I’ve started keeping a change jar on my desk. It’s mostly filled with nickels and pennies, with the occasional dime. I put it there because our vending machines just suffered a price increase – sodas are now $1.35. People are more likely to have a dollar and a quarter than they are to have 35 cents rolling around. After a couple of coworkers borrowed quarters and then returned with 15 cents, I just started a “give a penny, take a penny” style jar, only designed for those errant nickels and dimes that we can so rarely find.
Well, it’s become a penny jar. Sure, it’s got other change in it, but a number of people have just started dropping their pennies in after lunch because they don’t want to carry all that “useless” change around.
I’ve decided to start an experiment. I’m going to see how much money ends up in this jar by the end of the year. It’s unguarded, so someone could come in and take a handful of pennies (or the whole jar). But it’s also out in the open for anyone to drop their change in. No one’s asked me what I’m going to do with it – in fact, I haven’t said that it’s for anything other than shared vending machine change.
I’m wondering how many pennies are going to be in the jar by the end of the year. As I don’t feel like it’s my money, I’ll either use the money to buy candy or something for the office or maybe just exchange it for nickels and dimes and help out the vending machine change scroungers.
They’re only pennies, but they add up. I don’t use that much cash in my life and I still see my change jar slowly filling. Of course, I end up dumping that into a Coinstar machine and getting Amazon.com gift certificates a couple of times a year. This time, I’m going to see what we can manage to save.
That’s a great idea! I keep a change jar on my desk as well but I work at home and nobody else contributes to it.
I worked in an office once in Colorado where we saved all our soda cans. There was no deposit on them so most people just throw them out. Every once in a while one of the guys I worked with would take them in to be recycled. The recycling company I guess paid for the cans and when he returned them he would come in with bagels for the office the next morning.
It was really nice and unexpected! I bet if you did something nice for the office your coworkers would appreciate it!
It’s great that you are practicing what you preach on the title of your blog: Counting Your Pennies 🙂
We have a coin storage machine, but since we never carry money, it is not very full. There is a down side to not carrying money, though: I read somewhere that we tend to spend up to 30% more when using plastic, even debit cards.
What am I thinking?!
One wonders how long a penny will be worth a penny
but we are counting our pennies as well Literally and figuratively 😉
Terri
http://healthywealthymoms.blogspot.com/