what are you doing with your coins (change)?

[gayl]

Coinstar.

When I saw your post I thought you meant old coins. They have gone on Ebay.

Mine are in the safe

 

[sengsational]

Thank you for this tip, I was not aware of that. Can you tell me how it works? Do you get a receipt and then you present the receipt to the cashier at checkout?

Yep, it prints something you hand to the cashier.

 

[DrRoy]

I never have more than a dollar in coin. I just keep it spent down all the time.

 

[imoldernu]

It has been about 5 years since we last cashed in our coins. 3 or 4 gallon ziplocks full.
The small town where our camp is located has a bank with one of those really old (maybe 1920's) clattering sort machines. Last time we used it, there was no charge.
Don't want to guess how much our 'collection' is worth.

 

[Doughpile]

I wrap em up and add em to my doughpile...


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[W2R]

It has been about 5 years since we last cashed in our coins. 3 or 4 gallon ziplocks full.
The small town where our camp is located has a bank with one of those really old (maybe 1920's) clattering sort machines. Last time we used it, there was no charge.
Don't want to guess how much our 'collection' is worth.

Take it in!!! One of those old fashioned glass mayonnaise jars from the 1960's (remember them?) usually holds about $120-$150 for me. But it might be more for you because I sometimes fish out the quarters and use some of them.

Anyway, 3 or 4 gallon ziplocks full is probably quite a bit. You could use it for fun money.

 

[brucethebroker]

I use gallon milk cartons to carry coins to the bank. I take a razor cutter and cut the neck off the plastic bottle before leaving my car to make it easier to empty.

I have also rolled coins while watching football on TV. Kind of an "auto-pilot" thing.

 

[GravitySucks]

Swim in it of course.

 

[OneDay]

Kids

I pay cash for most everything and save all my change " coins " for my kids, once I have a hundred dollars or so, I take it to the bank, let them count and roll it and deposit in to my kids savings accounts, then transfer that money to their utma accounts and invest it for them.

 

[Beachgrl]

I went into my bank yesterday to ask if they have a coin counter. They do not. And not only that, I can only bring in 10 rolls of coins a day. grr.
We have no kids to give the stuff to.
Have to start using it to buy stuff. I love all the responses thank you!!!

 

[kcowan]

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.

Same with Home Depot self checkout. I try to go when it is not busy with my bag of coin. Miss TD though but HD seems to be more accurate.

(Our buses also take coin and their counter is very accurate.)

 

[Beachgrl]

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.

After discussion with hubbs and my recon visit to the bank yesterday, I think this is the winner. Many thanks.

 

[joesxm3]

I take the coins out of my pocket every evening and throw them on the night stand. Every few days I sort them into two containers, nickels and all the rest. When I get too many I take them to my bank that has a counting machine.

I save the nickels because they are the only coin where the melt value comes anywhere near the face value. Once they get rid of the nickel coin, they will be as good as diamonds

 

[LitGal]

I try to use cash in as many transactions as possible, so always try to give correct change. That keeps my wallet lighter.

 

[Lsbcal]

Those Salvation army guys at Xmas time.

 

[Drake3287]

Here's a funny one. Since 1979 or so I've been saving my pennies by putting them in one of those large Alhambra water bottles. Over the years I've filled a couple of them.

Last year I wanted to buy a pair of those Bose noise canceling headphones for airline flights but couldn't justify spending $300. on them.

I loaded all one hundred pounds of pennies into my car and went to the local supermarket to deposit them into one of those Coin Star machines. Instead of paying the Coin Star user fee I decided to exchange them for an Amazon Gift Card for the full amount. Sure enough, after feeding pennies into the machine for almost an hour I had just over $300.00. Just enough to buy the head phones off Amazon.

By the time I was done feeding coins into the machine I had the entire store watching me. Almost like Vegas but in reverse!

 

[LitGal]

Here's a funny one. Since 1979 or so I've been saving my pennies by putting them in one of those large Alhambra water bottles. Over the years I've filled a couple of them.

Last year I wanted to buy a pair of those Bose noise canceling headphones for airline flights but couldn't justify spending $300. on them.

I loaded all one hundred pounds of pennies into my car and went to the local supermarket to deposit them into one of those Coin Star machines. Instead of paying the Coin Star user fee I decided to exchange them for an Amazon Gift Card for the full amount. Sure enough, after feeding pennies into the machine for almost an hour I had just over $300.00. Just enough to buy the head phones off Amazon.

By the time I was done feeding coins into the machine I had the entire store watching me. Almost like Vegas but in reverse!

This scene is way more entertaining than anything on TV tonight!

 

[Al in Ohio]

I throw nickels, dimes and quarters in the coin holder in the dash of my car. Pennies get tossed in the trash or those "give a penny take a penny" jars near the register.


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[Cobra9777]

I use cash-back credit cards for everything, no matter how small. So I don't produce much coinage. What I have collected over the years is stored in a large (~1 gal) glass jar. This jar also contains my rather random collection of foreign coins and bills, leftover from countless business trips all over the world, mainly Asian countries. At some point, I'll sort through the glass jar. But it tends to conjure up mostly unpleasant memories of my road warrior days at Megacorp. So there it sits, collecting dust and the occasional byproduct from a stop at 7-Eleven.

 

[kcowan]

So there it sits, collecting dust and the occasional byproduct from a stop at 7-Eleven.

Obviously you have not been retired long enough to take up the challenge!

 

[Life_is_Good]

Penny table

We picked up a hexagon shaped end table at the Good Will. It had nothing in the middle. Wife found a cool idea on Pinterest using pennies. Had a piece of glass made to set on top ......

 

[LitGal]

We picked up a hexagon shaped end table at the Good Will. It had nothing in the middle. Wife found a cool idea on Pinterest using pennies. Had a piece of glass made to set on top ......

View attachment 24442

View attachment 24443

Wow! The creativity here (and patience required) are impressive!

 

[big-papa]

We have one of those little machines that puts the coins into sleeves. When enough is gathered, we take it to the credit union and deposit it.

I hate change and hate carrying it around. Kinda problematic when I go to Europe...

 

[Beachgrl]

Loved the Bose Headphone anecdote!!

I wanted to check back in here and tell everyone that we made our first trip to the supermarket since this discussion and got to the self check out and I went dang I forgot to bring change! BUT! I grabbed what was in my purse and threw it in and BAM! Just like that, $3.01 "off" my bill!!

I literally started doing this at the checkout and had everyone staring:

 

[grasshopper]

When I was a kid the bank would make me put my SS# on each roll of coins I deposited, than later my account number. Can you imagine doing that today.

My favorite coin was the jukebox quarter, They were painted with red looked like nail polish. When the machine was emptied of coins the bar was given back the painted quarters to use in the jukebox to stimulate customer play. Haven't seen one in years.