Loose Change--CoinStar

[Fern Modena]

I think most of us "collect" loose change and save it. I know I do, and my sister does, too. My bank used to have a free CoinStar machine (no fee held back), but commercial interests kept using it and gumming it up, so they now charge 9%.

My sister wanted to cash in some change, so she was going to roll it up today and take it to the bank tomorrow. I remembered that CoinStar had a deal with some businesses, at some of their machines, so I looked on their website to see if any of them might have interested her.

Turns out some of our closest machines (in grocery stores) will put money to various gift cards and not charge any fee. One of the cards is Starbucks, which my sister loves. Not only that, if you already have a card, if you want, they will add it to that card (as long as you have the card with you, of course).

Turns out it was easy-peasy. You tell it you want to put the money on Starbucks, it asks if you want a voucher or if you already have a card. Once you tell the machine you have a card, it counts the money, tells you your total, then asks you to slide the card. Once you've done that, it whirs and figures and does stuff, then prints a receipt which not only tells you how much you've just added to your card, but also how much value the card now has.

It was so easy that Irene treated me to a raspberry-mocha frappiccuno. After all, she didn't have to pay that fee, since I'm an Internet geek

Fern

 

[Passepartout]

Good deal. My neighborhood Smith's has one of those, but I've avoided it like the plague because of it's commission. I think I knew about the cards, but didn't think about *bux. Whenever I saw young people- and it's always young people using it, I would tell them about the free coin counter at the bank 2 blocks away.

Seems like young people are more likely to just say, 'Oh, it's just 5 or 10%' and think that's just the price of convenience. Or walk by a penny or a nickel on the ground without picking it up. Not me.

 

[anne1125]

The bank where I work does it for free for their customers. TD bank.

Anne

 

[cotraveller]

The bank we deal with still has coin counting machines at some of their branches. It is not self serve, you give the teller your bag (or box or piggy bank) of coins and they feed them to the machine. That eliminates much of the gumming up of the machines by do it your self customers.

No charge for bank customers. I didn't ask, but they probably do not offer the service to non-customers.

I may check the CoinStar machine in the grocery store. If it will put money on a card I could use with no fee involved it would be more convenient. The grocery store is a few blocks away, the bank with the counting machine is several miles away.

 

[ronparise]

I havent had any loose change since the advent of debit cards. I cant remember the last time I used real money or received change

 

[presley]

I've been using Coinstar for years. I've always just paid the 9% since I only go in once or twice per year. I'll have to look at the loaded gift card idea. Since it's in my grocery store, I've always printed out the receipt and used it towards groceries.

 

[jlr10]

DH uses coinstar at Albertsons and then gives me the voucher since he doesn't like Albertsons.

My bank doesn't like to get rolled coins, so I roll my lose change and put it in my son's stocking at Christmas. Last year he got $72 in coins. Not sure how he handles it but I suspect he unrolls it and uses it on a regular basis.

 

[isisdave]

They offer credit to quite a few vendors. I always send it to Amazon.

 

[Weimaraner]

That's how I support my Amazon and Itunes addiction

 

[am1]

The little change I get goes into the cup holder in my car.

Paying 9% is crazy and shows how little financial sense some have. Almost criminal for companies to charge that. But there are two expressions that come to mind here.

 

[Sea Six]

I just take some change with me when I know I'm paying cash for something. Retailers seem to love getting exact change or not giving out 95 cents change for a $9.05 sale. I never have more than a dollars worth sitting around the house.

 

[MOXJO7282]

I havent had any loose change since the advent of debit cards. I cant remember the last time I used real money or received change

Same with me, although for us its credit cards for the United miles or Amex 5% rebate. So now I never have cash or change.

I used to save all my coins when I was young in a big water jug as like a savings account and back in the day roll them up and have $100 bucks or so. Then banks started to make it harder to turn in and credit cards came about and I stopped the coin thing.

