what are you doing with your coins (change)?

[Just_Steve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan You will be surprised how much it will be worth... Last week I had to drag a 5 gallon bucket myself into the bank for my aging dad. They have a self serve coin counter there. The bucket was between half and 2/3's full and it was almost $850. Very heavy bucket, also. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

$850. Outstanding. I might get motivated after all.

[Deej]

We have 2 tall plastic containers. One is used for pennies the other for silver. We collect all our coins daily and add to these containers. I don't take them to the bank or Coinstar because I've heard you don't get the full value due to miscounting. So, when I'm not doing anything or just watching/listening to the tube, I'll roll them. Just rolled $345 in coins. We just add it to our vacation savings fund.

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover I had $35+ in pennies. I took it to a Coinstar machine and got an Amazon credit with no fees.

+1 Amazon credit with Coinstar.

[RobbieB]

I saw a guy with one of those big 5 gallon water bottles full of coins wheeling it into a bank on a hand truck. It had to be heavy.

Vowed that would never be me. I could see myself injuring myself bad wrestling with this enormous heavy jug and spending way more than it was worth at the hospital.

Nah, just going to spend it as I go. It not hard either, when the check comes I count the change first and then hand over the bills.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dog I've used Coinstar several times but don't like that they withhold a % cut. Just took the last full jug to NFCU. They have a coin machine and it auto deposits to my account. The recent trip resulted in close to $300 Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

Well that's why many of us take the amount in the various options of store credit, because there is no cut - you get the full amount from the coins.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Well that's why many of us take the amount in the various options of store credit, because there is no cut - you get the full amount from the coins.

I've noticed that not all Coinstar machines give Amazon credits, though their web site has an easy search to find which machines give which credits. There is also apparently a minimum, as I took in a handful of change and got no Amazon credit and was clipped a percentage on what I got from the cashier when I redeemed the slip.

[akck]

Usually I throw any change in the tip jar at the register. We still accumulate coins though. I've taken it to coinstar to get an Amazon credit, but there was a problem and instead the machine gave me a full credit voucher.

[gcgang]

I keep change in the armrest of my car. Use it for the car wash, or give exact change when we go fast fooding.

[scrabbler1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neill Grocery stores now in my area had self checkout. I would periodically annoy checkout people by paying with lots of coins but self checkout computer just takes whatever I throw in. So any change I have goes in then you can pay for the rest of your transaction with credit. I love this split pay option. You could shift a lot of coins this way over time. This solved the coin problem for me.

I do this, too. Every so often, when the number of low-denomination coins (penny, nickel, dime) I have gets a little too large, maybe 20 coins minimum, my next trip to the supermarket or other store which has self-checkout will become a receptacle for my coins. My purchases are small in general. I don't like to part with quarters because I need them for the washing machines. As long as I insert the coins first, because otherwise the machine will stop taking coins once I hit the balance due.

[RothReady2Retire]

I read today that a 2 liter bottle filled with dimes will get you $700. I am going to try it... probably take me 20 years to fill.

[JOHNNIE36]

I have a small cup that just fits in the trim panel of the door in our car. Change goes in and out of that cup at fast food places. Now and then I take out the quarters, dimes and nickels and transfer them to my poker pot. This is a handy tin in which I keep my change for our Monday night "nickel-dime" poker games. Periodically I will remove the quarters to an old bank I keep in my closet. When the bank is full of quarters I wrap them and generally end up with about $100. Never carry change in my pants pocket.

[Music Lover]

I put all my pennies in containers for 30 years. When I finally put them through the machine at my local bank, it added up to $164!! This was at TD bank which used to have Coinstar machines, so based on the accuracy comments, it may have been more.

I keep loonies and twonies ($1 and $2 coins in Canada) in the coin tray in my car...they come in handy for car washes and drive-thru, and the small tray can hold $50+, which makes a handy emergency fund. I once left my money and credit cards at home and paid for a round of golf with $30 in coins...

[Mulligan]

I see quite often some of the Canadian coins circulating down here with no problem. But when we recently took that bucket of change to the coin machine, the circulation ended there... We had to take a handful back with us. Reminded be of back in the high school days when we found out the soda machine was cool with taking metal slugs instead of quarters.


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[gauss]

I use the self-serve coin counters at local branches of TCF Bank around here. There is no surcharge for certain account holders. The same account allows me to get surcharge free Official Checks (ie cashier checks).

I have used various Credit Unions in the past who have provided free change counting services - some self-serve -- some teller provided.

-gauss

[CountryGal]

Time to close my TD account.

[Badger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB I saw a guy with one of those big 5 gallon water bottles full of coins wheeling it into a bank on a hand truck. It had to be heavy.

I filled a 5 gallon water bottle with coins once. It took a few years. I almost couldn't tip it over to empty it. No way could I pick it up and I was not that little at 6'1" and 220# of badger fighting fitness.

Cheers!

[mh]

I use my credit card for everything these days - even $1.50 type purchases it takes me years to get enough change to take to the grocery store change machine


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[KmmFIdreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPatrick We have gotten so good playing the credit card points game that we rarely have any coins. What we do have goes in a jar and then to the bank which still offers counting for free.

+1

I just use my credit cards for pretty much everything I buy. When I do collect a few coins I put them in a little pouch in my travel bag to use for vending machines, toll roads, coin laundry, etc. If the pouch gets too full then I use the self checkout at the grocery for a small item or two and just feed them into that.

[JustCurious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gcgang I keep change in the armrest of my car. Use it for the car wash, or give exact change when we go fast fooding.

This is what I do as well. Most of my transactions are done with a credit card, but I do like to use cash ocassionally, especially for smaller purchases below $10...I really do not like to use a credit card to buy something that is $3.79...I don't want too many transactions to track on my statement at the end of the month.

Another thing I do is selectively use cash depending on how much coins I will get as change...for example, if the total purchase is $10.13, I will not use cash because I do not want to get .87 cents change...but if it is $10.92, then I will use cash because I don't mind getting .8 cents change, I just throw it into the cupholder in the center of my car console...by following this practice it takes a lot longer for the change to build up. I also spend it down by using exact change at drive throughs...or I sometimes put some change in my pocket when I go inside a store or a fast food or fast casual restaurant and pay with exact change. By doing these things I generally keep the amount of loose change at a minimum.

[scrabbler1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustCurious This is what I do as well. Most of my transactions are done with a credit card, but I do like to use cash ocassionally, especially for smaller purchases below $10...I really do not like to use a credit card to buy something that is $3.79...I don't want too many transactions to track on my statement at the end of the month. Another thing I do is selectively use cash depending on how much coins I will get as change...for example, if the total purchase is $10.13, I will not use cash because I do not want to get .87 cents change...but if it is $10.92, then I will use cash because I don't mind getting .8 cents change, I just throw it into the cupholder in the center of my car console...by following this practice it takes a lot longer for the change to build up. I also spend it down by using exact change at drive throughs...or I sometimes put some change in my pocket when I go inside a store or a fast food or fast casual restaurant and pay with exact change. By doing these things I generally keep the amount of loose change at a minimum.

I like it when the amount due in a small cash transaction is a small amount over a whole dollar amount. If it is $10.13, for example, I can quickly and easily get rid of 13 cents in small coins, usually pennies and nickels. This means I can get rid of 2 nickels and 3 pennies, making a dent in my small coin holdings. Anything under 30 cents I can count out quickly while being able to get rid of lots of pennies, nickels, and dimes.