How much spare change is sitting around your house, taking up space between couch cushions or sitting in a drawer? Coinstar, the company that brings you machines where you can cash in spare change or unwanted gift cards, estimates that the average household has $68 in spare change sitting around that could be converted into a more useful form––say, using a Coinstar kiosk. [More]
spare change
Do Not Punch Children And Trash The Store When You Can’t Cash In Your Change Jar
By 4.24.14
We’ve all been there: you’re out of cash for some reason, and have to raid your change jar for spending money. While it can be difficult to find a place to trade that money in fee-free, we do not recommend the method that a woman in Florida used. [More]
Readers Find Lost Money Using Unclaimed.org
By 3.11.11
Last week we told you about Unclaimed.org, a free non-profit site that’s a convenient portal for searching for unclaimed property state by state. Well Consumerist readers report they’re finding tons of cash under the couch cushions using it! Via comments and email, here’s what people have been hauling in: [More]
Find Your Lost Money At Unclaimed.Org
By 3.3.11
Like looking under the cushions of the largest couch ever, unclaimed.org is a way to search for money that you’ve forgotten about or over looked. Pick the state and that will connect you to the unclaimed property search page for that state and you can start looking to see if you have any old checking and savings account, forgotten pay checks, safe deposit boxes, or trust distributions that are due to you. A friend of mine did this recently and found two old checks. Pretty sweet unexpected bonanza in a recession. [More]
Homeless Charity Revealed As A Fraud
By 11.24.09
If you live anywhere in the NYC area, you’ve probably seen a “United Homeless Organization” table on the sidewalk, staffed by a volunteer who looks homeless himself. (If you don’t live here, imagine a year-round, homeless Salvation Army Santa.) If you thought the set-ups looked a little sketchy, you were right: the UHO is a “sham,” according to NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. [More]
Reader Isn't A Bad Person, Just Doesn't Want To Round Up His Grocery Purchase
By 8.13.09
Dustin isn’t a jerk, really. He just feels like one every time he shops at his local Vons, because they’re always pushing him to donate his change to charity. He wants to know whether your local Vons, Safeway, or other grocery stores do this to you, too.
Coinstar Calls Cashing In Change 'Recycling'
By 8.18.08
Douglas writes, “Coinstar wants you to ‘recycle’ your coins in their machines, and save the environment! Minus their 8.9% fee of course.” They even have a little wizard on their website that estimates how many parts of the environment—water, energy consumption, and geological waste—you save by putting those coins back into circulation, instead of hoarding them like the polar bear murderer you are. They don’t provide any source for these estimates, though, and we’re not convinced you’re doing anything “green” other than lining Coinstar’s pockets.
Indiana Man Buys Pickup Truck With Spare Change
By 12.26.07
Paul Brant of Indiana bought a 2008 Dodge Ram with quarters and gold dollars worth $26,670. The septuagenarian spent thirteen years collecting enough loose change to buy the new pickup, which will replace the Dodge he purchased in 1994 with 144,000 quarters. Brant’s revolutionary method for collecting spare change, after the jump.
