But unlike the song, I’m not 100% sure why!
DH and I have saved our change for years. The last time we cashed it out, we had almost $1,000 worth. That was 18 months ago and we ended up using it to help offset some of our moving expenses. We never seem to save for anything in particular. I highly doubt if we were to have an actual goal in mind that it would change how much we do dump into our container.
Pardon the really bad pun, but I’ve heard the pros and cons of both sides of the coin and we will stick with the pro side. We’ve been doing this for so many years that we just don’t miss this change. It is also nice knowing we have a little extra being saved on the side.
This morning I cleaned out my purse. I had just a few dollars worth of change. Dumping that change into our container the words “saving nickels saving dimes” from Linda Ronstadt’s version of Blue Bayou found its way into my head. It is what got me to thinking about writing a post about saving change. Do others who are on a debt slaying mission save theirs too? Should we be applying it all to our debt? While it would probably be the smart thing to do (and I never said I was smart!) I doubt we will. On a positive note, when we do decide to use it, the money will be spent wisely. It may help offset a purchase we need to make or we might even use it to buy something for our home. Time will tell!
Are you a change saver? If so, what are you saving for?
Lucy
I do have a change jar but it takes forever to get much in it, because we so rarely use cash for anything.
That is one thing about not using cash, you don't get as much change. Now that we are primarily using cash for day to day expenses, I think ours will grow much faster than before.
We take ours to CoinStar at the grocery store. If you agree to apply it to a gift card, you get 100% credit for your change (if you want to cash out, they take 10% or so). We always opt to have it applied to an Amazon card.
I would do the gift card too! Our credit union lets us turn in $200 per day of unrolled coins without charging a fee.
We have always been change collectors. Now all our change ends up in the kids piggy banks. My 6 year old has at least $700 in his room right now. I spent days rolling it all, only to find out our bank won't accept a coin deposit. What?!?!?! I refuse to use coinstar and lose 11 cents per dollar. I figure we'll hang on to it until we come up with a solution to get it deposited.
So what does your bank expect their customers to do with their change? Try a credit union. Ours lets us turn in $200 a day without a fee. I wouldn't want to lose that 11% either! That would be a big hit on your money! Awesome savings for your son! Also teaches the value of saving money.
AS a matter of fact, piggy is getting pretty heavy so I may hit Coinstar for a GC this weekend. My housemate gives me quarters to do laundry at my house instead of the laundromat so piggy is pretty happy
AS a matter of fact, piggy is getting pretty heavy so I may hit Coinstar for a GC this weekend. My housemate gives me quarters to do laundry at my house instead of the laundromat so piggy is pretty happy
Love that!