i never spend change. ever. and i never carry any. i have a mug in my office that i dump change in after i buy something, and same when i get home. last weekend i took exactly one year's worth of saved change to the bank for deposit, and it was $401 dollars

that got me thinking... that's an average of over two cash transactions daily in which i received at least 50 cents back. over 13 years, that would total around $5,200. this guy saved five times that much, which means he had to have been hitting those vending machines 8-10 times/day, every day

wow

Megain: i never spend change. ever. and i never carry any. i have a mug in my office that i dump change in after i buy something, and same when i get home. last weekend i took exactly one year's worth of saved change to the bank for deposit, and it was $401 dollars

that got me thinking... that's an average of over two cash transactions daily in which i received at least 50 cents back. over 13 years, that would total around $5,200. this guy saved five times that much, which means he had to have been hitting those vending machines 8-10 times/day, every day

wow

You put way too much thought into that post.

I never have spare change. Whenever I do, there's a collection going about at work for when someone's gotten married, or a relative's died, or it's someone's milestone birthday or something. There's usually about 1 of those events a week, so i just dump all my spare change into the collection box.

I had a 2 lb. coffee can that I used to throw my loose change into. When it finally filled up I netted $239. Most of it was quarters with about $40 in half dollars.

I shudder to think of how many cans, jugs and banks this guy had sitting around his house. I mean, piggy banks just aren't that big.

I rarely carry cash, but when I do receive change back in a transaction the quarters go into the laundry fund and everything else goes into a piggy bank which holds about $20 of pennies, nickels, and dimes at a go.

I've had to pinch every last penny too recently in my memory to just leave it sitting around for months on end, I guess.

I store my change in a 5 gallon water jug, and use it to buy xmas presents at the end of each year.

This year it came out to just over $2300.

But its not that hard when you have $1 and $2 coins and dont spend any of it.

A friend of mine did that. He delivered pizza, so he came home with tons of change every night. After about a year, he bought a new car. Granted, it was a Geo Prism, but still.

Yup. We always give bills for any purchases and then empty the silver into a giant mayo jar on the dresser when we get home. Pennies go into an old half-gallon Jack Daniels bottle. When the mayo jar gets full we take it and cash it in and use it for....whatever. Could be something fun. Could be we needed a new refrigerator. Or the insurance payment is due. We average roughly $250.00 every three months. When the Jack bottle gets full it's generally about $25.00 or so, and we go out to dinner. It's really not that hard, folks!

Dear posters above me.

You're doing it wrong. I get about... 0 cents a year in change for the most part. Most of the time I have no cash in my wallet even, unless I know I am going somewhere that won't accept a card. Even then, I avoid places that don't accept cards, I can't think of a place I have been in 2 years(aside from the DMV) that doesn't take cards.

Sincerely, a guy with no change to worry about.

I pay with debit.

I've got a few of these (yeah, the glass ones)



Every year on the kids birthday we count it out with a machine and it goes into her college fund.

I've never filled one, but I think if it was filled it would be close to $2500

Quantumbunny: Dear posters above me.

You're doing it wrong. I get about... 0 cents a year in change for the most part. Most of the time I have no cash in my wallet even, unless I know I am going somewhere that won't accept a card. Even then, I avoid places that don't accept cards, I can't think of a place I have been in 2 years(aside from the DMV) that doesn't take cards.

Sincerely, a guy with no change to worry about.

Have fun with that interest rate.

If he'd have put that money in a bank, say, in money markets or cd's, he could've theoretically got him some schweet 24's for his new ride.

© The More You Know

It's probably more like this guy has a business where he gets cash, and he does not declare it all. Every few years he can buy a car with his "spare change". He can't just come out and say that he saved all his tips/vending income/cash pay without declaring it.

I save the 1€ and 2€ coins in a big jar for laundry day. The smaller stuff I save in a small basket near the door. I grab a handful when I go to the bakery and the greengrocer and the like - places I'm at more than once or twice a week, don't spend too much at a go, and where I never pay with plastic. I can pay with exact change, and they like getting the small change for their tills.

FWIW, though, when I was still living in the states, I had a coffee can for everything but quarters (those went to the laundry fund). I usually emptied it out every few months, for about $100 each time.

He said he was raised to be thrifty.

He's dropping sawbucks into the vendo for his twinkies so he can hoard sacajawejas. Not so thrifty. Not so smart.

Studebaker was manufactured, If I remember right, in South Bend Indiana. My old man bought on in 1967 for about $1675, it was a station wagon, with a Brigg's and Stratton 6cyl motor. Biggest piece of crap he evar owned.

He was a Rambler man. (no pun intended).

KarmicDisaster: It's probably more like this guy has a business where he gets cash, and he does not declare it all. Every few years he can buy a car with his "spare change". He can't just come out and say that he saved all his tips/vending income/cash pay without declaring it.

