Saving money, one coin at a time.
By kris182_2000
@kris182_2000 (5469)
Canada
September 13, 2011 5:57pm CST
I have no idea how long this will take, but I got a brilliant idea while outside.
We have a few 5 gallon water jugs and have no use for them, so I thought that maybe we should start filling them up with coins.
You know, the banks will hate us when we take hundreds of coin rolls there when we fill them up.
We already had a bunch of coins that were being saved up in cups, so I thought this would be better for us.
I don't know how much money we can save, but I'm sure if we try hard enough, we could save thousands of dollars this way.
We have 3 jugs, 2 are still outside.
I think we should start all 3 of them, but it may be better with just one right now. My idea was one for loonies and toonies, one for quarters and one for nickels and dimes. Pennies have their own place already.
My husband says we don't work enough to fill all of them up, so he doesn't want to do that.
But my boss has finally realized that collecting bottles and cans will finally pay off. We found some in a client's recycling bin today and will be cashing them in soon.
1 person likes this
17 responses
@AndiWhitts (9)
•
14 Sep 11
What i tend to do is, every day when i come home, empty all of the small change out of my wallet that i won't miss. I empty them into jars like the ones you are going to use, they really do add up quickly! I would recommend doing one at a time though, as you feel better about your savings as you see it fill right to the top! Also, small coins can turn to fortunes! Dont forget, a million dollars is only 100,000,000 cents! Good luck with your saving!
1 person likes this
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
14 Sep 11
It certainly will add up in the long run. My boyfriend does the same thing here for years with all his daily pocket change. He never uses any during purchases and dumps in the huge pouch we have. He cashed them in 3 times a year and usually gets about $200 - $300 each time.
So it will add up, just keep saving them.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160949)
• United States
14 Sep 11
See, I am with you, little bits add up to dollars eventually.
@kris182_2000 (5469)
• Canada
14 Sep 11
Hundreds or even thousands at some point, that will be good.
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
14 Sep 11
The saying goes here "Look after the pennies and the Pounds will look after themselves!" If you're in the habit of saving your small change,amounts will soon add up..Re. the bank tellers faces on presenting one of these Jars filled up..One of the Local supermarkets here has a coin sorting/counting machine as you go inside..I've never carried enough coin on me when I go in there to try it out for the novelty value,so I don't know how the concept works..would it bag and return them sorted,or would it work like an ATM and give notes back?!
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
14 Sep 11
Just out of interest,I took a look online and found the company placing these counting machines..they're called "Coinstar",and the machine will print out a voucher to the value of the coins inserted to use in the store you're visiting,less their processing fee of 8.9%...Banks don't charge for handling bulk coins,do they?
@kris182_2000 (5469)
• Canada
14 Sep 11
Here, the processing fee is 11.9%, so we'll be hand rolling it ourselves. Banks don't charge for this thankfully.
If we had more than $3,000 in coins, we wouldn't be able to use Coinstar for sorting.
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
15 Sep 11
I'm thinking the banks are going to be getting my loose change business too if a machine is charging those sort of rates to do the counting!
@lologirl2021 (5542)
• United States
14 Sep 11
I can tell you that with a 5 gallon jug it will take you a long time. I have friends taht have been doin git for years and its almost full and when they do have to move it they have to have help and put it on a dolley to move it around because it is so heavy to move. I only wish you the best of luck and i know it will end up being a good payoff at the end and maybe you and the family can go on a good vacation when it is full. It will be fun as well.
@kris182_2000 (5469)
• Canada
14 Sep 11
Your comment gave me a legitimate excuse to start another jug. This one will be filled with dimes only, for vacation funds.
It would be nice to go on vacations, we've only had 2 in the 6 years we've been together.
@kris182_2000 (5469)
• Canada
30 Sep 11
3 weeks later, we have $84.50 in the main jug saved.
I split even further today, I moved the nickels into a cup and they will go to the bank at some point.
@jennigoff33 (332)
• United States
14 Sep 11
I actually use them for money but i only had one. I used it to go on one trip every year. Pretty nice if you think about it.
@kris182_2000 (5469)
• Canada
14 Sep 11
I may have to start a second one just for vacation purposes. This one is for savings, we hope to buy a house in the future and saving like this will help.
