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More and more banks are also beginning to charge you to count coins if they will accept them at all. With the current rates that
banks are paying on savings accounts, you'll likely have to leave the money your received for your coins in the bank several years
just to break even with what you initially had.
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What this all comes down to is that for many, keeping a coin jar is the same as losing money. Where it once was a great way to add
to your savings, it has become as wasteful as keeping a balance on your credit cards. We have come to a time where the coin jar can
actually cost you more money than you save.
There are a few steps that you can take to make sure that you aren't actually losing money when you think you are saving it.
First,
you want to make sure never to have your coins changed at a grocery or similar store. By doing so, you will automatically have
around 10% of your money subtracted for fees.
Before you take your coins to your bank, make sure they don't charge any fees for taking the money. The policy for banks varies
widely. Some will charge for loose coins, but won't charge if you roll the coins yourself. Find out what charges exist and if any
do, consider switching banks. Credit unions are usually better at not charging fees for taking coins than banks.
If you can't find a bank that will take coins without charging you, then use the coins in your everyday use. You're much better off
doing this that letting them sit in a jar where they will ultimately lose money for you. You can amend the money jar game to benefit
your savings if this is the case.
Instead of saving coins, move up to $1 bills for your money jar. In this scenario, you'll be doing exactly what you have been doing,
but you'll be saving $1 bills instead of change. You don't spend any $1 bills you receive, but any coins you receive are fine to
use. That means all purchases have to be made with coins or large bills ($5, $10, or $20 dollar bills). At the end of the day, you
place all your $1 bills into your savings jar. Since banks will not charge you anything to deposit $1 bills, you avoid the fees your
would get for the change and save even more money than with coins.
If you think that changing the game will keep you from saving, another way to change the coins is to take them to your local post
office and use them to buy stamps out of the vending machines there. By switching the coins for stamps, you get 100% value for your
coins which is better than paying fees to have the coins switched to bills.
In the end it's important to remember that coins are legal currency and you can get full face value for them by spending them a
little at a time. While a large amount of coins can be troublesome, there is no reason to pay a fee to have the coins deposited.
About the Author:
Copyright (c) Jeffrey Strain. He is owner of Save Money Games - a website dedicated to decreasing debt through
money saving games.
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