So I've gotten in the habit of saving coins. I don't know where it started, just suddenly seemed to have a lot. So I put the coins in a jar, and then as years passed, the one jar became two, three and so on.
We're not talking about a lot of money but a couple hundred dollars is a fair amount to just have laying around doing not much more than taking up space on my shelves. So what do you with it?
Take it to a bank and deposit it was my first guess. Did you know that most banks charge to deposit coins now? Unless you put them in those paper rolls? The average bank charges 5% for coin counting. On about $300 in change, that's $15 bucks right off the top. No thank you. I feel my time is better spent clipping coupons than filling up roll after roll (which, by the way, you have to buy).
And then there's Coinstar. You know that big green machine in most grocery stores? I see a lot of people using them so I thought I'd check it out. Their rate: 8.9%! That 5% was looking pretty good at that point.
But then I looked further and lo and behold, you can get free coin counting from Coinstar if you turn your change into gift cards or e-certificates. And we're not talking about ObscureStore.com here, we're talking Starbucks, amazon.com, Borders, and even AMC Theatres. These are places I shop at anyway.
Check out Coinstar's website here for a full list of what stores they work with and where you can find the machines that have the ones you want.
So why pay to convert your coins into bills, or even deposit them? They'd do better sitting on the shelves. Why not turn the change you have been collecting for years into something you can use?
I ended up using my loose change for a $289.52 gift certificate for amazon. Definitely takes the sting out of an impulse purchase.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
The way people think
So I ran across this comment on the web the other day in a discussion about the American Express Black Card. Have you ever heard about it? I hadn't, but in seeing what it was about it, I could see why I hadn't.
The comment went something like this [paraphrasing]: "Those with black cards think differently than other people. One come in the grocery store and bought a 24 pack of Coke for like 6.99. 'I told him that we had 12 packs on sale 2 for 5. He said it doesn't matter.'"
That comment threw me. Not because I was surprised, I'd seen it a hundred times before in my trips to the grocery store, but it threw me because I fight tooth and nail to save a buck or two and there are still people throwing around money to the tune of a $2500 annual fee PLUS a $5000 initiation fee. And no, I didn't forget to put a decimal in there!
But I suppose that person is right, those with money think differently than those without. Why is that?
I like money, who doesn't? But I like to keep my money. When I was just starting to save, I noticed that when I had finally scraped together a hundred bucks or so in my savings account, I wanted more. I wanted to keep building it higher and higher. I felt like a telethon where they have the thermometer thing that shows the higher total.
When I started out saving, it was a big deal. I wasn't exactly young and out of college. I was just about to turn 30 and had no money in the bank, no retirement set up and just left my full time job with a foolish dream of freelancing.
So what happened?
Well, I can credit my younger sister for the coupons and rebates lessons. My parents for the buying of a house so I had something to show for my monthly living quarters expense, and a basic sense of what I wanted to achieve and the sheer will to achieve it. And believe me, it wasn't easy and at times it wasn't pretty.
It started as a challenge to myself. I would use a coupon, a savings card from Albertsons, Safeway, whatever, and then I would take whatever the total savings was on my receipt and I would deposit that in a savings account. I rationalized that if I didn't use the coupon or savings card, I wouldn't have the money so I put it away.
You know, it adds up.
The next thing I did was sign up for a withdrawal from my checking account each month, just about $10 to start with. I didn't notice it so it was a good amount. I bumped it to $25 a year or so later and it's worked well ever sense. In fact, I've got several thousand in there now. A forced savings if you will.
See, I don't go all out to save because if I did, I'd most likely hate doing it and end up stopping. I took the avenue that worked for me, hiding a little bit at a time. Slow and steady can get just as far as long as it's consistent.
That works for me, what works for you?
The comment went something like this [paraphrasing]: "Those with black cards think differently than other people. One come in the grocery store and bought a 24 pack of Coke for like 6.99. 'I told him that we had 12 packs on sale 2 for 5. He said it doesn't matter.'"
That comment threw me. Not because I was surprised, I'd seen it a hundred times before in my trips to the grocery store, but it threw me because I fight tooth and nail to save a buck or two and there are still people throwing around money to the tune of a $2500 annual fee PLUS a $5000 initiation fee. And no, I didn't forget to put a decimal in there!
But I suppose that person is right, those with money think differently than those without. Why is that?
I like money, who doesn't? But I like to keep my money. When I was just starting to save, I noticed that when I had finally scraped together a hundred bucks or so in my savings account, I wanted more. I wanted to keep building it higher and higher. I felt like a telethon where they have the thermometer thing that shows the higher total.
When I started out saving, it was a big deal. I wasn't exactly young and out of college. I was just about to turn 30 and had no money in the bank, no retirement set up and just left my full time job with a foolish dream of freelancing.
So what happened?
Well, I can credit my younger sister for the coupons and rebates lessons. My parents for the buying of a house so I had something to show for my monthly living quarters expense, and a basic sense of what I wanted to achieve and the sheer will to achieve it. And believe me, it wasn't easy and at times it wasn't pretty.
It started as a challenge to myself. I would use a coupon, a savings card from Albertsons, Safeway, whatever, and then I would take whatever the total savings was on my receipt and I would deposit that in a savings account. I rationalized that if I didn't use the coupon or savings card, I wouldn't have the money so I put it away.
You know, it adds up.
The next thing I did was sign up for a withdrawal from my checking account each month, just about $10 to start with. I didn't notice it so it was a good amount. I bumped it to $25 a year or so later and it's worked well ever sense. In fact, I've got several thousand in there now. A forced savings if you will.
See, I don't go all out to save because if I did, I'd most likely hate doing it and end up stopping. I took the avenue that worked for me, hiding a little bit at a time. Slow and steady can get just as far as long as it's consistent.
That works for me, what works for you?
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