@jennigoff33 (332)
• United States
15 Sep 11
I usually do the one for savings and add it to my savings account once a month, I take in all my change.
@GemmaR (8517)
•
14 Sep 11
It's good that you are saving up, but you might want to think about counting your coins much sooner than the time that your containers get full. If you place the money into a special savings account that you can't touch with a card, then you will be able to earn interest on the money that you're saving while it's in your account. If it's just sitting in your house in a container then it won't be earning anything for you, so you might be losing out on a couple of pounds every month. It doesn't sound like very much, but at the end of the day it will all add up in the long term, meaning that you should really try putting the coins into your bank account as soon as you possibly can do so.
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
15 Sep 11
Hiy kris,
This is one of my favourite hobbies saving up the little coins. I have just rescued us by being able to pay the Rent this month from what I had just thrown into a pouch thing and not bothered to count any of it.
It came to the rescue although there were a few moans and groans of having to separate the coins up and such.
Did I get any thanks not likely but I felt really good being able to come to the rescue.
We are self employed so we never get paid on time and almost never anyway. You always have People owing you money.
I could buy half a new House with Money that is owed to us but will never be paid I reckon not by a half.
So I would keep it going if I were you. Its a great idea for anyone to do and always comes in handy.xxx
@wendelluytan (106)
• Philippines
14 Sep 11
I advice you to change your coins into bills. The coins circulating in the country will go down if you save a lot of coins. This will cause the government to spend money to produce new coins that will circulate the market.
@cowgirl03051979 (918)
• United States
14 Sep 11
i agree this is a good idea with the way the economy is right now it is very important to save every penny and dime you possably can i myself am having to stop spending as much as i used to and am having to learn how to save i dont have any kind of bottle that i put my change in i just usually put the loose change in the bottom of my purse where it will accumulate until my purse gets so jingly and heavy that i have to empty it just make sure you keep them hidden somewhere because people now a days will see them and not hesitite to steal them
@vikku2001 (258)
• India
14 Sep 11
Saving changes is a great idea instead we should exchange them to dollar if it comes to a sufficient amount.As changes is not that much handy to take and dollar will be more safe that many changes.
@anonima73 (153)
• Puerto Rico
14 Sep 11
Another recommendation mainly targeted at students that receive a dollar each day from their parents is to SAVE it. More or less there are 4 weeks in a month:
1 day - $1
1 week - $5
1 month - $20
1 5 month semester - $100
an entire school year - $200
Great for buying a little present to yourself on summer or just saving up for college. I've always wanted to do this since I was in kindergarten but my mom is poor so if I receive 25 cents a month it's a miracle....I don't like ot ask for money either my mom has to pay so much too.
@markthaniel1407 (58)
• Philippines
14 Sep 11
It's a good idea to save money in a banks. I mean in gallon water jugs bank. :) Rather than wasting and spending so much money that is not worth a thing.... If you know what I mean... I believe you can fill up all 5 gallons with coins... This means you have to be work harder and harder and more more harder in order to complete all the gallons :)... I am amaze and inspire by your courage to acomplished your goal. I am more willing to support your goal because you realized me that I am not that only one doing it... Based on what I had experience before, saving coins in a treasure box is almost impossible and difficults from I had expected...I find it hard to believe that it takes almost 1 year to reach my goal... Not to mention all the hard works and stressed I had been through... In the end I use the money to finance my auntie who was admit to the hospital for her operation. :)
@ryansmyth05 (8)
• United States
14 Sep 11
"like", i like what this is about. the banks would probably get very angry and not take them in.
@ElicBxn (63643)
• United States
14 Sep 11
hey, pennies are pennies, 100 of them make a dollar (or pound if you are in England these days)...
one of my favorite lines in the very first episode of Doctor Who was Susan saying "Oh, that's right, you haven't gone decimal yet" or something like that...
@frontvisions101 (16043)
• Philippines
14 Sep 11
Saving money isn't easy for me either. I have to be in the right state of mind in order for me to save that much for something expensive. It's a great idea filling out those bottles. You can get creative if you're really willing to save.
@carsocmaguinsay (417)
• Philippines
14 Sep 11
that's great... when i was a kid, i use to collect empty bottles at home and sell them a junk shop so i could buy candies and chocolates...
