Cashed in my change today $$$

[disneysteve]

As part of my decluttering, I scooped up all of the change in the banks and loose on my dresser. Went I went to the supermarket today, I brought the bag of coins because they have a Coinstar machine there. I dumped in all in and it came to $134.47. I took it as an Amazon.com credit to avoid the insane 9.8% fee that they charge if you get a cash voucher. I certainly wasn't paying them over $13 to count my coins. I don't recall when I last cashed in coins but regardless, I now have that credit in my Amazon account that will get used toward future purchases.

[riverwed070707]

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't you have just gone to the bank and taken cash for it? My bank doesn't charge a fee for this.

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by riverwed070707

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't you have just gone to the bank and taken cash for it? My bank doesn't charge a fee for this.

If you have a large amount of money my bank makes you roll the coins or they won't take them.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by riverwed070707

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't you have just gone to the bank and taken cash for it? My bank doesn't charge a fee for this.

I used to take it to Commerce Bank ( now TD) but they now require you to have an account. Not sure what the policy is at BOA but much easier to just do it while I was already at the store. We shop on Amazon all the time so it will get used. I placed a $250 order last week and a $77 order just a few minutes go.

[creditcardfree]

That's a heck of a lot of change, Steve!! It's great that the gift cards allow you to skip that fee.

[GREENBACK]

I save all my change and put it in an ancient coffee can that I've had for over 30 years. I individually roll the coins by hand and enjoy doing so. I only cash them in once a year or so since I don't use cash real often. It usually comes out to 1 to $200 bucks and makes a nice mini windfall. I can't remember the last time I've paid for anything with coins.

[riverwed070707]

Hm I've never heard of them requiring you to hand roll. My bank is across the street from work so I guess I didn't take into consideration the convenience factor. Every year for as long as I can remember, my grandpa has been collecting his change and each year when he comes to visit for Christmas he brings me a giant purple pig of everything he's collected that year. Usually comes out to be about $500 -- the bank cringes when I drag my pillowcase in there each January but hey I figure it's only once a year! Two years ago I decided it would go to my daughter from now on. Sadly my grandpa passed away this June but she has a decent start on her college fund thanks to him

Steve -- what all do you buy from Amazon? I can only think of a handfull of times we've purchased from there.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by riverwed070707

Steve -- what all do you buy from Amazon? I can only think of a handfull of times we've purchased from there.

I think a lot of folks still think of Amazon as selling books and movies. They sell virtually everything you can think of from computer supplies to food to clothing to office supplies to jewelry and more.

What do we buy? Our most recent orders included printer ink cartridges, a couple of books, Damprid refills for the moisture removal thing in our basement, coffee for our Keurig, an iPad screen protector, a new automatic fish feeder for our aquarium, parchment paper, new headphones for DD, a 3-hole punch for DD for school, an ironing board cover, a flashlight, a couple of birthday gifts for DD and a few bras (don't tell DW and DD I posted that ). I could go on and on with what we get there. Prices are almost always better than we can find in any local stores, shipping is almost always free and I do a bunch of professional surveys that pay me with Amazon credit so I've always got money on account with them.

[riverwed070707]

Ya I defintely don't think of it as just books and CDs -- I just can't seem to get into a routine of shopping there. One thing I let go last year was our Sams Club membership and i've definitely had a harder time keeping our grocery budget under control since. I've looked at Amazon a few times to fill that void but never felt like the prices were that much better than buying generic brands at Aldi or our regular grocery store. I would imagine fewer trips to the store would result in less spending though. Maybe I need to work on a staples list that I will order and restock from there.

[disneysteve]

I agree that grocery prices are not so great on Amazon. That's one thing we don't typically buy except for a few select items (like the coffee). But on almost everything else, they meet or beat the competition and we don't have to drive all over town to get stuff.

[greenskeeper]

did you check for pre-65 "silver"?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by greenskeeper

did you check for pre-65 "silver"?

Yep. I always check my change for silver coins, foreign coins, wheat pennies, etc.

[photo]

Steve, that's great! A few coins here and there can really add up.

I just received a box of office filing folders for $12 on Amazon that sells locally for $20. For whatever I need, I generally do a price check at Amazon, Costco, Walmart, Target, and then a general Google search. I don't think a week goes by that we don't receive at least one UPS package -- almost always just household items.

The only thing that troubles me a bit is all the cardboard. We collect it, then take it to the recycling, but still, it's a lot of cardboard.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by photo

For whatever I need, I generally do a price check at Amazon

Love my iPhone for that. I can price check Amazon with their app wherever I happen to be. One time, we were in WalMart and I was looking at a car charger for my phone. It was $23 in the store. Pulled out the phone and checked Amazon where it was $3.95. I ordered it right then and had it a few days later.

[GrimJack]

I bought one of those battery powered coin sorting/wrapping machines for $20 a few years ago; it broke about a year later so I took it apart and use the sorting part every evening when I come home. I get free wrappers from my credit union. About every 3 months, the money bag I keep the rolls in gets heavy enough to deposit - usually about $80. I never spend change but then I try to not spend any money either.

As a digression, I have taken to getting $10 or 20 in dollar coins to spend - doing my bit to help kill the dollar bill which is a waste of money in my mind.

[krantcents]

I used to cash in my coin change every month and add it to savings. It averaged $40-50 EVERY MONTH.

[mcfroggin]

Every once in awhile, I pick up donuts for the family and pay in change. I'm sure they hate me.

[DaveInPgh]

That is aweseome! My bank doesn't have a coin counter for customer use so I have to roll as well. I haven't done coinstar yet because I really don't want a giftcard. Thoughout the month of August I would take a couple rolls to my bank each time I had a check to deposit. Mine was up to $65

[photo]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

It was $23 in the store. Pulled out the phone and checked Amazon where it was $3.95.

That brings up a really great point about being aware of prices. Sometimes Wal-mart (or any other store, online or brick and mortar) has the best price, and sometimes it has the most expensive. If a person limits his shopping to just one store, then he'll never get the best prices for everything. Stores hope that you'll come in for the loss-leader items and then pick up several other things that are highly profitable for them.

Savvy shoppers give them a run for their money.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by photo

That brings up a really great point about being aware of prices. Sometimes Wal-mart (or any other store, online or brick and mortar) has the best price, and sometimes it has the most expensive. If a person limits his shopping to just one store, then he'll never get the best prices for everything. Stores hope that you'll come in for the loss-leader items and then pick up several other things that are highly profitable for them.

Savvy shoppers give them a run for their money.

More and more lately, I've seen others in the stores doing the same thing with their iPhones. It is really changing the face of shopping. Knowing that you could go home and search online was one thing but most people wouldn't bother because if they couldn't find it cheaper they had to trek back to the store. But now that you can price check right on the spot and order the item online instantly, things have changed. When we were in Disney World recently, we overheard a couple of people doing that in gift shops, particularly when looking at books. We did the same thing. We saw the latest Kingdom Keepers book and I pulled out my phone, found that it was several dollars cheaper on Amazon and ordered it.