keep the change

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Brian
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keep the change

Post by Brian » Sat Dec 31, 2005 6:20 pm

This was touched upon briefly in an earlier thread, but I thought it worth expanding on. Here it is: keep the change.

That's it. When you get change from a bill, don't spend it: keep it. Get a big jar, or several smaller jars (the system is remarkably flexible in this regard), and toss your change into it at the end of the day. At the end of the year, you'll have painlessly saved a few hundred dollars to use for whatever hedonistic pleasure you desire. Some banks have change-counting machines they will let you use; if yours doesn't, spend a few hours rolling the change for deposit. You were just going to blow the evening watching TV, anyway, admit it.

But the key is -- keep the change. If you need to spend change, such as in a vending machine or a parking meter, do whatever you would do in that situation if you didn't have change: do without, park somewhere else, ask somebody to break a bill for you. But keep the change.

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Thu Jan 05, 2006 3:10 pm

Welcome, Brian. You're right, change adds up. I forget how many billions of dollars of change are supposedly lying around people's houses in America, but it's shocking. Just looked it up: $10.5 billion.

http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,15 ... 339,00.asp

As mentioned in this article, the coinstar machines found in many supermarkets charge a ridiculous fee if you want to convert to cash, but no fee if you want to donate to charity or roll into an amazon (or starbucks?) gift card.

Reinhard

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carolejo
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Post by carolejo » Thu Jan 05, 2006 4:09 pm

We keep the change too, but usually the piggy bank gets raided every few months for a treat, like a takeout pizza or something. Generally, as long as you only give them about a Euro's worth of coppers, the delivery people are pretty happy to have the change.

The only problem I have at the moment is that all our UK change moved over here 'en masse' too, so everytime someone goes back to the UK they get a handful of it to spend or convert somehow!

C.
CaroleJo

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navin
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Post by navin » Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:03 pm

While this might work for some people, I know it won't work for me. I make most of my purchases by credit card - mostly for convenience (I nearly always pay it off at the end of the month, unless something dra stic happens) and to make it easier to track where my money is going.

As far as change, I have almost the exact opposite mentality... if I have exact change, I'll use it. In particular if I can get rid of pennies I will. If I were to just save the change, either (a) it wouldn't amount to much anyway, becuase of the credit card reason above, or (b) I'd just end up withdrawing more cash than I would have otherwise, so it'd be a wash. I certainly wouldn't spend any less.

But hey, if it works for you, all the power to you!
Before criticizing someone, you should try walking a mile in their shoes. Then you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

redwinger
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Post by redwinger » Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:18 am

I do the same thing with my change just through my bank. Bank of America has a keep the change program where anytime you use your debit card they round up to the next dollar and put that into a savings account for you and they will even match what you save for the 1st 3 months. For example, you buy a cup of coffee for $1.25, they round that up to 2 dollars and put the 75 cents into a savings account. you can open the account online. You have to deposit $100 within 2 weeks of opening the account and then as long as you use your debit card at least once a month(and who doesn't), the account has no monthly fees. The once a month debit card transaction counts as a deposit into your account. It can add up pretty quickly depending on how much you use your card. you really never miss it from your checking account. You could even use it to your advantage for the 1st 3 months. Think about when you get gas. Instead of putting 25 dollars into your tank, put 25.01. Then you put almost a dollar into your savings and they match that dollar. Again, they only match it the first 3 months. After that it's 5% annually, which isn't bad either. Just thought I'd throw this out. I'm less likely to touch it if it isn't sitting on my dresser in a jar, but in the bank.

sorry so long

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