My boyfriend has a huge flower vase full of coins. We regularly dump our change into it and fish out change we need for the Metro or the vending machine at work.

While my boyfriend was away on a business trip last month, I got it into my head that I didn’t want to lug this big vase to our new house, so I wanted to be sneaky and deposit it into my account and give him the money. But it turns out, that wasn’t going to happen.

1. I’m not good at being dishonest. – I told boyfriend that I didn’t want to move the vase because it was heavy. I told him I would take it to the bank, and if the fee was too high, I would take it to a Coinstar machine for an Amazon gift certificate.

2. Banks suck. – I tried going to Chevy Chase Bank because years ago, I had a post that they did free coin counting. Well, not anymore. It’s a flat $3.00 for amounts under $100.00, or 7% of anything over $100.00. My own bank happened be across the parking lot, so I waddled over there with the vase and they politely told me that they only take rolled coins. (Suddenly I was overcome with the urge to short all the rolls and deposit them.) But I digress. I walked out.

3. Coinstar was my last resort. – I went to the supermarket, which had a machine. (Where I had just been 20 minutes before, buying kitty litter before the banks opened.) I tossed in all the coins, and it took about 10 minutes for it to count the coins. Apparently I was feeding them in too fast. Once I was done, I walked away with a eGift Card for Amazon.com as originally planned.

I’ll be running a guessing game giveaway starting tomorrow. Please enter for a $5 Starbucks card. (There’s a story behind that too.) You’ll be guessing how much money was in the vase.

Coin Jar Woes is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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UPDATE!! July 2009: N.B. Current fees at Chevy Chase bank are a flat $3 for <$100 and 7% for anything over $100.

In the DC Metro area at any rate.

If you go to Chevy Chase Bank, they have coin counting machines that will give you a little slip. Then you take it to the teller and they give you bills for it. You don’t have to have an account there to use it! That’s what so great about it!

A small warning, my friend observed a <.01% error rate. It was very small. Pennies difference on about $15.00. And when my friend told the teller, she rounded up the payout so nothing was actually lost.

This is a relief to find out. I was on the verge of taking a cup of change to a Coinstar machine and getting an Amazon gift card to avoid the Coinstar fee. But I would rather save the money instead of spending. (Or else turn it into a year’s worth of laundry money quarters so I never have to make a special trip again.)

Free Coin Counting! is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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Cuteness!

So cute! It makes me want to run out and find a tin and some tin snips right NOW!

Why is it that my first reaction when I see something cool is to try to make one of my own instead of buy it?

Frequently I have that feeling when shopping for clothes.

Moonjars! is a post from: Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge

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