Yep. That's me. Except for the splitting things in half thing. Mr. Pi and I have never done that. It's just easier to call it "our money" and have a discussion when someone wants to buy a shiny new toy.

But I looooove CoinStar. Love it. It's an amazing piece of machinery and technology, and we used the amazon gift voucher we got from CoinStar to pay for some Christmas gifts.

Ah! But how much are you losing in the fees to have the machine count all that change? Isn't it something like 12%?

We do this all the time. Usually we will break the piggy bank open for a special occasion, dinner and a movie for an anniversary or whatever.

Thankfully TD Bank (former Commerce Bank) has no charge machines. Last year before a trip to Europe, I cashed out...got about $400 in spending money to use.

@Irish Lion: Coinstar charges 8% last I used it. Some banks charge a bit less.

And when you have something like $100 in pennies and dimes, it's worth it to save me the trouble of hand sorting it myself.

@morganlh85: "Some banks charge less"? I've never been to a bank that charged me for it, I guess unless maybe you are not going to a bank where you have an account.

LetMeGetTheManager: $400?! Wow. The highest I've ever hit was $120. I opted to get it as the Amazon gift voucher instead of money though. The fee on the coins was too much, and I shop at Amazon anyway.

My credit union just installed a coin-counting machine (not CoinStar) into its main branch, and I'm told it takes a 5% fee when depositing your coins. I usually don't have such burdensome amounts that I can't count and roll my coins myself, but I find that I keep quarters exclusively in my car as my occasional tollway fund and just keep the other change in an ashtray to be rolled later. There's no "bad" system as long as there is a system, I guess.

I see a LOT of banks (including my credit union) trying to add these gimmicks and rewards to their debit cards, trying to deter people (like myself) from doing the "pay everything with a credit card for the rewards and pay it off at the end of the month" game. I'm not sure how it works out in the end monetarily, but I'm much happier getting the buyer protection from my credit company, and the transaction costs to the retailers are hardly much different between debit and credit card transactions.

@Irish Lion: Mr Lion: Some CoinStar machines will give you a choice: You can have cash, less a fat percent for them, or an Amazon.com gift certificate, full value.

I guess they assume that a certain percentage of the certificates go unredeemed.

my boyfriend and i decided to re-do our floors. we had a few jars of change and figured, "hey, it could cut down our out of pocket expenses, why not?" so we lugged a backpack full o' change to TD bank and threw it all into the penny arcade. my bf guessed $50, i guessed $85... the grand total was $475. it was enough to pay for flooring, baseboards, underpadding, a duvet cover AND lunch at taco bell. WIN all around.

Chevy Chase Bank (local bank in the DC area) also has a coin counter. It's free for bank customers, and there's some sort of fee schedule for non-customers (but I think it's still cheaper than CoinStar).

But yeah ... I avoid CoinStar as much as possible. I'd like to keep my 8.5 cents (or whatever it is now), thank you very much.

those "your next debit card purchase could be on us!" gimmicks suck. most debit cards have a default transaction in the vicinity of $300-$500 unless you ask them to raise it. and since we use debit cards like cash most of the time, that "free" purchase could amount to a cup of coffee or a pack of gum. gee, thanks, chase... you almost made up for the $50 in monthly fees you charge me for the privilege of having an account with you (since I don't make much money, and there's NO WAY i could ever maintain an average balance of $2,500) with a $0.99 pack of trident! AWESOME.

I just count the coins with a couple of handy dandy devices I purchased more than a decade ago. A set of 4 trays that sort each coin into like groups, and a set of tubes to count them. I usually buy wrappers at staples for a couple of bucks, but if you really want to be frugal, the bank will give them to you for free. I have a box I fill up. I usually take $50 at a time. I used to fill up one of those water cooler bottles but they weigh too much and its too much of a chore at that point. Its a good feeling to take coins to the bank, and its also a good way to save for something frivolous, since its just change. I try not to buy too much from amazon, and I cant see giving coinstar money for something I can do while I sit in front of the tv wasting time anyway.

I've never used a Coinstar machine, since I can't save any change; I always dig it out and spend it. Except for pennies, which don't add up as fast.

I would probably just use the Amazon certificate. I buy stuff from them all the time anyway. One time I filled out a FedEx survey and they sent me a $10 Amazon gift cert and I used it to buy a movie. Win! :)

I used to have a coin jar, and would look forward to getting it changed out for big stuff. But ever since I got a check card (about 2 years ago) I never carry cash. I mean I have a 5 dollar bill on me right now that I've had for 2 weeks. I miss the coin jar. I do not miss the ATM fees I used to pay.

@Irish Lion: Using CoinStar, you can get full-value gift certificates to amazon.com and some other places. But most importantly, amazon.com. :D

It's cheaper in the long run buying an automated sorter and rolling your own. Just make sure you follow your banks guidelines in submitting your rolled coin. They may want your name and phone # on each roll.

