Friday, April 3, 2009

Forget Coin Rolling: What I do when the piggy bank gets full


Coinstar rawks... made myself $157 Amazon.com ...Image by inju via Flickr

You know those huge green machines by the entrance at your local grocery store? The ones you sometimes see people dumping coffee cans full of change into? They're called Coinstar machines, and you can use them to count your coins and exchange them for cash. I'd never used them until about a month ago because I knew they charged for the service. I just waited until my trusty piggy bank filled up and then dumped it on the floor and listened to a podcast while I rolled coins. Then I lugged them to the bank.

But Coinstar now has a free option, so as much as I love my podcasts, my rolling days are over. If you want your coins turned into cash, you're still going to have to pay for it, but if you choose to have them turned into a gift card, there's no charge. There are several gift cards to choose from: Amazon.com, Borders, AMC movies theatres, Overstock.com, and even CVS. And there's no worry about wasting--you can use them up to the last cent.

I'm always on the lookout for time-savers like this, so if you know any you'd like to share, leave a comment below.
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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I was living in the States, I got so used to taking my jar of coins to the bank and them chucking them in the sorter... I was definitely spoiled. Here in Oz I have been unable to find any options other than the bank. Thankfully I only have to bag, not roll, the coinage, so that's something.

RaVeN said...

nice blog

Jennifer said...

Free sorting if you choose a gift card, eh? I think I may have heard about this before. That's a good deal.

We just spend our change as it comes. Instead of breaking a twenty for a bill of 10.99, we just pay the 10.99, unless we run out of change.

Jenera said...

I use coinstar but I just pay the fee :o) Our bank doesn't count change and it's a hassle to even take in rolled coin. It sucks to pay a fee but it's never really added up to enough to irritate me.

Emilie said...

I like to roll, and then I put it in my savings account. I got a little bank, though, that separates the coins as I put them in the top and there's a little mark that tells me when I've reached enough for a roll.

emvark at gmail dot com

Lucy P. said...

I've used CoinStar at an Acme and it's great. I just pay the fee and use the cash to buy groceries. At my bank you have to roll them up yourself. But TD Bank (formally Commerce) does it also.

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