Turn your loose change into lattes (or iTunes tunes, or Amazon purchases) for free

I've always passed up the Coinstar change machines in the grocery store; I don't feel like paying for the privilege of having to lug all my loose change with me (approximately nine cents on the dollar -- almost 10 cents in Canada -- to turn coins into a voucher redeemable for cash or purchases). I've got a perfectly good coin sorter at home which provides hours of fun for my kids, and motivates them to stash coins in their piggy banks. The only bummer: I have to set foot inside my bank to deposit the money. I hate bank lines almost as much as I hate ATM fees, so this poses a bit of a problem.

Coinstar is now offering free counting in exchange for gift cards to selected merchants, including iTunes, Starbucks, and Amazon.com. The bad news: this discourages saving. The good news: no bank lines. Hmmm. Could work well for gifts; I could see my son dumping his hard-earned change into the machine to buy his daddy a birthday present of five or ten iTunes downloads, for example.

Any Coinstar users wish to throw in their two cents on the topic? (And, forgive me for saying so, but that's the best pun I've ever come up with.)

Tags: Coinstar, Parenting

Comments

[Lewis]

Unfortunately not all coinstar machines have this ability yet. You can go to the coinstar site and use their locator to find one. Look for one that has the "eCertificate" service.

[cooper]

Hi Asha,

This is kind of related. Last year I did a fundraiser for my kids' school and we asked all the families in the school to bring in their loose change for a month (turns out each of us in this country are sitting on at least $100 in unused change at this very minute, and we each generate at least $5-10 in unused change every week. adds up.) We were going to use coinstar to count the collection(they have a deal for non-profits)but we ended up going with a local bank instead. Anyway, after one month we collected over $10,000. The school now has a climbing wall and an outdoor classroom. Pretty darn cool, and, it was money people did not even miss.

[Guy]

Chevy Chase Bank (a bank in my area) also offers free coin counting machines with no hitches.

[Deborah]

I've used Coinstar a few times, and to me it's worth it to pay a fee for the convenience of cashing in my change at the grocery store, where I'm going anyway. My daughter helps me dump in the change (which we bring in a couple of ziploc bags) and when I go to the register and save money on my groceries that day, it feels worth it.

Commerce Bank also allows anyone to use their coin counting machine, free of charge.

[buck]

I was not that thrilled with Coinstar's take of 10 percent (or so), but I needed to get rid of a fair amount of change. What I did was rifle through what I had, took out all the quarters, and put the rest in the Coinstar. This left me with the easily spendable change that could be used in carwashes, laundromats and vending machines. I had about $50 in quarters, which saved me almost $5.

[maddie]

I think this is a great idea. I am an Amazon addict and buy way too many books. This will kill two birds with one stone for me! I am happy to be part of an industry trade rather than loose 9 cents on the dollar outright. I know it's mostly psychological, but I will gladly play the game. Thanks

[joe]

Coinstar also doesn't charge a service fee if you donate your change to charity. Seems like donating to charity would be a great lesson to teach your son at the Coinstar machine!

[meghan]

No fair... I was going to list this exact idea for Works for Me Wednesday today! It's the ultimate clutter solution, turning piles of change into digital music. Since my husband is both the change-hoarder and the ultimate music lover, it's really easy to get him on board. iTunes is loaded with kid's music, classical, jazz, and other things that are great for the whole family, too.

[Tracy Lee]

Wells Fargo banks in Minnesota offer free coin counting machines to their members/customers (you have to have an account with them). My only problem with it is after you count your coins you get a receipt that you have to take up to the teller to get the cash.

[Adam]

My girlfriend and I did this a few weeks ago when she was moving from her old apt. to her new apt.

2 travel coffee cups worth of change.

The fact that they had the gift certificates was a surprise bonus and she chose one from Amazon to purchase things for the new apartment.

The bigger surprise? That it was over $70 worth of change!

I'm sure I'll be taking my daughter to do the same when her piggy bank gets full.