A penny saved is a penny earned

I don't like to carry change because it could scratch my phone's screen when both are in my pocket. Maybe that is why these 20-somethings dump their change.

 

I think about 2 things when it comes to the value of change:

1) When I was little I dropped a penny on the ground and shrugged and walked off. My Dad saw this and looked shocked and angry, he went back and picked up the penny and put it in his pocket and said, I'll take it then. That made me think...

2) Again, when I was young with my Dad, he had given me some change, and we went to the store and there was a little boy sitting on a coin operated horse that was crying because he wanted to ride it. I put one of my dimes in the horse and again my Dad did not approve of my wasting the money. I saw and still see this differently, but...

Today, I rarely carry much cash but when I do I tend to spend it quickly and as said above I don't like the change in my pocket so I keep a stainless steel can in my Jeep and immediately dump my change into when I get in.

I've used it to give tips when I pay with a card for a Sonics burger, I've poured some into my hand and dumped it into the hand of street beggars. Once I gave it all to woman and her child who were at a gas station but didn't have any money for gas and once I gave it to woman and her child who had walked a distance to the store and were in front of me and when they tried to pay for some candy and a toy she realized she forgot to bring her money so when I saw them standing outside I grabbed the change can and dumped it in her hand.

So in other words, I don't waste my change, I just give it all away...

 

I save mine and take it and dump it in the coin counter at the bank. Always $1000 to $1500 per year.

 

I think the same thing when I'm in the grocery store and see someone dump their bucket of change in the Coinstar machine which has an 11.9% service fee.

My husband leaves little piles of change around the house. I always take them and add them to my wallet. When I'm shopping I love the challenge of getting rid of as many coins as possible without overdoing it and annoying the cashier too much.

 

I figure I have to take the good with the bad. If I live in fear of being suckered into giving money to the undeserving for an excuse not to give then I would hardly ever have the opportunity to help the truly needy. I try to access the situations as best I can but I would rather have a few situations where I was played for a fool than miss my chances to make a difference in the life of someone in desperate need.

There was a defining moment for me when I was going into a store and a man asked me for money for food, He looked like a drunk and I thought, yeah right, you'll just buy some booze and said no. In the store I bought 5 scratch lottery tickets (I hardly ever do that) and scratched them in my truck figuring I'd have to go back in the store and cash one in for a couple bucks anyway, which is why I don't do this often, but I had 3 winning tickets so when I got out I went ahead and gave one of the tickets to the "drunk" - just in case he was really hungry. He went right into the store and picked up 2 $.99 microwavable hamburgers (that you couldn't pay me to eat!) and a carton of milk and payed for it with the ticket. I went back out in my truck and scratched the new tickets I got with my winnings. While I did this I watched that "drunk" devour those hamburgers and milk like he hadn't eaten in days!

I was SO wrong and my judgment of this guy almost left a hungry man without food. I decided, I would rather error and buy a drunk a beer than let a man go hungry. I had one more winning ticket and gave it to the man to his very appreciative toothless smile while deciding I wasn't going to worry about it, just hope he used it for his next meal.