Okay, I counted up all my spare change.

[Rain Man]

I have a couple of jars/jugs where I throw my spare change every night. Every once in a while, I'll roll some of it, take it to the bank, and convert it to paper currency, which I'll then throw back into the jar/jug. The historical use of this money has been to support the Rain Man vacation fund.

Well, I haven't used the travel fund in probably six or seven years. So I went to the bank last week and I got some of those little coin roller papers, and I went to work last night while I was watching Seinfeld. The final tally?










$499.185

This includes 15 cents of Canadian money, along with a half-penny from 1799 that I bought on a visit to Mount Vernon a few years ago.

I was actually thinking it might be more, but this is still good. It'll buy half of a plane ticket to South America.

Anyone else keep a change jar?

[Bob Dole]

Change is a two-way street. First Citiwide Bank should be your change bank.

[VonneMarie]

Originally Posted by Tig O Bittys

Rain Man -

These are NOT for Storing your Loose change....

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by KC Jones

Why bother rolling it yourself?

Your bank has a machine to take care of that. Just take your jar in and they'll direct you to another counter where someone will take the jug, dump it in the machine and give you a chit for the value. They'll also give you back the pieces of lint, foreign currency, toothpicks, etc. that may have found their way into your jar.

Years ago I waited tables in a breakfast diner - I made regular hauls to the bank with $300+ worth of coinage.

Sure, but half the fun is rolling them. It's like Christmas morning in reverse.

[chief52]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Only $500 in 6 or 7 years?

I fill a wine carafe that adds up to about $125 per trip, and empty it at least twice per year.

I also use cash almost exclusively, and I never take a coin out of my pocket unless it's going in the jar. So basically I maximize my change gains, while minimizing losses.

I used to do this with all my one dollar bills too. Until I took over 1k in ones into the bank, and got a lecture about it.

Never thought about throwing ones in. I have a 5 gal. water bottle about half full of change. I think I will start throwing ones in there was well. Seems like I always pull out a larger bill to pay for things anyway.

Why did the bank lecture you about it? Screw them...that is their job.

[Skip Towne]

I have a large beer mug and a smaller beer mug that I use. They hold about $70 when both are full. No quarters in there though. I throw all quarters in a baggie in my van for car washes, toll roads, etc.

[KCChiefsMan]

I keep a trip fund as well....but my bank has a machine and I don't have to roll the coins...that would kinda suck