“More than one-quarter of Americans in a recent survey believe that there is a cure for cancer, but that the health care industry is concealing it because treating cancer patients is profitable. This and other widely held false beliefs are revealed in a study being published online today and in the Aug. 1 print issue of the journal Cancer.”
and noticed this morning at the supermarket: there are these machines into which you pour your coins and receive in return a receipt that is good for groceries inside the supermarket, for a fee (something like 4%). The machine has written on it “Get Cash for Your Change” (like your change isn’t cash?). So, for a fee, you can convert your money into, well, money.
I actually use those change machines all the time. I end up with a shit ton of pennies and nickels and there’s no way I’m ever going to use them buying stuff and my bank doesn’t have a branch nearby. So for convenience, I take the coins in and get whatever they’re worth in bills or off my groceries, minus a small fee. The fee is not for the actual change over from coin to bill, but for the convenience of not having to lug a pound and a half of coins around or putting them into rolls and driving half an hour to get to my bank to deposit them.
I actually use those change machines all the time. I end up with a shit ton of pennies and nickels and there’s no way I’m ever going to use them buying stuff and my bank doesn’t have a branch nearby. So for convenience, I take the coins in and get whatever they’re worth in bills or off my groceries, minus a small fee. The fee is not for the actual change over from coin to bill, but for the convenience of not having to lug a pound and a half of coins around or putting them into rolls and driving half an hour to get to my bank to deposit them.
How hard is it to bring a small handful of change with you when you go out in the morning? Use it when you buy something (lunch, groceries, etc.). A little advance planning will prevent the accumulation of these massive loads of coins. I haven’t had a penny collection since college (which I liquidated to have some cash (~$18) when I graduated). It’s not that hard.
"How hard is it to bring a small handful of change with you when you go out in the morning? "
It’s not hard, but using the change machine is easier. I eat my meals either on my ship or at home, so the best time to get my use out of that change is at the grocery store. Why do you care? I pay a small fee for a service. Same thing goes for people who pay to have their laundry done, or their house cleaned, or their oil changed, or any other number of services. Ther’re are lots of things that we could do on our own, but for which their is a more convenient alternative. Usually that alternative costs a small amount of money.
By the way, it’s not like I routinely have a huge jar filled with change. I go in every few weeks with a bag of change from the car and inside the house and get a few dollars back towards my grocery bill. I’m certainly not going to lug those in and try to pay for my grocieries in nickels and dimes.
and noticed this morning at the supermarket: there are these machines into which you pour your coins and receive in return a receipt that is good for groceries inside the supermarket, for a fee (something like 4%). The machine has written on it “Get Cash for Your Change” (like your change isn’t cash?). So, for a fee, you can convert your money into, well, money.
Depends how valuable your “spare” time is. Would you rather be rolling change or training or spending time with your family or sleeping?
Rolling change doesn’t rank up there as a fun activity. But again, I don’t use those machines simply because I am lot cheaper than I am busy.
and noticed this morning at the supermarket: there are these machines into which you pour your coins and receive in return a receipt that is good for groceries inside the supermarket, for a fee (something like 4%). The machine has written on it “Get Cash for Your Change” (like your change isn’t cash?). So, for a fee, you can convert your money into, well, money.
Depends how valuable your “spare” time is. Would you rather be rolling change or training or spending time with your family or sleeping?
Rolling change doesn’t rank up there as a fun activity. But again, I don’t use those machines simply because I am lot cheaper than I am busy.
I guess I just figure that it isn’t very hard to grab a dollar’s worth of change when I go out in the morning, and use it when I buy something. That results in a net loss of change for that transaction; do it enough and you’ve used up the change. Do it consistently, and you just don’t build up enough change to need to roll your own. Doesn’t take any time at all, only a really small amount of discipline. It’s even easier than that for me, since my wife will kvetch at me if I have a pile of change on top of the armoire.
Not hard at all, little old grandmothers do it all the time. Usually in front of me when I am in a hurry.
I have a jug at home that I take to the supermarket when it fills with pennies and loose change. I usually leave with about $100 in foldable money. The 4% I pay in fees is well worth not feeling like a pussy while paying for lunch with pennies and nickles.
See, I need to accumulate change to get quarters for laundry. The problem is all those darn nickels and pennies that go along with them. Once in a while I’ll buy a coffee with 24 nickels, but I wouldnt be too popular at the coffee shop if I did that all the time
As far as the Supermarket change machines go, I think that actually a sign of how America solves its problems. Someone in the private sector invented and built something that turns something that is worthless (that jar full of coins on the nightstand) into something useful for a small fee.
I, however, am far too cheap to use the machine and tend to take rolls of coins to my bank once or twice a year.
As far as the Supermarket change machines go, I think that actually a sign of how America solves its problems. Someone in the private sector invented and built something that turns something that is worthless (that jar full of coins on the nightstand) into something useful for a small fee.
I, however, am far too cheap to use the machine and tend to take rolls of coins to my bank once or twice a year.
My point is that anyone who thinks that the coins on the nightstand (you know, money) is worthless is stupid or richer than Croesus. Perhaps inconvenient if you just let 'em build up, but not worthless. Sorta like getting obese a pound at a time: it’ll overwhelm you unless you use a tiny bit of discipline each day.
Hey, I can beat the change machine…They also have a self-checkout line where I don’t even need to use money or pay…I just put in this blue plastic card and the give me the stuff.
Must be a day off from training
Ok, now I read all the threads again…This is funny stuff…Enough with the talks on world peace and the Ten Commandments…
Hey Ken–I actually agree with you for once. I always have a pocketful of change, and when I make a purchase, if I don’t have to break a $5, $10, or $20, it’s like a small financial windfall to me. I love it when the clerk says–“That’ll be $5.83,” and I can give the exact change and not get back four ones and $0.17. Plus, all that change sitting around in a water jug is losing purchasing power.
Now my kids, OTOH, think that using change is for chumps. In fact, they will walk right over a quarter laying in the street because it’s not worth their effort to pick it up. I imagine when they have to start supporting themselves they may think different.
Saving change and cashing it in once a year is like having too much withholding out of your paycheck, getting a big refund from the IRS, and thinking it is a windfall.
