How Electronic Coin Counting Machines Can Drain Your Change
Keep More Money in Your Pocket
Many consumers love to cash in their spare change and get something fun with the money for their efforts. Cashing in spare change can surprisingly add up to quite a bit of money. Avoiding unnecessary fees to count your spare change is essential if you want to keep more money in your pocket and enjoy every last penny.
Convenience At A Price
Electronic coin counting machines can be a great convenience for busy consumers, but that convenience comes at a price. You should try to avoid these machines if at all possible. I made this mistake once, and I’ve learned from the experience. I headed out to the grocery store to use the electronic coin counting machine. I thought that I probably had about $50 in change. I seriously underestimated just how much spare change I had. It turns out I had over $400 in spare change, which meant I lost a large percentage of that money to the coin counting machine. The fees that coin counting machines charge are close to 9%. For my $400 in spare change, I lost about $36 of hard earned money simply because I didn’t want to count and wrap the change myself.
Take It To The Bank
Banks also charge you to count your spare change, so don’t show up at the bank with a big bag of money that isn’t properly rolled. Most banks do, however, give out empty rolls to wrap your coins in, so don’t buy these at the store when you can get them for free at your bank. If you roll your own coins and take them to the bank, it can save you quite a bit of cash compared to coin counting machines.
Get Into a Routine
Keep your spare change in old containers. Store it in a closet or your basement so it is not in your way. Drop your spare change in the container on a regular basis. Count out the change yourself. If you only have time to count out $20, then cash in that amount of money. Don’t be tempted to use a coin counting machine and lose a large portion of your money to the fees they charge.
Comments
The comment about using banks to count your spare change is not altogether accurate, at least in all cases. A little while back, I went to the trouble to roll over $1000 of collected change so I could deposit it in my bank. When I got to the teller, she told me they would have to open all the rolls and run the coins through their counting machine and if I wanted to cash in any more in the future, to NOT use rolls. Also, reputable banks will not charge you a fee if you have account(s) with them.
Posted by: Donald R. Smith | June 6, 2007 12:36 PM
Good advice - paid for coin counters/sorters are expensive. Best to do it yourself or invest in your own coin sorting.counting machine if you are handling a lot of loose change!
Posted by: Coin Counter Guy | July 15, 2007 8:04 AM