Finally Cashing in that Coin Jar

When I was young, my parents had an empty water cooler bottle that they would use to collect coins. We would save all year then turn the coins in to a local counter machine to use on our annual family vacation. I still remember the excitement we had at learning how much we saved. The purpose of it was to have disposable cash on-hand. This isn't a bad thing, but since we spent it readily, I did not equate this simple method as a way to generate any long-term savings. Now that I'm in charge of my family's finances, I take a slightly different approach.

The coin jar above followed us through three moves, but has rarely been full enough to empty. When living in the city, I avoided picking up change from subway platforms. Better to leave that quarter near the puddle of unknown sludge. Whenever I broke a bill and made change, I quickly found ways to spend get rid of it because it was easier to swipe my credit card than fumble through a wallet in a crowded area. Better to leave the spare cash in a tip jar than carry around annoying pennies. It's better than getting robbed because someone saw a flash of a $20 and thought you were rolling in it, but failed to realize that's the first Andrew Jackson you've seen all month. Amirite?

This mindset was wasteful. 

Over the past year, I made a concentrated effort to liberate coins from our couch cushions, rescue dropped dimes from under the car floor mat, and empty pennies from seldom used handbags and wallets. My life is more settled now. Change has a way of floating around more easily and getting found.

Better to save it.

Personally, I don't use third-party coin counter machines at local grocery stores. They take a fairly hefty percentage of your earnings, sometimes as much as 5% or more. Instead, I cash in at my local bank branch, despite wariness over any of their more "official" machines shortchanging clients. The only foolproof method would be to fill your own coin roll wrappers. I have not gone that far yet.

Let me say that the bank teller who assisted me was very detail-oriented. She snagged a loose button, zipper pull, and some random string bits from the jar as she poured the change in to the coin sorter. She was lightning fast. During that process, my husband asked how much we collected. 

My guess: $178.00

Actual...

How to Get Your Money's Worth from Beauty and Personal Care Products

According to a recent Washington Post article, most American women are more likely to buy luxe beauty products over clothing. However, I recommend using samples first. Shaking brand loyalty is a little more difficult to do.

I spend hundreds each year on personal care products and cosmetics, but most upscale brands simply cost too much for the average person, myself included, to grab on a whim. With Sephora letting customers have up to three samples per in-store visit and plenty of competitors giving away free trial sizes online, I am part of a new wave of consumers the common retailer may struggle to engage. 

Poor packaging only compounds the pricing pain point. Why would I buy something that is not only difficult to use, wasteful even, and expensive? Before throwing out that next shampoo bottle, open the cap and take a look inside. You will be surprised by how much is left- that's a lot of discarded money over time.

Nars Satin Lip Pencil (deluxe sample shown) retails for $26 for 0.07 oz. 

The solution? Scissors, in most cases. In the above, I used a matchstick after cutting the sample open because anything else would have been too large. A small spatula with an extended handle is cost-effective and can get the job done too.

MDSolarSciences Mineral Tinted Crème Broad Spectrum SPF 30 UVA-UVB: $32 for 1.7 oz.

It may seem petty and cheap to bother, but doing this greatly extends the "life" of most products by 3-5 days on average, and full-sized products even longer. In short, you will notice a cost difference over time. Your bank account balance will thank you.