Organizing your loose change
Loose change is super annoying. I tend to use my debit card for just about everything, but once in a while I do use cash, and change happens. I don’t keep a change purse, because it’d be a waste of an item for me. What I do is I keep a little bowl right by my entry door, and when I walk in I grab any change from my bag and dump it in the bowl. This means I don’t have to check all over the house when I want to turn my change in at my bank. I don’t have much change so every once in a while I just gather it up, count it, roll it, and save it for the bank.
Banks differ: My bank actually takes loose change (not all banks do so check with your own bank). Some banks take loose change for a fee, others don’t charge you. My bank will add change to my account rather quickly, if you roll it. If I just toss a bag of change at them, they note that exchanging the coins for cash can take up to a week and a half.
As noted, I roll my own, using basic paper coin roll casings, however, if you have a lot of loose change you might want to try a more sophisticated organizing system.
The Money Wrapper Bank sorts, stacks, counts coins, and then delivers them into individual preformed wrappers. For what it does, this coin bank is a pretty good deal too - just over $20.
I’d maybe consider the Coin Counting and Sorting Tubes. Since I use basic wraps, it might make my coin sorting go a little faster.
lf you’re a spy with coins then the CC-410 Automatic Coin Counter and Coin Sorter. This baby sorts up to 600 coins per minute! Wow. The site I found this at - SpySite, is noted as being good for fulfilling all your spying needs. I don’t know weather to be intrigued or a little freaked that people are actively shopping for spy stuff. I do like the sleek design of this coin sorter though.
And in crazy coin counter news, look at this machine. It’s big, it’s bulky, and who would have enough coins for the CM Manual Klopp Coin Counter? Also, it’s pricey. I’m too much in shock to tell you how much. Not sure you’d believe me anyhow. It’s recommended for things like car washes and on-the-go sales folk.
Ok, last up, not a coin sorter, but a related post that’s way too cool not to see - Robotic Piggy Bank Eats Money, Gives Me Nightmares. Seriously, click that link. You won’t be sorry.
Tags: bank, change sorting bank, coin bank, loose change, organize loose change, robot bank, sort coins, sorting change
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POSTED IN: Budget
4 opinions for Organizing your loose change
Peggy
Jul 21, 2008 at 12:57 am
Or if you’re a married man - just give it to your wife to keep up with. : )
I have a little coin purse and try to spend it. I don’t get a lot though since I mostly use my debit card.
Jill
Jul 21, 2008 at 7:00 am
I never spend change. I break a new dollar every time I spend less than a dollar. The change goes into my pocket and then, when I get home, into a bowl. When we want pizza, we grab a couple of coin sleeves and roll enough change to pay for the pizza plus tip. We ALWAYS have enough change for pizza.
The bowl is a fun toy for the little kids and helps the bigger kids learn about coins when we sort them and talk about their values.
I also don’t spend dollar coins. I don’t get them very often so I only have about 50 in the house. I keep them in a little treasure chest that the kids use for playing pirates. When a niece or nephew has a birthday, we wrap some cool dollar coins in a creative way as a gift. It encourages the recipient to hang onto the money instead of running out to spend it on a new toy immediately. It’s hard to part with those very cool gold coins, especially when you’re a kid.
And, very little clutter from storing an automatic change sorter…
Jennifer
Jul 21, 2008 at 11:32 am
@Peggy are you a married man. All this time and I never knew ;)
@Jill - I like all your coin ideas. Like an extra cash jar, that’s pretty cool. You have 50 dollar coins!? I don’t know if I’ve had 50 in my whole life. That’s weird, but a good idea to give them to kids. My son has a golden dollar coin and he thinks he’s the luckiest kid on earth.
Michele
Jul 21, 2008 at 12:54 pm
The best way to deal with change that I’ve found is to use the Coinstar machine at the grocery store. If you get cash back, they take 7.5%, but if you opt for an Amazon gift certificate, there is no fee.
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