Mr Lion: Some CoinStar machines will give you a choice: You can have cash, less a fat percent for them, or an Amazon.com gift certificate, full value.

I guess they assume that a certain percentage of the certificates go unredeemed.

My guess is that Amazon pays the Coinstar. After all, that way Amazon knows you're spending your money with them.

Coinstar. Not "the Coinstar".

@LetMeGetTheManager: Wow! We have a HUGE container of coins but unfortunately, all the coin counting machines around us have a limit to the amount you can cash in. There aren't many machines either, so for the most part, we use those plastic coin counters and paper wrappers. :)

I wonder why the automated check out lanes don't have coin dump bowls to pay in -just a little tiny slot- yet they have coin dump bowls to dispense change.

Oh, because of the CoinStar et al fees these places make so they checkouts are specified with the little feed slot versus an easy to use coin bowl.

my change jar is full of "washing expense" i.e., since Im the one that does the laundry, whatever I find at the bottom of the washing machine is mine.

I don't think I have ever used a coinstar. I just make the hot guy at the bank dump my change, & since I put it all in a big wine jug, he has to wiggle and shake to get it all out.

Oh, the joy.

Two weeks ago I brought $140 of rolled coins to my Credit Union (Navy Federal) and the teller told me that they prefer that I use their coin machine--I guess it verifies the count better than most folks do. For the past five years my kids and I have looked forward to emptying out the jar and searching for the state quarters for their books. Not sure if they'll be that into rolling the coins now since the books are full.

I learned from an episode of "Numb3rs" how these machines sort coins...it's extremely interesting. Apparently the machine has sensors that sort the coins based on parameters such as weight, size and the composition of the coin face (I think) - I'm guessing this is how foreign coins get separated even though sometimes they might be the same size and weight as regular coins.

With the loonies and toonies ($1 and $2 coins) here in Canada I can save up quite a bit this way. I cash it in once a year when we take a vacation. My best year to date was $800. This year was just over $400. The hard part is not spending it early.

I wish I had an option to have someone else sort and count it out for me though.

Actually, I found collecting loose change is fun for my kids. My two boys now have their own Big Belly Bank: [www.amazon.com]

I used Commerce Bank (now TD Bank) because they don't require fees, nor an active account. I brought my older son there last winter and cashed out $300. I cashed out $600 stored in a 10-gallon water bottle few years back.

By the way, a buddy of mine has this very bad habit of throwing away pennies in the trash. He would just pick out the pennies and toss them right in the bin.

@Irish Lion: Quoth the article: "Took my can in to TD Bank and used their Penny Arcade which counts for free..."

@econobiker:

9.5% fee on the coinstar in my grocery store. I have a large pocketfull of pennies.

I go to pay for groceries at the self-pay checkout and, having a lot of time, insert one penny at a time into the slot to pay for a $3 item. I was wondering how long it would take the attendant to decide enough was enough.

The attendant flagged down the manager, I handed the manager my coins, which the manger counted, and I was on my way, 29 cents richer!

I was so surprised that it all happened this way that I didn't take the opportunity to mention to the manager I knew they had a coinstar, but I didn't use it because of the fee... :-S

I don't find it convenient to make a special trip to the bank just to get rid of loose change. I'm going to the grocery store anyway, and I shop at Amazon a lot, so Coinstar is a great option for me.

It goes to show how powerful even ridiculous incentives are. Consumer behavior is strange alchemy; it's the job of marketers and consumer advocates everywhere to identify the levers and pull them. For example, you'd probably really enjoy one of those banking products that "rounds up" every debit card or credit card transaction to the nearest dollar and deposits the difference in cash - it seems to fit that sense you have of saving the margins of your spending into organized buckets.

That, and you MIGHT JUST have a wee bit of the ol' OCD. Just saying. No shame in that, I've got it too!

Years ago, when I got my first debit card, I pretty much stopped using cash. But then I noticed that I would use all of my money because it's not real anymore. It's just a card that lets me buy things, so I did. I check my balance online often so I always know how much I have, but that didn't stop me from spending while I was out.

Lately, I've started giving myself an 'allowance' in cash. Physically seeing my money vanish has served well at slowing my spending habits. Now I think "hmm, only got $35 in my wallet, I'll pass on that," instead of "I've got a few hundred in my checking account, so why not?"

Hey Ben, am I wrong in assuming that the TD Bank you speak of is not the TD Bank that exists in Canada?

TD Bank here is one of the largest banks here. (Toronto Dominion)

My regional credit union also has a coin counter with no fees, but like Navy Federal it is often crowded during lunch and the limited hours it is open and I am not at work. So I keep my Commerce, oops TB Bank account because of the free coin counting and the time convenience.

My coins build up fastest if I am somewhat sociopathic and take the position "you have the cash register, you make the change." (Don't scold me, Iàve been on the other side of the counter and think it is just as well.) It helps that when I do try to make clerks' lives easier they usually seem to have no clue why I just gave them $20.27 for a $10.17 total.

