Uugh...Coins Everywhere.

[niccig]

Help. DH has containers and containers full of coins. I'm going to take them to the bank and cash them in - wait for the bitching post about that argument, DH wants to do it, 9 months later and still waiting.

So how can I keep this from happening again. How does your DH deal with their loose change and still be baby safe?

Nicci

[MarisaSF]

We've taken them to the supermarket "Coinstar" machines before. You lose a certain percentage as the cost of using the machine, but I find it easier than the bank.
In the interim, DH keeps his coins on top of his dresser. We keep extra quarters in the car for meters.

[squimp]

My DH is a walking leaky piggy bank. So I "nag" him about it, although I despise that word. I have put one bowl on top of a high dresser in our bedroom, and made him aware that coins are acceptable there and only there. I give him a hard time if he leaves coin dribbles behind when he gets up from a chair.

When the bowl fills, I take it to my credit union. They have a free machine - no more stuffing those rolls! Check with your bank.

[niccig]

DH doesn't want to loose the percentage, but neither will he count and roll the money. He's had these containers for years and 3 house moves! I've tried to encourage him by suggesting he use the money to buy something he wants, but that hasn't worked. He just buys what he wants anyway. And I want that shelf in the closet back!

I'm thinking of getting a coin counting machine. It'll probably be more than what the percentage at Coinstar is, but it may get the job done and save us yet another argument about coins! He might even use it on a daily basis with his loose change if it's easy enough. And, he is a gadget man. Off to do some online research.

Nicci

[jbowman]

DH and I save our coins. We put them in a ceramic jar (out of DD's reach) and then periodically count/separate the money (into ziploc bags, which we then place in a drawer). When we have a lot of change, we deposit it at the bank. FWIW, our bank does not like us to deposit the change in rolls, so I'd check with your bank before organizing the money that way. My SIL gets free Coinstar with her bank account; we don't have that, but that might be worth checking into as well.

[niccig]

I'll check with our bank about how to deposit coins - rolls or bags. They do have a coin machine but they charge a percentage if the amount is over $25 - DH won't do this either. It's a small thing, but boy does it annoy me that years later, there are still containers of coins.

ETA I checked our credit union web site, and they charge a 5% fee for any coin deposit, except if it's into a child's account. I'll either open an account for DS and deposit the $$ for him one day, or maybe use Coinstar and get one of the giftcards to save on the % fee. Or just suck it up to get rid of these blasted coins.

[Dyonia]

My DH used to do this. I solved the issue a few years ago by getting him a battery-operated coin sorter. When he comes home, his loose change goes straight into the sorter. It is kept near where he empties his pockets (in our old place, it was in the bedroom, here it is in the den) at our eye level. This way it is well out of DD's reach, and when the thing is full, he pops the coins into their wrappers. Buying the round wrappers may cost a little more, but the savings in time and aggravation vs. the flat wrappers is SO worth it!

This appears to be the next generation of the coin sorter we have. I remember spending 30-40 bucks at Sharper Image when I bought ours about 5 years ago.
http://www.dillards.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=301&storeId=301&langId=-1&productId=500712150

We change the batteries once a year, if that. The coin sorter has far more than paid for itself!

HTH!
Donna

ETA: correct link!

[JLiebCamm]

We save our coins in a canister in the kitchen. When it gets full, we divide them and roll them. We saved enough to fund our new Nikon D70! We don't roll our pennies; it's too much work! Apparently some banks will put your change through their counter for free but mine doesn't :(

[LD92599]

Not sure where you are located (I[m thinking West Coast!) but here in the East there's a chain of banks called Commerce Bank and they have free change counting. It's called the Penny Archade. It's totally free, whether or not you're a customer! Call around area banks and see if anyone offers it.

Laura
mom to William

LKibala at optonline dot net

http://lilypie.com/pic/050530/616a731.jpg[/img][img]http://lilypie.com/baby3/030305/1/2/0/-5/.png

[LD92599]

We keep our change in an old iced tea jar w/ screw on lid!

Laura
mom to William

LKibala at optonline dot net

http://lilypie.com/pic/050530/616a731.jpg[/img][img]http://lilypie.com/baby3/030305/1/2/0/-5/.png

[JTsMom]

I saw somewhere that now you can use the Coinstar machines to get an Amazon gc. If you choose that option, there is no fee. :)

[DebbieJ]

Now that DH works at home, we don't have this problem near as much.

Previously, we kept a change jar (really it was just a really big mug) at the door where he drops his keys and on the dresser in the bedroom. He would come home with pocket fulls from buying lunch, coffee, etc.

