Do you have a change jar or piggie bank? For what are you saving?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
My family has always had a long tradition of picking up change off the sidewalk, and saving change here and there. I've had a change jar (using an empty Culligan water jug) for a couple years. I'd throw coins in there every now and then, whenever I thought about it. After a while, I ended up with $30 or so to use as I pleased.



Recently, I saw a PBS special or something that had Suze Ormann (sp?), Financial Specialist on it. She said that one way to save money easily without wasting money is to keep a change jar. Every time you purchase something, use bills, and keep all the coins you get back. At the end of the day, put all the coins in a jar. Instead of using the coins throughout the day on useless stuff you don't need anyway (like vending machine candy and so on), that money will be saved. She said that at the end of the year, you'll have up to a couple HUNDRED dollars saved up that you wouldn't have had before (and you really would have spend on worthless crap).



So I'm saving my pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters for a new Mac. Hopefully by the time I'm ready to buy the new machine, I'll have another $100-150 saved for accessories and so on.



Are you saving money in a jar? What are you saving up for?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Most of my change goes into the toll road in Indiana, the car wash, the laundromat.
  • Reply 2 of 16
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    My family has always had a long tradition of picking up change off the sidewalk, and saving change here and there. I've had a change jar (using an empty Culligan water jug) for a couple years. I'd throw coins in there every now and then, whenever I thought about it. After a while, I ended up with $30 or so to use as I pleased.



    Recently, I saw a PBS special or something that had Suze Ormann (sp?), Financial Specialist on it. She said that one way to save money easily without wasting money is to keep a change jar. Every time you purchase something, use bills, and keep all the coins you get back. At the end of the day, put all the coins in a jar. Instead of using the coins throughout the day on useless stuff you don't need anyway (like vending machine candy and so on), that money will be saved. She said that at the end of the year, you'll have up to a couple HUNDRED dollars saved up that you wouldn't have had before (and you really would have spend on worthless crap).



    So I'm saving my pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters for a new Mac. Hopefully by the time I'm ready to buy the new machine, I'll have another $100-150 saved for accessories and so on.



    Are you saving money in a jar? What are you saving up for?




    No jar, Piggie bank since i am a child. However, if you want to buy a powermac, you will have to buy a lot of stuff in order to buy you one. Considering that you have one dollar of coin saved for each buy, you should buy 1500 things in order to have a new mac. Considering that you buy one thing per day, you will have to wait 4 years to get your new mac.



    Good luck
  • Reply 3 of 16
    xionjaxionja Posts: 504member
    my personal piggybank: the evelope in my parents desk. . . .





    yall thought you were lucky to be out of your parents house, hehe.
  • Reply 4 of 16
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    Do you have a change jar or piggie bank? For what are you saving?



    to pay the skeleton dude to take me across the river, of course.
  • Reply 5 of 16
    timotimo Posts: 353member
    I collect quarters even though I haven't been to a coin-op laundry in a while. Habit.
  • Reply 6 of 16
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Last time I cashed out I had over $300 in quarters. It works, if you ignore the fact that you end up with less money to spend throughout the year....
  • Reply 7 of 16
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    I throw all my change into a big translucent orange (ha!) cup/mug thing. There's probably around $40 in nickels, dimes and pennies there now (I keep my quarters on hand for vending machines, parking and laundry day).







    Not saving it for anything in particular or special, but maybe it'll buy some RAM for my new iBook (whenever that cool day arrives)?
  • Reply 8 of 16
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    We've always done this. All change hits a big jar in the kitchen. Had just over $200 in there last time. (in addition to quarters and below, we have dollar and 2 dollar coins here)



    Got the idea from my parents, who did the same thing over about 2 years. We all chipped in, and ended up with almost $1500 towards our new hot tub. You spend just over $10 and pay with a twenty, you get a $5 bill, 2 $2 coins plus other change... so you could be sticking over $4 in there in one shot. Really adds up.



    Seriously, it's like having someone give you free cash since you don't really miss the dollar here and there...
  • Reply 9 of 16
    agent302agent302 Posts: 974member
    At home in the U.S., I almost never spend change because, other than the quarter, most of it really isn't worth carrying in pockets. So when I get home, I always throw my change into a cup in my drawer (which, in fact, is a Thundercats cup that I got at Burger King like 15 years ago when I was 5). Then, like once a year when the cup is overflowing, I spend a couple hours and fill coin rolls and then take them to the bank to get changed into real money (ie, bills). I seriously get like $60-70 worth of change when I do this. It's a nice little bonus.



    Now, I've found that during my year here in the UK, I spend change a lot more because £1 and £2 coins are actually worth something. 2p coins are the devil though.
  • Reply 10 of 16
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    old shoes. 4 of them. 2 are filled to the top with nickles dimes and pennies, 1 of them is getting filled with those, and the 4th has a ton of quarters in it. Quarters are harder to save because I can use them for laundry or as a substitute for the atm when I just want to buy something that costs a dollar or two.



    Oh, sizes 12 & 13
  • Reply 11 of 16
    spookyspooky Posts: 504member
    I'm saving my pennies for a 970



    I should have enough by 2098
  • Reply 12 of 16
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    What's a 970?
  • Reply 13 of 16
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    What's a 970?



    The new iPod due next Tuesday? \



  • Reply 14 of 16
    stunnedstunned Posts: 1,096member
    I have 2 piggy banks.



    Will probably use the money for a rainy day or a 12" PB.
  • Reply 15 of 16
    artman @_@artman @_@ Posts: 2,546member
    I have a El Ray De Mundo (Robustos Larga) Cigar box. I save pennies, nickles, dimes and gift cards in it for about a year (or until I can't slide the lid closed). Then I dump them into a bank changer, get the cash and cards and buy new clothes. It's about $200 or so including the gift cards.

    I got the habit of saving pennies from my dad. I would save all my pennies over a year, roll them up and cash them for Christmas shopping. 8)
  • Reply 16 of 16
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    I use a big clay bowl. The first place I moved into when attending college was a sort of boarding room/apartment. It was a very beautiful building in a decent part of Long Beach. The guy that "ran" the apartment was about 40, had his degree in pottery or something like that and basically ran this communal apartment, spun pottery and smoked lots of pot.



    I rented a sort of loft (extra large bunk bed type arrangement) in one of the rooms. He cooked every night and divided the food bill by the number of people in the apartment.



    I lasted about a whole two weeks with this arrangement. It wasn't the pot use or anything else that offended me. It was that after they smoked out, you of course would get the munchies and he and company would slam down all the food.



    Needless to say he cheated my out of some rent money. I took his bowl. It has collected my change for 14 years now. I think it was a fair trade.



    Nick
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