What is Your Strategy for Dealing With Change?

[TromboneAl]

I'm talking coins here.

I put on a pair of pants, there's no change in the pockets. I go out and buy something, and I get some change. It goes in the pockets. When I hang up the pants, I take the change out and put it in a bowl.

I apparently cannot remember to put some change in the pockets before I go out, so of course the change accumulates.

Anyone found a good trick for dealing with this?

 

[Sandy]

women have wallets with change sections, that helps. But I rarely remember to use them or I don't have the right combination, so when the wallet budges I put all of the change in the change jar. DH puts his change there nightly. I roll it periodically (when I am looking for a really low intensity project) and take it to the bank. We keep a few coins of all varieties in the car for parking meeters and other emergencies.

 

[W2R]

I'm talking coins here.

I put on a pair of pants, there's no change in the pockets. I go out and buy something, and I get some change. It goes in the pockets. When I hang up the pants, I take the change out and put it in a bowl.

I apparently cannot remember to put some change in the pockets before I go out, so of course the change accumulates.

Anyone found a good trick for dealing with this?

I use it up when I pay for things.

Frank collects his in a jar. When it fills up, he takes it to his bank where they put it in a change sorter and convert it to bills, for free. I have a jar that has been about half full for the past ten years, and at some point I should deal with it as he does.

 

[73ss454]

Did you ever notice that while waiting to pay for something on line, Men will just take a bill out and pay. When behind a Woman she gets the amount and then pulls out her purse and starts counting change. Men do not count change out to pay very often. My unscientific results.

 

[Nords]

I'm talking coins here.
Anyone found a good trick for dealing with this?

I hardly ever use paper money anymore-- almost exclusively a credit card. About the only time our family spends cash is for Friday-night Costco pizza and Craigslist purchases. Unless we make a Craigslist buy, $200 cash will last us all over a month.

On the rare occasions that we get change, it goes into my pocket (or into the car upholstery) and then into a dish at home. When we go buy pizza I try to pay with as much of the change as possible. I usually have it racked & stacked by the time I get to the front of the line so I have the change counted out before the cashier is finished with our order.

We keep a small container of quarters in each car. (35 mm film canisters-- anyone remember those?) That's enough for library book fines, parking meters, and an occasional pay phone.

 

[LOL!]

Credit card user here as well. I'll charge a 25 cent pack of gum. Tolls are paid with EZ pass which in turn is paid by credit card. Kids allowances are paid by ACH transfer. If cash is required, then they ain't getting my business.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh gosh, I thought this was a MUCH deeper question!!!!

We almost never use cash, but we still have to deal with accumulating coins because we occasionally have to deal with a business that does not accept credit cards!

I DON'T carry change in my purse. It gets too heavy! I switched to using a wallet for license, cards and bills, so that I can carry it in my back pocket instead of carrying my purse at times. There is no room for coins in the wallet.

We segregate the quarters and use them for laundry.

The other change gets thrown into a baggie that sits under the front passenger seat in the car. One day we'll take that baggie to a coin machine (rip off, but banks no longer provide this service). In the meantime we use it for parking meters occasionally.

At least it keeps the pesky coins out of pocket and purses and house surfaces!

Audrey

 

[Khan]

About the only time I use paper/coin is at the farmers' market and a few trips a year to the laundromat.

I make a point of taking what change I have to the farmers' market to pay exact change if possible. In December I take whatever I have to the credit union, run it through their coin counter and drop it into the MMA.

 

[RunningBum]

I use cards as much as possible too. I keep some change in my car for the occasional fast food drive through, but I do that less and less these days.

I keep a plastic cup by the garage door and toss any change I do get in there, and every few years take it to the bank and throw it in that change sorter like W2r mentioned (though I'm not sure if the banks near me now have them, now that I see audreyh1's post). Much better than the old days of rolling coins. Last time I had about $100 in coins!

I was thinking to start saving quarters for DD about to enter college, but most of those machines probably take their student cards these days, don't they?

 

[Spanky]

I have three jars of coins, two at my desk and one at the glove compartment of my car. My wallet is next to the two jars (at my desk), and thus it's hard to neglect them. The coins in my car are for car wash and meters.

 

[growing_older]

I'll use the odd bit of change to pay $1.02 for a $0.77 item and get a quarter back in change. Interesting how many cashiers need the register to do the arithmetic for them recently. But more often than not the extra change just accumulates in my pocket until I dump it out. I keep a jar for pennies which eventually gets picked over by kids and cousins who collect them. A second jar collects all the non-penny change. I use it to replenish a jar in my car I use for tolls and parking. My kids also raid the jar for bus fare. So far the system is pretty much balanced and none of the jars ever get too full or too empty. I suppose if one ever fills I'll take it to the bank, but that's never been necessary.

