What to Do with All that Change

If you're like most people, you have a big jar at home where you dump all the loose change you got that day. Every few months when it gets full, you probably take it to a Coinstar machine, which charges you 10 percent to turn that change into practical cash.

That 10 percent adds up. Don't waste it. There's plenty of ways you can turn your pocket change into cash without losing that 10 percent.

If you really like going to the Coinstar machine, choose to turn your change into a gift card instead of taking cash. Coinstar will give you 100 percent of your change instead of taking a fee, and you'll get a certificate you can use for something you would have bought anyway. But be careful, don't choose a gift certificate you'll never use just to save that fee. If you stop at Star Bucks every morning, then by all means choose a Star Bucks gift certificate. If you aren't a regular at any of the stores offered by the Coinstar machine, don't waste your money.

There's also a pretty healthy market for gift cards on the internet. You can pretty easily sell them on eBay, and websites like www.giftcardcove.com are completely devoted to the buying, selling, and trading of them. Be careful though. If you sell your gift card on eBay, you'll probably end up worse off then if you'd just accepted the Coinstar fee in the first place.

Another obvious, but inconvenient, option is to just spend it. Be that little old lady holding up the check out line for 15 minutes counting pennies. It may be a pain, but there's no fee for it. Just be prepared to be the bain of your fellow shoppers when the check out line stretches half way around the store.

With all the fees, penalties, and interest your bank charges, you'd think the least they could do is let you deposit your change into your checking or savings account fee-free. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. Many, I'd dare say most, banks that offer change counting also charge you a fee for it. While the fee is usually a bit smaller, somewhere around 6 percent instead of 10, you're still being charged to give them your money.

If you're determined to make your bank actually do something nice for you, I suggest going to a branch doesn't have a coin counting machine. Bring your change in small amounts, don't bring the entire jug. Go when it's not busy, talk nice to the person behind the counter, and sometimes you can talk them into counting it up with you. You have a better chance of success if you deposit the money straight into an account you hold at that bank.

Or, you can roll it. It seems like not many people choose this option, but they definately should! A few dozen coin rolls costs only a couple dollars at Walmart. Machines that automatically sort your change for you and put it into the rolls aren't that much either. Once you have coins rolled instead of loose, you can easily spend them just about anywhere, and even your bank probably won't charge you if you take your rolled change to them. Most stores require you to write your name and address on the outside of the roll before they'll accept it.

It may not seem like much, but those little fees can quickly add up to a lot of money! Especially if you pay in cash all the time, or if you spend your free time panhandling outside of department stores. Don't waste your money!