is just clutter.
In the past, when I had a lot of change, I'd take it to a self-checkout to use up. Now, most of my change comes from the sidewalk from my walks. I put it in the bank every month, and add it up at the end of the year based on my deposits. Last year I made over $20 for exercising!

Rosy

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #19 on: May 04, 2019, 06:47:24 PM »
Maybe I've just never been flush enough to accumulate hundreds or it is simply that I tend to use up my change. Every once in a while I take the pennies and five cent pieces to my CU, they have a free machine.
Usually, it's anywhere from ten to $25, I throw it in the ceramic stein then add it to my holiday savings account.

These days it is even less so I'm letting it accumulate until my piggy bank is full too. About five years ago I decided to fill up my ceramic piggy bank with only dimes and quarters - when it is finally full - sometime this year I think - I'll buy something fun or do something special with it - something I wouldn't normally spend money on.
Probably still only around a hundred bucks or so:), but hey, I'd never consider saving my change to be clutter.


Roadrunner53

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #20 on: May 04, 2019, 08:21:24 PM »
When we buy scratch off lottos and win maybe $20 we put half back in the jug and buy a few more tickets.

I use my Costco Visa for almost everything so I don't have much money in my wallet these days.

thesis

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #21 on: May 04, 2019, 09:50:57 PM »
For awhile my bank had free coin counting machines, but then the contract with their vendor bit the dust. I don't like to cash out until I have about $100 in the self-counting jug I won at a white elephant gift exchange, and the first time paying 11% at a CoinStar sucked. I've considered rolling the coins myself, but the Amazon option is appealing, so I'm going to have to check that out. The jug is currently up to $130 out of laziness and not wanting to bite the 11% service fee again.

Generally, though, I like to put that money in my Vanguard money market account. It's usually a little boost toward my savings goals. I think I once put it in my Roth. The problem is that I typically use cash for small, unhealthy, and relatively expensive snacks, round the cost to the nearest dollar for my budget tracking, and stuff the change in the coin bucket. So technically, the more money I have in that bucket, the more I've been spending on not-so-good things. Hmmmm.

AlotToLearn

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #22 on: May 05, 2019, 07:56:48 AM »
Spare change  = my eating out fund for an upcoming month.

SunnyDays

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #23 on: May 05, 2019, 10:50:48 AM »
I spend my change first, then smaller bills, trying to keep larger bills for bigger purchases.  I hate breaking big bills for small purchases, because then I find it easier to justify spending the small bills because "it's only 5 dollars."  So I don't tend to have a lot of change to start with.

nessness

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #24 on: May 05, 2019, 01:48:52 PM »
Ditto others on getting an Amazon gift card from Coinstar. Not all Coinstar machines offer this, so it's worth looking it up on their website before you go.

aetheldrea

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #25 on: May 05, 2019, 05:19:09 PM »
Once a year one of the charities my church supports does a spare change collection, so that’s where mine goes.

Fishindude

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #26 on: May 06, 2019, 10:51:27 AM »
I've currently got two big containers full and a third one filling.   When our kids were young we used to cash it in before a family vacation and give it to the kids for spending money.
I'll probably take the grandkids to the bank with me sometime when they are here and split the money between them.

Zikoris

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #27 on: May 06, 2019, 11:14:56 AM »
We use it at a local food market that has... pretty bad digital security, as when we used to use plastic we were skimmed and had our accounts locked multiple times. So now we go cash-only there. We don't get a lot of change, honestly - we use credit cards for almost everything.

Stimpy

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #28 on: May 06, 2019, 02:24:57 PM »
Vacation/emergency fund money.  Though now I do it on a more digital spectrum then in a physical can.  Not that I don't have a physical spare change jar, I do, but as other have expressed, slow growth due to CC being the main source of funding for everyday needs.

As for how I do it digitally, I still use a checkbook to keep track of what I spend, and I never never count change in my checkbook.  So I slowly build up funds in the checking account with pennies, dimes etc.  Eventually that gets moved to savings/investing/where ever is appropriate.

dougules

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #29 on: May 06, 2019, 03:27:50 PM »
I just keep the change on me then pay with correct change when I can.  Use the way you accumulated it to get rid of it. 

I use most of my change, at least the quarters. Here is a trick if you want full value from the change; take it to to the grocery store and use it to pay for items using their self checkout machines. Fewer banks offer to take unrolled change these days.

I do this too. You just dump the change in first then pay for the rest with a credit card.

I don’t hold on to spare change anymore. If you think about it, that money sitting in a jar for years is losing value to inflation. Plus it clutters up the house.

That's a neat trick.  I will have to try that. 