 

[pedro47]

Our bank does it for free. But you must deposit the change in your checking or savings accounts.

 

[Nancy]

I use CoinStar to feed my Amazon addiction. Not all machines do Amazon, etc. You have to find the machine that provides gift receipts for what you will use.

As Fern said, it is easy to use and easy to apply to your account.

Nancy

 

[laura1957]

just a warning - I have used it a few times to support my own Amazon habit.

The last time I was happily putting those coins in, watching the amount add up (and figuring how much it would help that Amazon balance) - until the machine gave me a "danger, Will Robinson" message (or whatever the words it used-malfunction, overfull...) All of a sudden it threw some CASH at me and stole that fee

I was not very happy that day, and have refused to use it since.

 

[pittle]

I use Coinstar for Amazon gift cards/vouchers too. I use the credits to buy Kindle books. Just last week though, hubby bought a new weed eater on Amazon and said that when he checked out, it said it automatically showed he had a credit and did not owe anything. He thought that was great! Me not so much :annoyed: Guess I will have to take his change to to Coinstar machine to reload cash for books for vacation!

 

[Fern Modena]

And you didn't write/call/email with the machine number or location to complain? I sure would have.

Fern

just a warning - I have used it a few times to support my own Amazon habit.

The last time I was happily putting those coins in, watching the amount add up (and figuring how much it would help that Amazon balance) - until the machine gave me a "danger, Will Robinson" message (or whatever the words it used-malfunction, overfull...) All of a sudden it threw some CASH at me and stole that fee

I was not very happy that day, and have refused to use it since.

 

[laura1957]

And you didn't write/call/email with the machine number or location to complain? I sure would have.

Fern

No, I know that I should have My daughter and I were heading out shopping at the time, so I just put it off til later - and never did!!

 

[spirits]

Just did it

My husband and I had a Texas Mickey bottle in the bedroom which we used for saving pennies. That bottle got more action than I did (;
Anyways.....I was going to roll all those pennies. I used to roll loose change at the restaurant I worked at as a teenager and I still like to show off how fast I am at that job. But my DH informed me our local Bank of Montreal has a coin counter that will do the job for free. Oh Boy...you should have seen the look on everyone's faces as I was carrying in that big bottle with all those brown coins. Must have looked like I was going to a big party!!!!
Anyway, it took a couple of tries to get all those pennies counted. Would have taken me all weekend!!! Got around 50 dollars. Well worth it.
Some of the good ol days stuff should remain in the good ol days

 

[hefleycatz]

We started saving change when our DDs were young to cash in for vacation time. Taught them to save a little change and see how it grows for a year...then they would split while on vacation for their own spending money. We all would take a guess at how much was collected for the year. We still do it, but now DH and I use the cash.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[pjrose]

I havent had any loose change since the advent of debit cards. I cant remember the last time I used real money or received change

But then what do you put in the coin holders in your Explorer?

 

[gnorth16]

Easy to save change when your country has a $1 AND $2 coin...


Tapatalk via iPhone (I need a vacation)

 

[kewanee]

I always use Coinstar for an Amazon voucher to avoid the commission. They have other giftcards, but Amazon we use often. I did notice that different machines have different choices, so make sure and check before you
start putting your coins in.
Also, Make sure and enter your email for promotions. Here is my best score a couple years ago: 'Cash in $25 for a free $5 I tunes card' or something like that. So I cashed in coins for a $5 ITunes code. Well, then I realized that you didn't really need to cash in coins because you can just put bills in the machine, too. So basically I converted all my cash into amazon credit and got a lot of free iTunes! Haven't seen that promo since, though.

 

[Fern Modena]

You can go to Coinstar's website and see what types of gift cards the machines near you spew out before you take your coins in.

Fern

 

[am1]

I would rather buy my online purchases with a credit card for the protection and points and to be able to pay it a month later. Redeeming for gift cards is saving some of the 9% but not all of it.