You are pretty insightful. I know of people who deal with cash only no receipt businesses and each transaction is a few dollars, but they drive new BMWs and have expensive houses.

I first read the headline as "Indian man". Then I briefly wondered how many slot machines it took.

I think that makes me a bad person.

Moral of the story...

You can be perfectly happy if you save money to buy things rather than get yourself in debt up to your ears...

Though I would have done a little differently than that guy. I've have turned in the changed at the end of every month or so and had it in savings/Certificates of deposit, so it would grow faster.

When I carry cash, I pay with bills and throw the change into a drawer at night. I have cashed in my change twice in the past 5 years, the first time I had about 2k the last was 900. I guess a rough estimate is I save about 40% of what I spend when dealing in cash.

kraut7:
Not that debit/credit cards are a bad thing but you're also leaving yourself wide open to identity theft. I never use debit/credit cards at bars and restaurants because that's where you're most likely to run into people who will rip off your account number.

Credit cards have legal protections. Fraud above $50 is not your problem. Companies usually waive the first $50 too. I've use my cards all the time, never any fraudulent charge. Only one time, on a credit card I have never used, and didn't even activate. There was a charge, I called the company and said "dude I didn't even activate it". Yeah they canceled the charge and canceled my card.

As for identity theft to make new credit cards, just check your credit reports once in a while. It's free now, once a year. No problems for me.

Having lots of spare change doesn't mean you are rich or frugal. It just means you are really bad at keeping track of your money. In fact, if you are still buying everything with cash (da gov't aint gonna catch me dammnit!) then you aren't taking advantage of cash back programs or airmiles.

For example, I have a 2% cash back credit card. I get a $25 or $50 check in the mail every month. It's not *my* money that I'm putting in a jar - it's free money from the banks (sort of). Credit cards charge retailers 3% for their service -- so the price of all products are set 3% higher than necessary to cover that cost whether or not you use a credit card. So if you use cash you are paying 3% too much. At least with a credit card I can recover some of that cost for myself.

The only thing this old man proved is that if you are bad with your money it will take you longer to buy a car.

There is the problem of illusion you have money when using credit cards. It is better to just withdraw a set amount of money each month and only use that much and not more.

Or you could just control yourself more, like not be born female.

$25,000 saved in 13 years (4745 days).
That means he had on average $5.27 in change a day.
I declare shananigans, I'm going to grab my broom.

Shadow Blasko: I've got a few of these (yeah, the glass ones)



Every year on the kids birthday we count it out with a machine and it goes into her college fund.

I've never filled one, but I think if it was filled it would be close to $2500

WHen my mom remarried, the guy had one of those full of pennies, and a few coffe cans, and one with all dimes. Plus a few coffee cans of nickles and quarters. They rolled them all out one year and paid for a trip to Disney World for the four of us.

LukeA: Quantumbunny: Dear posters above me.

You're doing it wrong. I get about... 0 cents a year in change for the most part. Most of the time I have no cash in my wallet even, unless I know I am going somewhere that won't accept a card. Even then, I avoid places that don't accept cards, I can't think of a place I have been in 2 years(aside from the DMV) that doesn't take cards.

Sincerely, a guy with no change to worry about.

Have fun with that interest rate.

I do, my money being in a checking account instead of my pocket does indeed give me about 4% interest on that money you cashers don't get. If you assumed I meant credit, that's a terrible assumption.

Even then, credit card interest only kicks in after a month. Sure if you use them and can't pay them off, you get hosed. But if you have a modicum of self control and half a brain, you can have a card or two, buy some stuff, and pay it off online that weekend.

Cash is a terrible, terrible thing. I look forward to the day we no longer have cash.

LukeA: Have fun with that interest rate.

Well those "savings" you have in a jar gets 0% interest so it isn't like you are doing much better. At least put it in some kind of decent savings account and get something back.

My bank rounds purchases up to the next dollar and dumps the change into my savings account. Which is good because I don't usually have any cash.

Bank Of America "Keep the change" savings account FTW!

all in all,

the story would have been more entertaining if he worked at chrysler and then bought a toyota truck.

I saved pennies for an year and half, and bought 20$ worth of groceries last month.

Um, I actually spend the change, so I have instant "savings".

I'd actually call this guy an idiot for putting all this money into jars rather than keeping it in a type of savings that might work for him. He'd probably have been able to afford the Hemi if he had done that.

He could have saved alot more money by buying his packs of M&Ms at sams club instead of .75 each out of a vending machine.

Hum they call the guy frugal, and he is buying 6-7 things per day out of the vending machine.

Not so much...

A guy in the neighborhood I grew up in would walk with his wife every evening. They would collect any change or recyclables the came across. After 15 years they had enough for a two week vacation in Hawaii.