Cranky

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #30 on: May 07, 2019, 05:52:17 AM »
Honestly, I don't make many small cash purchases, so there aren't many opportunities to get rid of change by spending it.

BlueMR2

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #31 on: May 07, 2019, 07:31:18 AM »
We buy groceries with it.  If there's a small fill-in shopping run needed, we often can pay for it with the loose change.  Helps to have a Dollar Tree at the end of our street and an Aldi not much further down the road!

Cromacster

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #32 on: May 07, 2019, 07:37:15 AM »
I usually reserve the spare change jar for gambling.  Once a year I get together with friends and we go to the casino.  I usually end up with 100-300 dollars from spare change.  Sometimes I lose it all, sometimes I double up, but it's always fun.

Proud Foot

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #33 on: May 07, 2019, 08:43:32 AM »
I don't really have a lot of change but I keep it in a jar and use it to pay my kids for doing chores.

Enigma

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #34 on: May 07, 2019, 08:47:57 AM »
In a change that surprised me, my local bank started unrolling change my dad rolled.  Insteady they started counting them with their own change machine and not charging for it.  I dumped a plastic coffee container (1/3rd full) on them and they didnt argue.

Also when I am not dealing with a lot of change I would use the self checkout and keep about $2 in change in my pocket everywhere I went.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #35 on: May 07, 2019, 08:59:31 AM »
Once I have a jar full, I bring it along the next time I visit the bank. They have a coin counting machine and don't charge a percentage.

^ this. My credit union has a coin counter, and no fees. So I just take them in periodically (like once every few years, we don't use cash much), and go from there.

dougules

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #36 on: May 07, 2019, 10:49:08 AM »
Honestly, I don't make many small cash purchases, so there aren't many opportunities to get rid of change by spending it.

Then how did you get it in the first place?

Cranky

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #37 on: May 07, 2019, 02:09:32 PM »
Honestly, I don't make many small cash purchases, so there aren't many opportunities to get rid of change by spending it.

Then how did you get it in the first place?

I pick it up off the ground on my daily 2 mile walks.

dougules

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #38 on: May 07, 2019, 03:27:34 PM »
Honestly, I don't make many small cash purchases, so there aren't many opportunities to get rid of change by spending it.

Then how did you get it in the first place?

I pick it up off the ground on my daily 2 mile walks.

Wow.  I need to take your walking route. 

Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #39 on: May 07, 2019, 04:02:13 PM »
Honestly, I don't make many small cash purchases, so there aren't many opportunities to get rid of change by spending it.

Then how did you get it in the first place?

I pick it up off the ground on my daily 2 mile walks.

Wow.  I need to take your walking route.

There's change everywhere :D I find change all the time at the grocery store. People forget to grab change from the self checkout coin return and drop it on the ground as they leave.

Cranky

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #40 on: May 07, 2019, 04:46:44 PM »
I have seen people pull out of the drive through at Arby’s and throw their change in the ground. (And I do not live in a wealthy area.)

Roadrunner53

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #41 on: May 08, 2019, 05:29:08 AM »
I have seen people pull out of the drive through at Arby’s and throw their change in the ground. (And I do not live in a wealthy area.)

They should have thrown the food on the ground instead. Gross roast beef sammies.

Car Jack

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #42 on: May 08, 2019, 06:37:38 AM »
Change goes in the cup holder in my car.  When it's full enough, I scoop it all out on my lunchtime walk and I put it in the machine at my credit union and deposit it into my money market account.  Now and then the machine jams and when they come out to fix it, there are all these coins that didn't make it into the bags and they assume it's mine, so throw it all back into the counter.  I tend to make $10 extra, every time they do that.

Enigma

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #43 on: May 08, 2019, 09:12:48 AM »
One thing that I have learned...  You can no longer hand bills over to a cashier and then change.  They hit $20 on their register and are lost on what to do with the 36 cents you hand them.  Not all cashiers can do basic math.  I think some worry their register will be off.

I tend to tell them...  Here is 36 cents and twenty dollars.

dougules

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Re: What do you do with your spare change jar?
« Reply #44 on: May 08, 2019, 10:22:33 AM »
One thing that I have learned...  You can no longer hand bills over to a cashier and then change.  They hit $20 on their register and are lost on what to do with the 36 cents you hand them.  Not all cashiers can do basic math.  I think some worry their register will be off.

I tend to tell them...  Here is 36 cents and twenty dollars.

I'm much worse.  If something comes to say $7.66 depending on what change I have I might give $12.76 so that I still can get rid of 2 ones, 3 quarters, and a penny.  I get looks sometimes.