By: Henry

Henry — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:00:08 +0000

I could see the evolution of the quality of this blog with today’s time machine. I liked the articles from three years ago, but sadly I had already read them. I enjoyed 25 Gadgets That Actually Save Money, but found the $96 coin sorter a bust. Trent stated that “Most banks will no longer count change for you…” I find that to not be true. Banks have always handed out free rolls, so I hope you’re not buying them from a department store. In the nineties, you couldn’t find a bank willing to take jars of loose change. They would have had to sort and roll the coins by hand. But banks are beginning to use the same technology that is the basis of Coinstar, without the fee. My bank has a machine that sorts and rolls, but at an out of the way branch I don’t like to visit. But another bank close to me does have that machine, and they let non-customers use it for free. So more banks are accepting loose change as of late, rather than fewer. Don’t buy a sorter, just toss the change in a jar and haul it to the bank. Better yet, put the change back in your pocket and spend it.
My boyfriend had to pay about $70 in school fees for his son one year, and I got into an argument with the secretary over it. So I went to the bank and got $70 worth of pennies, nickels and dimes, dumped them loose into a bag and hauled it in to pay the fees. She whipped out a machine just like the bank uses and sorted the coins. These machines are very widespread, and there is no reason for a private residence that’s not taking in pounds of change a day to own one.

Comments on: The Simple Dollar Time Machine: December 19, 2009

By: Henry