I despise spare change. Yes, it adds up--more so for guys than gals because we don't carry purses, and thus have less opportunities to pay it out. I empty my pockets of it at the first chance I get.

The problem is--and this is the point of the thread--that you can amass a decent amount of money without even trying. Then you have two options: roll them or take them to a coin sorting machine.

I can't imagine a more tedious task than rolling coins and then lugging them to the bank. My time is definitely worth more than spending it that way. OTOH, the CoinStar machines around here charge a whopping 9% to process the money. More convenient but very expensive.

Either way, you have money that isn't working for you and which costs a (relative) shiatload of time and/or money to turn it into usable legal tender.

Shadow Blasko: I've got a few of these (yeah, the glass ones)



Every year on the kids birthday we count it out with a machine and it goes into her college fund.

I've never filled one, but I think if it was filled it would be close to $2500


If the glass one is the same size as a plastic one you will have apx $3000 if it is half filled with quarters and dimes. Thats only half full!

Shadow Blasko: I've got a few of these (yeah, the glass ones)

I've never filled one, but I think if it was filled it would be close to $2500

I filled one of them. No pennies either. I would dump any change I had in my pocket in it every day. Took about 7 years.

just shy of 5k.

He would have to recieve about $5.30 in change, 365 days a year for
13 years. Bull sh*t.

Am I the only one who thinks this guy is a jackass for hauling all that change to the dealership and making them deal with it? Seriously take your damn coins to the bank and get bills, at least the bank has use for change.

How did he manage to evade the FBI?. Sly dog!

You are not thrifty because you put all your change in a jar. People should use change more wisely. Either start keeping track of it and spend it as you receive it, or stop using cash altogether. If you put it in a jar, you're missing out on earned interest ( on the money you took out of the bank that you wouldn't have taken out had you been using your change ) and alot of suckers use those automatic change counting machines that most times have a significant fee attached to them.
Even if it's a small fee, you're paying for a service to make up for your own stupidity. There should never be any reason for you to have more than a few dollars change.

I would assume the bulk of the money came from the "gold dollar coins" that is stated in the article. Since this man is in the United States and it's mentioned in dollars, so I assume they're talking about American Gold Eagles. Which have increased in value quite rapidly this year.

12inpianist: I first read the headline as "Indian man". Then I briefly wondered how many slot machines it took.

I think that makes me a bad person.

It does, cause it is obviously a lot of slurpees, not slot machines.

You mean people carry cash still? They're so living in 1999...

tunaboo: Hum they call the guy frugal, and he is buying 6-7 things per day out of the vending machine.

Not so much...

I agree 100% - That's like grocery shopping at the local Convenience store. WAY over priced.

Saving up the change does show discipline in saving but ignorance as far as how to handle money.

I use a debit card for every purchase I can (which is 99%) which means all my "change" is left in the bank (in an interest bearing account)instead of in a jar etc. This eliminates the need to roll it up or "coinstar" it. The bank already has it in a usable format for me. The account has a $10,000.00 ID theft/fraudulent charge protection with immediate full reimbursement while they sort the charges out. That way you do not have to wait for the investigation to complete to get your money back. Otherwise, you could get into real financial trouble trying to keep your cash flow working during the investigation.

He could have just gone to the dealership and gotten the car at 0% interest. Use their money instead of his. It sounds like he keeps his vehicles for a long time anyway so he wouldn't get hurt with depreciation.

/admire his discipline? (looking for something nice to say - Christmas you know...)

I love living in a country with a cash-based society - today I had to pay for a 320-yen purchase w/ a 10,000 yen bill (I had no change in my pocket and I'd just come from the ATM), cashier didn't even blink.

The best thing is that compared to the US Japanese change actually has value - between 100 and 500 yen coins I regularly end up with $30 in my pocket, and 500 yen can usually buy a cheap/good dinner so those are always nice to have on-hand.

The problem is that the coin you see most often is the 10-yen coin, which is the second-largest (largest being 500-yen). Those add up, weight-wise, so at the end of the day I take 10s and 50s, put'm in a small piggy bank, put the 5s and 1s (which are totally useless) into other containers, and the 100s and 500s go back into my pocket for spending.

Although, last week I took a couple plastic bags of change - a smaller one of 50-yen coins and a bigger one of 10-yen coins - to the bank to deposit into my savings account. It added up to be about $140 total, not bad for half a year.

//Change?

The Dogs of War: Froman Abe Froman
thats pretty funny. i doubt anyone will see it. oooooh well
nice knowing you.
/not

I saw it. I laughed.

Vacation Bible School: It does, cause it is obviously a lot of slurpees, not slot machines.

It all makes so much sense, Icee that now.

i charge everything and get 1 to 5 percent back from the credit card company.

/cash sucks