If I see money laying around… I am going to pick it up. No doubt about it. I don’t care if it is a dirty penny in a Target parking lot, or a shiny quarter from the washing machine you left in your pants. The way I see it, money is money no matter how small the amount. Discarded loose change left out in plain sight, {as opposed to stored in a container} well, it’s fair game too.
The final straw was last fall when I vacuumed up yet another piece of loose change in the living room {I’m guessing it was from the HH or Monkey Boy’s pockets}. I decided right then and there I would save all the loose change I found around the house and in parking lots and hide it in a couple of old tea tins until around the holidays.
I had no idea how much the money would add up to but my plan was to cash the coins in for some gift cards at the Coinstar machine in the grocery store {Coinstar charges a fee for cash, but gift cards are free}.
95% of the money I collected this past year came from the HH and Monkey Boy’s pockets, bathrooms and junk drawers. Apparently to them, coins have no value. Luckily I see the value in loose change {and scoring FREE Christmas gifts!!!}.
After all the coins were tallied, I had collected $105.87 in coins in just one year.
Holy crackers!
This year I’ll be gifting the HH and Monkey Boy each a $20 gift card to Starbucks as well as a few things off Amazon. All, at no cost to me.
Maybe you think I’m cheap. Maybe you think I’m clever. All I know is, I just knocked 5 items off my gift list and I didn’t have to pay a dime for them.
Bahahaha!
~Mavis
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Katy says
That is an insane amount of change!
Mavis Butterfield says
I KNOW!!!! Those boys are crazy!
Sharon R. says
You are definitely very clever! Go, Mavis!
Heather says
My daughter and I collect change in a mason jar near the front door. When the jar is full, we take it to the bank. She gets half the money to make incidental purchases her mother won’t fund. The last time we went to the bank, it was over $80. We go twice a year, once before summer vacation and once before Thanksmas.
Ruth says
My elderly neighbor had some fun with this. She polished up pennies and left one everywhere she went, heads-up for good luck. It was her small way of spreading happiness and joy in the world. “Ginny the Penny-Lady,” as my little boy called her, is no longer with us, but I’m thinking of polishing some pennies myself. The world could use a bit of luck.
Ginger says
Your comment just made my day! What a sweet lady Ginny must have been.
Nicole says
That’s great Mavis! I have to share that during a late night run earlier this month I found a $100 bill on the sidewalk! I turned it around to pay for the new running shoes I had just ordered and still had money left over. My most profitable run!
Kathy says
When my niece finds a penny that is face down, it is a sign to her from her Nannie, my mother. They had a talk before my Mother died and she told my niece that she would leave her upside down pennies to let her know she was watching over her.
Mavis says
I LOVE that!
Smo says
Hi Mavis,
I don’t think you’re cheap! I always pick up coins on the sidewalk. One of my girls asked me one day “how can you pick up that filthy stuff?” I told them the change from the store is just as dirty if not more so. I just put it in my pocket whether it’s a penny or quarter. IT ADDS UP!! I keep it all in an old peanut butter jar and it has bailed me out more than once when I needed a couple of bucks till payday. No trip to the ATM, just go to the jar.
Penny says
“pennies from heaven” and my favorite…Find a penny pick it up, All day long you will have good luck. Give it to a friend and your luck will never end.
I’m with you Mavis. I collect coins all day long in this house. The couch cushions and car floor are good spots to find “my millions” of pennies that is..
Alison says
We have been purposefully saving all of our change in a glass milk bottle for years. We turn it in about every 9 months (we pay cash for many daily expenses) and get over $200. All of that money is spent to go to the amusement park as a family. I love it! We never miss the change in our budget, but it is a form of saving for something fun. We can turn it in at our bank for free, the kids love to guess how much the tally will be.
jeannette says
That’s fabulous! We pickup coins around here.
I was out walking with a friend recently and I spotted a quarter, so I bent over and picked it up. He commented that he never bothered pickup up change because it wasn’t worth his time. Well, assuming I spent a 15 seconds picking up that quarter it worked out to $60 an hour – a pretty good wage!
Janet says
My family is so careful with their money, I’m lucky to get 25 cents a year. You really made out.
Alice says
I have a friend that always sweeps her hand under the Coinstar machines. She says people drop lots of coins that end up under it. I just can’t bring myself to get down to the floor and do that in front of other people.
Mavis says
I can respect her for that, but I’d be afraid at what else I might grab.
clickercricket says
my nana taught me that rhyme when i was a tot. ever since her passing, i spy a penny (or any coin), repeat the rhyme, and place the penny in my left pocket….knowing my nana is watching over me gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. feng shui says never walk with empty pockets…pennies act as seed money and will generate more. as far as sides….the left is for receiving, the right is for giving. since i’m currently living below the poverty line, i need all the luck the universe can hand me.
Cathy says
How timely! I just read this article on USA Today about man who just changed in his pennies after decades of collecting:
Check out this article from USA TODAY:
Man cashes in pennies he’s been saving for 45 years
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/10/28/man-cashes-pennies-hes-been-saving-45-years/74727160/
Tricia@OurProvidentHome says
My Grandmother has not spent a “Quarter” in a couple of decades. She collects them, (they use cash for everything) bags them, and hides them at her house. This is her “Emergency Fund.” I am positive she has several thousands of dollars in coins hidden about her home. Such a lesson to me about small and simple things (like loose change) adding up to something great.