Just as it helps to have one-dollar bills in the U.S., here in Switzerland I've found it is necessary to have franc coins (for vending machines, not strippers). The change machine at the local self-serve laundry only changes 5- and 2-franc coins to 1-franc coins, it doesn't handle bills at all. Likewise a lot of vending machines take only coins. As a result, folks seem to have massive wallets to hold a bunch of coins. If they have a Coinstar equivalent here, it is probably for the smaller coins (1/2 france, 20, 10, and 5 centimes; the 2 and 1 centimes coins seem not to be used at all).

@Kirk Douglas: Answered my own question, found that it was a merger between TD Canada and a US bank. Neato!

@Irish Lion: That's only if you opt for the all-cash option. If you go for the other options like amazon, borders, gap, then you get the full worth back. I usually go amazon b/c then I can input the code into my account and that value stays there indefinitely. I don't even want to deal with the exp. date on the certificate, just get it into my account and I can use it any time I want.

If you must use a coinstar... you should at least do yourself a favor and seperate out all of the $.25, those are easy to count on your own and probably make up 30-50% of the overall value of your stash.

Coinstar does get paid by Amazon for their dealings, plus you need to consider if you will be paying any shipping charges in that purchase... that could be your base fee or more

lonestarbl: Isn't it more of an inconvenience when you have to sort out the quarters and then take the rest of the coins to Coinstar? Isn't the point of going to the coin sorter machine to NOT have change lying around? If you have rolls of quarters, then you have to go to the bank and get those converted.

CoinStar does get paid by Amazon, but if you're only dumping about $20 in coins, you're not waiting long enough. Free shipping through Amazon (not their partners) requires a minimum of $25. Most people who go to CoinStar have jars and jars of coins.

You didn't hear this from me, but if you tell CoinStar you want to buy an iTunes gift card, then unplug the phone line from the back of it, it will be unable to process your request, and for the "inconvienence" they will automatically drop the fee.

*cough*

I keep all my change in a big jar, but the amount never adds up to a huge total, because I need all of the quarters to pay for the parking meters for my commute.

TD Bank is definitely the way to go. If it is the same as Commerce bank was, you don't even need an account to cash in the coins there.

My credit union, like others, has two ways to cash in coins - you can drop it off with a teller and they will process it at the end of the day and deposit it in your account (less a small processing fee), or you can use the free coin counter in the lobby. We bring in our change just before a vacation so that we can use the cash as our walking around money. We know other people who have been stockpiling change for 20 years in wine jugs and never cash out - what a waste.

My girlfriend doesn't like me to use CoinStar. She says it costs everytime I use it. I responded by telling here CoinStar charges me about 8% to count my money. When she counts and rolls my change, she charges me 100%. She didn't like that response. ;)

The machine at the grocery store near me has a whole bunch of different coupons (Amazon, iTunes, and some other stores) for which you get full value on your coins. If something goes wrong with the machine so that it can't give you the store-value certificate, it gives you a full-value case certificate that you can turn in at the store.

For me this is a good way to splurge. Loose change and pocket change gets thrown into a jar, and when it's full we turn it in and use it to buy a DVD or something from Amazon.

@Irish Lion: My local bank had free coin counting machines in most branches, but is in the process of replacing them after multiple failures. I prefer cash, not a gift certificate, which is why I avoid Coinstar. In the DC area Chevy Chase has free coin counting for customers (not me) and charges something like $3.00 up to $100 which is not too bad if you have a lot of coins. I typically have around $40 every 6-8 weeks which I give to my daughter as spending money.

I just got $57 yesterday!!! woohoo to the coin jar game

@tobedetermined: Gah, I hate it when people do that, can you get him to just toss them on the ground!? At least then someone will have the chance to grab them vs being buried with trash in a landfill.

A friend of mine holds onto them until he can find a ledge on a building (brickwork, etc.) and just puts them there. It's like a reverse treasure hunt for him if he's in an area that he doesn't know very well.

It only takes him a couple minutes at most.

@andrewe: Y'know, this is one of the reasons I support the concept of a 1USD coin; it would make an excellent addition to the coin jar.
Too bad the US Treasury can't bring themselves to admit that the $1 coin needs to be BIG and HEAVY to stand out from the other coins. Sacagoldea just plain sucks...

Huh. I actually got extra benefit from this article. I do love me some Amazon, but didn't really know if CoinStar's little vouchers were a good idea or not.
Judging from the feedback here, I'll be trying it sometime soon. 10-Q, Consumerists!

@Irish Lion: did you even read the article fully before replying?

To the people who are saving hundreds of dollars in their piggy banks and coin jars: wouldn't you be better served by saving that money in the bank and making interest? (Pretend the banks are still safe and actually giving significant interest but the idea is sound I think.)

Also, the "next debit purchase on us" gimmick means nothing to me unless I know the odds. If they don't tell you the odds upfront, then I assume it's on par with winning the lottery. No way would I let something like that change my shopping behavior. Has anyone EVER gotten one of those free purchases?