 

[walkinwood]

I put my coins in a box and every so often take them to the local A&P supermarket where they have a coinstar machine. It charges if you wish to get paper money, but if you're willing to take an eCoupon at say Amazon.com, there is no charge. A great deal!

 

[Goonie]

I use a CC for almost everything so I usually don't have much change, but what little I do accumulate goes in 2 jars. One jar is pennies, nickels, and dimes, and the other jar is for quarters. I take a fist full of quarters when we travel, to use in the pop and snack machines, and to use to do laundry at our hotel. When the other jar gets full, I take it to the bank and run it through their sorter, and exchange it for bills.

And like TromboneAl, I keep two 35mm film cannisters in the car. One with quarters, and one with car wash tokens. (I buy the tokens when they have a sale....5 tokens for $10. That way I get my $4 wash & wax for $2.)

 

[CyclingInvestor]

I use the self-checkout at the local Albertsons - pay with all my coins first, then use the the
ATM+$50 option to finish. Repeat when cash is down to about $20.

 

[calmloki]

Not well i'm afraid. Guess i'm kinda like Sheldon on "The Big Bang". Like the same thing at the same time, surprises do not suit me.

Oh.

all pocket change to an old cigar server on my desk. hate carrying change, gets me unbalanced (think Sherlock Holmes simulating madness). Twice/ month it goes to the bag full of quarters from the laundry machines and off to the coin counter.

 

[redduck]

I never spend change on anything other than parking meters. Every night I put my change in an empty Viactiv container ( well, it's empty of Viactiv, but not of coins). Viactiv, for those of you who may be curious, is a soft calcium chew. When the container is filled, I roll the coins and take them to the bank. Usually nets me about $40-50. And, the cycle begins to repeat...

 

[toofrugalformycat]

A friend showed me a little note she taped to the tips jar at our favorite cafe - "If you fear change, leave it here".
I toss my change into a decorative can on my dresser. When the can overflows (it takes several months) I stack the coins into a little plastic coin counting tray to sort them, then count and roll the coins into coin wrappers I get free from my credit union. I don't have access to a free coin counter, but even if I did, I think I'd miss my zen-like coin counting ritual.

 

[albundyz]

I always throw my extra change under my driver's floor mat.

There's a restaurant close to home that has a salad that I just love. It costs $7.57 with tax. I go there at least once a week, sometimes twice a week.

EVERY time I get a salad, I walk in, holding exactly 57 cents (to go with my dollars).
*******************
When things get really bad with excessive coinage (under the floor mat), I visit the local Post Office which has a machine that accepts coins, including pennies. Ten regular stamps can get rid of over $4 in coins.

anyway, yes, I get lots of change, but I've found a good way to get rid of it.

 

[F-One]

I take our accumulated change to our credit union, they have one of those coin machines, but it is fee free for members. Deposit the money into our money market account.

 

[maddythebeagle]

I take our accumulated change to our credit union, they have one of those coin machines, but it is fee free for members. Deposit the money into our money market account.

I do the same...last year I collected over a 100 bucks in change...hadnt gone in a while

 

[dumpster56]

I get free coin wrappers from the bank, and spend a few hours every month rolling the chage then putting it in a box. well it was so heavy after 5 years there was 500+ in rolled change! Cool, we bought a new laptop with it!

 

[grumpy]

There is a Chevy Chase Bank branch around the corner with a coin counting machine that is free for anyone to use (don't have to have an account there). When the coin jar gets full I just cash it all in there. I never carry coins.

Grumpy

 

[audreyh1]

I need to find a bank with a free coin counting machine!

Audrey

 

[TromboneAl]

I'll charge a 25 cent pack of gum.

Have you really done that?

I feel funny charging anything under $10. Also, the way that most people use credit cards, it's easy to imagine some guy in line thinking "Wow, I thought I was poor -- that guy can't even afford to pay cash for gum!"

It would be nice to have a system in which there's no accumulation of coins. I think I'll put a jar by the [-]front door[/-] door to the garage. When I come in, the coins go there, and when I go out, I take them with me.

 

[W2R]

Have you really done that?

I feel funny charging anything under $10. Also, the way that most people use credit cards, it's easy to imagine some guy in line thinking "Wow, I thought I was poor -- that guy can't even afford to pay cash for gum!"

LOL!!! I catch myself thinking that sometimes.

It would be nice to have a system in which there's no accumulation of coins. I think I'll put a jar by the [-]front door[/-] door to the garage. When I come in, the coins go there, and when I go out, I take them with me.

I have a spot where I put coins when I am traveling for work. Otherwise my purse is too heavy. Then, when I get back I put them back. If things get too heavy, it goes in the jar.

If you count out the change when you buy things, you won't have much left, if any. Maybe it would help to carry one of those change purses that old men used to carry (in addition to their wallets). My father and his contemporaries used to have them, though I don't recall seeing one in many years.