


Picture by Ben Hosking

Dear Coining,


I don't like carrying large volumes of coins in my wallet, since they cause unsightly bulges and ultimately tend to wear out the wallet faster, even when there's a dedicated pocket for them, so like you I nearly always dump them every time they get full. My personal strategy now is to make sure I hit a nearby bank whenever I've got more than an ice-cream container full (and even that weighs enough to require a bit of planning). But if you don't fancy going to a bank, then there are a few other options:

  • Grab a handful of coins every day to pay for small purchases. Shops can refuse to accept small change if you're spending more than $5 and not using any coin larger than a 50 cent piece, but you can easily grab your daily coffee with that kind of money.


Cheers Lifehacker




    Vending machines are a great way to spend small amounts.


    I second the stashing spare change in the car.

    I use it for:
    1. Car Park machines





    Go there when it's quiet and no impatient customers waiting behind you and just buy either your normal groceries or a Woolies gift card.

    In the US these machines are in supermarkets, they take a small cut, but give you a coupon to redeem at the cashier for cash (with less coins hopefully ;) ) or pay for your shopping.

    Woolworths / Coles self serve machine

    or for Pizza money

      as a former Pizza boy, if you're planning on paying for your pizza with a huge amount of change, you should definetly include a decent sized tip, we have to count that all by hand either at your doorstep or back at the shop!


    Get a big money box. Put all the coins in there as soon as you empty your pockets. Over 2 years i had enough coins in that box to buy a 32" Samsung LCD tv (~approx $1400 at the time)

    I mainly use my coins for my morning coffee, although I definitely put more money into my coin jar that I get out. It doesn't hurt to leave enough in my car for the occasional piece of drive through.


    Take it to a bank. Seriously, last time I did this I took one of those hessian money bags (half the size of a standard shopping bag) full of silver only and walked away with $180. That's not small change (pun intended). I keep gold separately as that gets spend on vending machines, parking and DIY car wash places

    Some supermarkets have self-service checkouts and they accept an unlimited number of coins.






      awesome! those crazy machines do come in handy!

    The office draw at work for the 10am/12pm/3pm coffee urge... or those times when you simply don't have time to cross a few streets to get the ATM.

    I do find spending all the larger denominations leaves your draw with a raging epidemic of 5c pieces. This is easily solved by adding 20-50c worth to a coffee order everyday. For the non-coffee people, same principle applies... just substitute for a daily regular :)


    To get motivated to actually take this to the bank (and, yes, it's a major hassle), myself and my partner decide in advance what we're planning to do with the cash (eg. fancy dinner, weekend away, new technology, etc.). Then, when the bowl is full, you're motivated to find out exactly how much is in there, so you can start planning which restaurant/hotel/TV you're going to buy.

    Just spend it as you go. I don't understand how people can get into this state unless they just can't be arsed dipping into their change when paying. Virtually without exception every shop you go in likes getting change as it keeps their float full of small coins for those who don't bother!!

    If something was $4.60, say, I'd always give them the 60c on top of whatever note I'd hand over so I get rid of that change and get a single $1 piece back. Similarly if something was $8 I'd try and see if I had $3 in coins to pass over with any note in order to get just notes back and lose some change.



    Ive found the myki system in melbourne to be very useful for dumping unwanted coins, the only draw back is they dont take 5c coins.

    Take all your coins to a local pub with a 'Barry' machine, and preferably other gaming machines (as they change dollar coins to larger denominations). Insert all your coins in Barry, (except 5 cent pieces - you're stuck with those little jerks..). After you're done - play away as much or little as you like, then hit collect. All your money is dispensed as dollar coins - which at gaming venues are simple to have converted to cash.


    When we come to something major (holiday away, moving house etc) we cash the coins in at my local bank (make sure you sort them into the bags the bank provides, makes the whole process go a lot smoother and there's a lot less questions about if you robbed a vending machine).


    I went to the post office and bought a big mailing tube. I duct-taped the two ends up and cut a hole in the top. Any money I had in my wallet at the end of the week, went into the tube. Sometimes I was even putting $20 or $50 notes in there. I told myself that I wasn't going to touch the tube until it was full. And when it was, I emptied it and counted it out. There was about $700 in there. That just about got us a really nice 42" plasma TV. I'm doing the same now, but only putting change in, no notes. That'll be my camera equipment fund ;)

    I dump them in a pile in my room whenever my wallet gets too fat and heavy. Then if I'm going to the city, I'll grab $5.40 worth from the pile to spend on my train ticket. Tends to keep the pile in balance, since it doesn't grows about as much as a go to the city.

      Only limitation with this approach is that Sydney ticket vending machines won't accept more than 10 coins (and won't accept 5 cent pieces at all) - so not always a strategy for unmanned stations or early morning/late night.

    I can tell when it's getting full as it acts as a very good door stop.
    it's heavy now so i'm looking to empty it and hopefully there will be enough cash for an Xbox console with kinnect. Last time there was around $400 and I bought an old piano. I think it's cool to buy something you've saved up for without really noticing

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