When they were full, I did the Coinstar thing as our bank didn't have a coin machine and I didn't have the motiviation to count and roll it all myself.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
Breastfed for 20 months and 6 days

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[pb&j]

DH and I have a big, giant pretzel "barrel" (like the kind you get full of those large, hard pretzel's at Costco or Sam's) with screw on lid where we keep "silver" change. Pennies go in a separate narrow-necked, heavy glass bottle. He's had the penny bottle since god was a boy, I think, and it's been through many moves with him. We finally cashed in the pennies before we moved this time. Being the cheap one, I insisted that we roll the pennies ourselves. That lasted for about $6, and we took them to Coinstar. We took bets on how much money was in the bottle, and the loser had to buy the winner something from Starbucks. It took quite a while, but was well worth the time and the fee - we ended up with over $40.

The silver change barrel is jokingly referred to as "the ring fund." We eloped, so I never had an engagement ring, and DH swears he'll buy me one some day when there's enough in the ring fund. When we first moved in together, I had to put a quarter in the ring fund every time I swore. Anyway, the pretzel barrel is about half full now, and we're not planning on counting it until it's full. We have a battery-operated coin sorter, but it takes C batteries, which we never remember to buy, so we've never used it. It's more fun now just to let the change pile up, and make a game out of it later.


-Ry,
mom to Emma, stillborn 11/04/04
and Max, edd 01/15/06 - it's a HEALTHY BOY!

http://lilypie.com/days/060115/3/25/1/-5/.png[/img] ([img)

[jgriffin]

At our local Albertsons you can choose a Starbuck's gc instead of cash with no fee. Otherwise it's something like 8%!

Jen

[kath68]

When we were kids, my dad used to save his change in a bowl in his closest. A few weeks before Christmas he would take it out and it would be the kids' job to separate it out, and split it evenly among ourselves. That would be our spending money for Christmas presents.

That system solved several problems at once for him -- what to do with the coins, and how to give us $ for presents. I actually have fond memories of sitting on the floor of the living room with my brothers, counting and rolling the coins.

I think it was a sweet idea, and it taught us how to count/ the value of money.

Now, if only I can get DH to put his coins in one place (and DS is a couple years older), we'll do the same for DS!

[muskiesusan]

I have DH put it in a ziplock bag on his desk. When it is full, I take it to a Coinstar machine and cash it in. I just did this on Friday and got over $100, which I then put with the rest of my personal stash of cash (btw, this same stash also holds all bills found in the laundry).

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[niccig]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

My mum used to have a huge purse, and once it was too heavy to carry because of all the change, she would let us sort it out and put it in our piggy banks. I think once DS is older we may do something like this.

For now, I'll check with the bank and see how they'll take the coins. It looks like they charge 5% which is better than Coinstar or maybe the amazon gift certificate - DH certainly buys enough books through them, and I'm fairly sure there's a bit of $$ in all those yogurt containers. I'll also look for a nicer jar and keep it where DH will use it. Now that DS is crawling, we can't have loose change all over the place.

Nicci

[HannaAddict]

We do Coinstar too but get Starbucks cards with them and then they don't deduct a percentage. Starbucks is an investor in Coinstar. And since we spend $$ at Starbucks anyway, it works great. Not all machines do the Starbucks cards though, but you can check online. I heard they are going to start doing amazon.com gift cards too and not deduct a percetage.

Kimberly

[cmdunn1972]

My DH does something similar. We have a wicker basket on top of the refrigerator. First thing when he gets home, DH empties his pockets of coins into the basket, then places his keys and wallet in there at the same time. (It's habit with him now.) From time to time I'll take his coins and spend them at the Wegmans coffee bar. :)

[jamsmu]

We put all of our loose change in the kids' piggy banks. DS1 does it everynight and its a BIG deal in our house. I also have a little change purse on the dryer so that when there is change in there, I just put it in the change purse, which I bring up to the boy's rooms whenever it gets full.

[jamsmu]

From time to time I'll take his coins and spend them at the Wegmans coffee bar.

LOL "sneak" money from DH for this every Tuesday, too!! Gotta love walking through Wegmans' with one of their seasonal lattes.

[cmdunn1972]

Actually, have they brought out the Pumpkin Pie coffee flavor at your Wegmans yet? That stuff is amazing!! :D

Of course, since I sneak money out of DH's loose change collection, I'm usually kind enough to bring him a coffee too. ((angelic look)) :)

[cmdunn1972]

LOL That sounds like Tooth Fairy money to me! :+

[Thatchermom]

We saved ours since we were engaged (first in a carafe on DH's dresser, then sorted to ziplocs, then finally rolled)and just this spring finally turned it all in on our 10th anniversary to buy a bedroom set. When all was said and done, we were only $.35 short of exactly what we needed. One more trip under the seats of the car and our bedroom is finally pretty and not hand-me-downs. We've already started the process again. Not sure what the fund will be for this time.

[squimp]

mmm Wegmans. I miss it! DH used to live in upstate NY, so we'd spend a Saturday morning eating our way through the samples there......