Pennies (1 cent) don't count anymore????

[mdurette]

Twice today I came across this in stores, I think it is wrong.

1. At a convienance store and the woman in front of me purchased something for .99. She handed them a $1 bill and waited. The clerk said "is there anything else I can do for you?" Then realized the woman was waiting for her change and said "oh, you want your penny?" in a condesending tone.

2. I then walked across the parking lot and made a $29.99 purchase and noticed the clerk rang it up for $30 even though he already had my credit card in hand, so it wasn't about me having to deal with a penny in my pocket.

I honestly don't pay enough attention to know if stores are skimming a bit.....

Anyone else notice this is a trend?

 

[am1]

Canada changed this years ago. Not too familiar with it but see my point. Even my sons and people making minimum wage ($2 something an hour) think pennies are worthless. I think look after your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves is a good motto. For me nothing better then finding free money and I walked into $380k once.

 

[bizaro86]

In Canada the rounding for pennies goes both ways though, and is only for cash transactions. So for debit/credit you'd pay exactly $29.99 in the example above, but $30.00 with cash.

But a bill of $29.96 or $29.97 paid with $30 in cash receives a nickel in change.

 

[tschwa2]

I went to the movies with my son last night and was told at the concession stand that if I wanted to use cash, that I would not receive any coin change back. I had switched out my wallet and didn't have my cc packet. It was $10.55 and I paid with a $20 and received $9 back. I felt better about the fact that we were sneaking in 2 cans of soda to drink with popcorn. It was a 45 cent "corkage" fee.

 

[ScoopKona]

Twice today I came across this in stores, I think it is wrong.

1. At a convienance store and the woman in front of me purchased something for .99. She handed them a $1 bill and waited. The clerk said "is there anything else I can do for you?" Then realized the woman was waiting for her change and said "oh, you want your penny?" in a condesending tone.

Work it out so that the next bill is $20.01 and hand them a $20. When they [grouse] about it, ask them in a condescending tone, "You actually want a penny?"

Other countries have worked out rounding up and down so that nobody feels [cheated.] Here, it's going to be "heads we win, tails you lose."

 

[geist1223]

Back in the 1980's while stationed in Germany the PX did away with Pennies. Round up or down to the Nickel.

 

[CO skier]

Twice today I came across this in stores, I think it is wrong.

1. At a convienance store and the woman in front of me purchased something for .99. She handed them a $1 bill and waited. The clerk said "is there anything else I can do for you?" Then realized the woman was waiting for her change and said "oh, you want your penny?" in a condesending tone.

2. I then walked across the parking lot and made a $29.99 purchase and noticed the clerk rang it up for $30 even though he already had my credit card in hand, so it wasn't about me having to deal with a penny in my pocket.

I honestly don't pay enough attention to know if stores are skimming a bit.....

Anyone else notice this is a trend?

Never experienced anything like this.

Much more common is the "penny tray" at checkout. Give one or two, take what is needed. Karma.

 

[Talent312]

I saw a penny on the ground in a parking lot.
I thought, "Shall I pick up?" Decided, "Not."
.

 

[Brett]

The US should stop minting pennies -- like Canada, NZ, Australia, etc

 

[Kozman]

Gas stations skim you ever so slightly with the price of gas having the 9/10 of a cent rounded up.

 

[Dori]

Find a penny, pick it up. All the day you’ll have good luck!

Dori

 

[geist1223]

We pick up all coins we find on the Ground. We put them in a Ceramic Container on Patti's Chest of Drawers. At the end of the year we deposit them. It is normally about $100.

 

[dioxide45]

We pick up all coins we find on the Ground. We put them in a Ceramic Container on Patti's Chest of Drawers. At the end of the year we deposit them. It is normally about $100.

You must be finding a lot of coins. That is about $0.25 a day. Unless you also toss any loose change you might have in there too. I know I don't stumble across a quarter a day on average.

 

[clifffaith]

I saw a penny on the ground in a parking lot.
I thought, "Shall I pick up?" Decided, "Not."
.

I always pick pennies up. Then I sing “I’ve got a penny in my pocket, yes I do” to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, then I put it in my penny jar.

 

[ScoopKona]

The US should stop minting pennies -- like Canada, NZ, Australia, etc

There are people hoarding copper pennies who hope this happens. The value of the copper far exceeds $0.01. One reason the mint keeps minting zinc pennies is to keep them from having a massive payday.

 

[bizaro86]

You must be finding a lot of coins. That is about $0.25 a day. Unless you also toss any loose change you might have in there too. I know I don't stumble across a quarter a day on average.

Must either walk a lot or walk somewhere where people are very careless with their change. I live in a place where we have commonly circulated $1 and $2 coins and find nowhere near that amount of change per year.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I pick up any change I see on the ground. I may need that penny sometime. I put pennies in my shoe for luck, even though I no longer wear loafers with the slot in them. Remember those? Penny loafers?

 

[rickandcindy23]

There are people hoarding copper pennies who hope this happens. The value of the copper far exceeds $0.01. One reason the mint keeps minting zinc pennies is to keep them from having a massive payday.

I have three gallons of pennies. I just put them in a jar when I get them.

 

[ScoopKona]

I always pick pennies up. Then I sing “I’ve got a penny in my pocket, yes I do” to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, then I put it in my penny jar.

I also always pick up any money I find. Every time, even if people give me side-eye. "You need a penny that much? Really?"

The way I see it, the universe is offering me free money. If I decline, I'm telling the universe that I have all I need and to stop sending opportunities my way. Well, I can't do that because I have a farm to clear, farm houses to build, and another mile of private road to lay down. All of that costs.

 

[ScoopKona]

I have three gallons of pennies. I just put them in a jar when I get them.

There are people with millions of pennies. Shipping containers full of them. They can't melt them down until the penny is no longer legal tender. The government is wise to this and has been for decades. (The switch to zinc was to stop the hoarding of copper pennies.)

My wife and I bring change to the supermarket and use it to pay for items. Run a buck in found change through, then put the rest on the credit card. We probably find $10 each per year.

 

[linsj]

I always pick up change, mostly a penny or nickel at a time. But once I found several hundred dollars of Japanese yen with no way to find the owner; it paid my mortgage that month.

 

[sponger76]

Back in the 1980's while stationed in Germany the PX did away with Pennies. Round up or down to the Nickel.

When I was deployed for OIF the FOB businesses wouldn't give coins as change. Instead we got "POGs" printed with the denominations on them. A lot of people would end up leaving theater with a whole bunch of them, but you couldn't spend them back stateside.

 

[kanerf]

Back in the 1980's while stationed in Germany the PX did away with Pennies. Round up or down to the Nickel.

We had all the two dollar bills too! I was over there 85-98.

 

[TheHolleys87]

I pick up any change I see on the ground. I may need that penny sometime. I put pennies in my shoe for luck, even though I no longer wear loafers with the slot in them. Remember those? Penny loafers?

LOL, we used to put a nickel in ours, so we’d always be able to make a phone call!

(New Orleans area in the 60s)

 

[rosebud5]

Find a penny, pick it up. All the day you’ll have good luck!

Dori

Sounds like a line from the movie Grease.