How Saving Your Pocket Change Can Add Up to $600

We've all heard the old saying, "A penny saved is a penny earned", but can pennies still be saved and really add up to anything? It seems the only thing that wants a penny these days is a gas pump as it's almost impossible to stop the pump on an even dollar. How many times have you walked down the sidewalk, seen a penny on the ground and actually bent over to pick it up? Just think about how many other pennies there are just like that one lying on the ground waiting to go in someones pocket.

The truth is, pennies can amount to something. Not just pennies, but pocket change in general. It has to have some kind of value as there are banks now with programs just for loose change. It's called "keep the change" and it works by taking the coin value change from purchases with their debit card and depositing it in your savings account. By rounding up to the next dollar, every time you use that card a certain amount of change is created and it adds up rather quickly.

For men, pocket change can quite a nuisance. And for women, too much change in the bottom of a purse can be downright dangerous. What if they were to take all of the change, put it in a container and save it?

There is a drawback to saving change and that is the weight of the container when it gets full. I've seen people with plastic containers from a water cooler filled with pennies. When asked when they were going to trade them in for dollars, they said they couldn't pick the container up to take it to the bank. It will certainly keep a cat burglar from stealing your money. He might get your VCR but, in reality, there is a more money in the change jar than the VCR was worth.

I had a co-worker tell me that an older gentleman he knew went to a car lot to buy a new car. When the salesman asked how he was planning on paying for a new car, he opened the trunk of his trade in revealing four five gallon buckets full of quarters. As the story goes, he had enough to buy the new car but it took two able bodied mechanics to get the buckets out of the trunk and my co-worker couldn't explain how the older gentleman got the buckets in the trunk by himself. But it's not inconceivable that twenty gallons of quarters could add up to a substantial amount of money.

As a restaurant crew at one time, I'd put my pocket change in a container in my toolbox to keep it from constantly falling out of my pocket while working. It would generally take about two months and the container would be full. There was a machine at the entrance to the local grocery store that would count all the change and give me a voucher good for cash or merchandise in the store. Every time I used that machine, I'd be able to buy my groceries with the voucher as it was never less than one hundred dollars.

That adds up to $600 a year!

So, the next time you see a penny on the ground and don't feel like picking it up, at least consider the change that is already in your pocket. Find a container and drop your change in it every day. When it gets full, take it to the bank and put it in a savings account and start over. You'd be surprised how fast it can add up.

*Personal experience.