Converting your coin jar into cash

[CZAR 8]

Went through the coin count last week.
Found that alot of banks gave up on the machines,
but for anyone living in Northwest Illinois, MB
Financial has the self serving coin machines that
prints out a receipt, then the teller cashes. Yes you
need an account, but no-one ever asked.

 

[kramer]

Ordinarily, Coinstar machines, found at most supermarkets, take an 8.9% cut. But starting a few weeks ago, they will give you 100% of the value as an Amazon gift certificate. This is what I plan to do with my buckets!

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050916-5317.html

Blame it on inflation or the prevalence of credit and debit cards, but it's getting hard to find places that still take loose change. Even some parking meters and slot machines have moved to paper money or contactless payments. Despite the coin's lowly status, Coinstar's made a name for itself with its automated coin-counting service, and online retailer Amazon.com's taken notice. Starting this week, both companies will team up on the Coin to Card program, which lets customers exchange money into gift certificates redeemable at Amazon. Amazon will provide its gift certificates to Coinstar at a volume discount, allowing the processor to recoup its normal 8.9 percent cut of each transaction.

 

[Outtahere]

So turn in your change at Coinstar, get an Amazon GC and then buy Bobs book!

 

[Nords]

Pizza & free beer

I guess the challenge is to get out of the coin backlog and then not to let it recur.

We're always picking up pennies on our walks, but otherwise I rarely handle cash. I try to do all my spending with a credit card and, since I rarely spend less than $5 at a time, it's no problem filling my wallet with a different kind of paper.

We let the coins pile up and then use them as part of the payment for our Friday night CostCo pizza purchase. (CostCo won't take my credit card.) It's the only time of the week that I have coins in my pocket.

Hawaii passed a beverage-container recycling law this year. You pay the state an additional surcharge of six cents per beverage container (hopefully full of content) and they let you return the empties to recycling centers for a nickel back. (Is this a great country or what?!?) So now our walks bulk up on empty beer containers in addition to coins. But last night, among a curbside pile of discarded Bud Light bottles, I found one that's still ful. So I'm chilling it in the fridge for our next pizza purchase...

 

[REWahoo]

Re: Pizza & free beer

.. . But last night, among a curbside pile of discarded Bud Light bottles, I found one that's still ful. So I'm chilling it in the fridge for our next pizza purchase...

Call it whatever you want, it's still just dumpster-diving.

And are you absolutely, positively sure the cap hasn't been tampered with and there's really just horsepiss Bud Light in that bottle?

 

[ladelfina]

I think the phrasing of this thread is funny.. It does adhere to the wording on those rip-off coin machines, tho'..

"Turn Your Coins Into Cash!!!"

Duh! Your coins are already 'cash'. Why not just try to unload them a few at a time? Could be good for tips. Can't see why anyone would pay any percentage whatsover to have them tallied up, unless they had a garage full...

 

[Nords]

Re: Pizza & free beer

Call it whatever you want, it's still just dumpster-diving.

You amateur. Clearly you've never actually dived a dumpster.

Why, since the HI-5 rebate program has started, I'm still getting over my annoyance at finding anti-personnel grids welded over the openings of our local high-school's recycling trailer container. It really breaks my heart now that our kid's too big to be boosted through them.

(For some of you newer members to this forum, that preceding paragraph was subtle sarcastic humor.)

When the beer bottle is just lying there on the grassy median, it's manna. Or mana, depending on your culture.

And are you absolutely, positively sure the cap hasn't been tampered with and there's really just horsepiss Bud Light in that bottle?

Heck, I couldn't even verify that with a taste test at our local fine retail outlets. I'm planning to offer it to my Bud-drinkin' FIL on his next visit... I'm sticking with my Coronas that he always compares to dasypygal equine effluent.

 

[BUM]

We have a ton of stashed coins around. I've become determined to get them back into circulation. I load up my pockets when I leave the house. DW gets a big kick out of it, "Got your old man money?" she asks.

Hey, its my version of spending down!


BUM

 

[preben]

Here in Thailand the paper notes go all the way down to 20 Baht being about 50 cents, and yet I still manage to to end up with stacks of coins :. Staff here highly appreciate when you give correct money from the start - and taxis generally will never have any change so I try to remember to put some in the pocket before venturing out.

Once paid the pizza delivery guy with coins only - back home I would have had the pizza in my face, but here he was laughing merrily while helping me count out the stash. After counting he got the remaining stash in the cup - probably enough for 3 meals for him.

Cheers!

 

[BUM]

pizza? in thailand? any interesting local toppings?

 

[preben]

Mostly the usual pizza Company/Pizza Hut stuff - they are all here. Even MacD delivers. Great hang over food. Cheers!

 

[BigMoneyJim]

I never intentionally collected coins, but I used to accumulate tons of coins on dressers, tables and in my car. I also had a few pounds of pennies I had for years because my sister had collected them when she was younger then traded them to me for dollars. (I don't recall the situation, but I recall it saved her some trouble.)

I couldn't find a free coin counter and hated to pay to convert cash to cash, so I separated the coins by type into quart freezer bags. I had a quota of coins I'd put in my pocket every day and paid exact change on nearly everything for a while. I used pennies as much as reasonable and sometimes unreasonably.

I don't have a change problem anymore, and now I spend the change as soon as I have enough to use. It took time and a little strategy, but I didn't have to roll or pay a conversion fee.

 

[SteveR]

I couldn't find a free coin counter and hated to pay to convert cash to cash, so I separated the coins by type into quart freezer bags. I had a quota of coins I'd put in my pocket every day and paid exact change on nearly everything for a while. I used pennies as much as reasonable and sometimes unreasonably.

I have a bunch of those freezer (stonger) bags full of like coins in various places in the house. We were saving quarters for some Video Poker entertainment on our next Vegas trip but that never happened so the coins are just sitting there. It would take be months to get rid of it all since I don't go shopping except on weekends and then use my airline miles CC for just about everything (one bill, one payment and free miles).

I will start moving some to work for vending machine use for snacks.

 

[Chris24]

(BTW - Where does all the gravel go?)

THats why I started throwing my pennies into the gravel .. i think it has slowed down the leeching of gravel by putting a copper alloy shield between the gravel and the the gravel sucking gremlins that live 2 feet below the surface of ones driveway.

Also it is fun watching people stooping down by your driveway pretending to tie thier shoes while they scoop up a few copper nuggets.

A penny saved is ... well, akin to collecting rubber bands. Much more entertianment can be found in finding other ways in not collecting trival pieces of monetary icons. I love when a purchase ends with 97/98/99 cents and I tell the cashier to "keep the change". They actually thank me