Mavis Butterfield says
Go Grandma!!
Brittany says
I’m the same way! My kids (and I!) each have piggy banks. The way their eyes light up when dad gives them the change from his pocket is so sweet and innocent! My husband doesn’t under stand me picking them up out of the parking lot. But I always tell him “One penny is the difference in you being a millionaire or just having $999,999.99. 🙂
American Dreamer says
I am stealing that tip fornext year. Congrats! I am also buying all Christmas gifts for free this. You can see how on my blog. I recentky wrote a post about it.
Marcia says
funny on the walk to school today, one of the neighbor’s girls found a penny and her mom found a gold dollar coin!
Upstate NYer says
Years ago, my coworker told me she save her coins in a jar at home. In December she cashes it in and gives the money evenly to her 5 young Grandkids to go to the Dollar store to buy Xmas gifts for the family from the kiddos. Any money left is the kids to keep in their banks.
Upstate NYer says
This is also similar to how I save money for myself.
I am single so when buy things, big or small, I use cash bills. Always bills – no change. Any change I receive back goes in my wallet or pocket and each night I empty it to a jar on my dresser.
When the jar gets full I bring it to my credit union and deposit the amount (once the machine counts it for free) into my savings. It never ceases to amaze me how the change adds up!
Nancy D says
This reminds my of a story the Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright It’s a short read about giving at Christmas. I have had all my children to read it. (I have 5)
I also pick up money that I find
erin says
I have a pretty gross job, I clean the inside of semi cabs, so this penny saved thing rings true for me. Most drivers leave change all over in the cab and when they move out or get canned I clean it. About 2-3 Times a year I cash in the change I find and it’s always over $100 each time. I only work part time doing it, my MIL does it full time and her change is easily triple mine. It’s like our untaxed bonus!!
Renay says
My son has had a ‘piggy bank’ in his room since elementary school, never really used it until…in high school, after many Chipotle (shoulda bought some of that stock!!!) runs and me picking change up all over the place, I apparently nagged him enough to get him to start putting the change in the piggy bank. Well, incessant nagging and telling him I would start keeping it, not sure which did the trick.
Anyhoo, I kept telling him that when it was full we would cash it in. Finally the day came and he said ‘let’s take it to Coinstar’, I said no, ‘they charge you for it and let’s roll our own’. haha (Digress…my sister and I used to roll my dads change all the time; many fond memories of watching TV and rolling change.) So, I got the ‘papers’ and we watched Dirty Harry. It was great mother/son bonding and he ended up with $155.00!!!!
Good times.
Debra Basquez says
I always pick up loose change wherever I find it. my husband hates change and puts into an old baby bottle from one of our kids’ baby gifts. the quarters which he deems okay, he puts in a piggy bank that I’ve had since childhood. I use the coins when I’m short on funds until payday. last night, we went to my sons band concert and knew they were having a bake sale. took a few quarters and donated to the band fund, got some yummies and didn’t have to go to the ATM machine.
Brianna says
I’ve trained all 3 of my little kids to pick up money they find for their piggy bank and to never be embarrassed about it. Our favorite places are Sonic (I walk around with my kids as we wait looking for change). My husband refuses to go through any sort of drive thru with me because a I always stop way out so I have to open up the door and give them my money and I pick up all of the change on the ground while I am at it. Nobody has ever minded and if they have a donation box for charities (Ronald McDonald Wendy’s etc. ) I put it in the box. Maybe it is tacky, but I donate it or put it in their tip jar or take it and give it to my kids for their piggy banks. I also love to go to the vacuum area of car washes. My kids love treasure hunting with me for their piggy banks. Oh yeah, I do have a metal detector and we comb beaches together and they are so thrilled to dig up a penny. It is fun and they love treasure hunting for their piggy banks.
Terri says
My husband doesn’t pick up anything that falls on the floor – seems it is too hard for his 6’6″ body – I know right?
This includes copious amounts of change that comes out of his pockets into his recliner and onto the floor.
Last year I started putting into a counting bank with the intention of using it on vacation. Last year that was over $200!!
Well 2 of my grandsons caught on… That is how I kept them in quarters – not included in the count.
This year it is around $180.00. The boys have actually gathered some on their own and horrors – my husband actually picked some up himself!!
The best part was telling our grandsons – 6 & 4 – that grandpa picked up some money! We all felt cheated
So I have nearly $400 in change to convert and truly appreciate learning from you that I can get gift cards at no charge from coin star !! Thanks Mavis
Jen Y says
When my son was still living at home & getting an allowance I would get so frustrated with all the loose change & even bills he left laying around. I finally told him anything I found was mine….then I would use it to pay that week’s allowance.
My husband has always kept a coin jar & never leaves money laying around. He fills a jar & starts another one. I cash mine in & enjoy it. 😉
Kelli M says
Mavis, do you know if you can cash in the Starbucks ecard codes for physical gift cards? I’d much rather put a physical card in a stocking than a slip of paper with a code.
Mavis Butterfield says
The machine spit out 2 physical Starbucks gift cards {pictured} and 1 Amazon gift code. 🙂 The machine will tell you if you will be getting an ecode rather than a gift card. So you’ll know before it starts counting your money.
Kelli M says
Thanks for the info! I discovered that the credit union down the road has a Coinstar machine that offers Starbucks, so I’m hoping they’ve got the physical cards.
Mavis Butterfield says
Let’s hope so, they are so much easier to use than a paper ticket.