I've been thinking about doing this for a while and thought I'd find my old piggy bank..no luck. Several people in CMT suggested places to find one(I was having no luck at all) but after looking at afew I thought they were pretty pricey for the purpose of being frugal and decided to look around the house and found 2 cute little tins..one house shaped and one a metal 'basket' with cute little handles..sure it's easter themed but oh well! I was telling a friend of mine the other night about my piggy bank hunt and she said she's been doing the same thing for several years! I figured I'd be doing good to save up 10 -25 bucks but she says she has 2 tall decorative containers she'd gotten as gifts that are hollow inside and puts pennies in one and other change in the other..in December she takes the coins out and starts rolling..said last year she bought her hubby a bicycle with the money she'd saved and another year they both got jackets..she says it really adds up if you keep at it. when she suggested separating the p ennies that's when I found the little 'house' continainer..the only drawback is I have toopen the lid to put the change in..no slot and I really don't want to cut into the container.

anyways, just wondering if others do this(I know i used to toss the change in my purse or car then dig around to pay for a burger or breakfast taco or something..or vending machine...at least putting it in containers at home keeps me from blowing money at the machine!)

I've been doing this for awhile and it works so well!  Anytime I make a purchase I put the change in a coffee can - I don't ever have change with me (except a quarter -for the cart at Aldi:)  I am a homeschooler and I usually use the change to purchase books, etc.  It adds up so quickly.  We are on a weekly budget and if I have any money (besides change) leftover at the end of the week that goes in the can too.   

Jane

Yes we save our change. It is our vacation money. Not only that but each pay day if I have $10 or $20 in my pocket from last pay day I throw that in the jar, so does my husband and daughter. It adds up fast. We don't touch it we go on vacation with it. Last year we has close to $1000 saved.

wow! sounds like I can save up a lot!

I toss mine in an old peanut jar. Put the quarters in the mini-M&M containers.   Since parking is in quarters it's nice to have them separated out for when I need to restock the car.

We started it as a "use our color laser printer, donate a dime per page" because ink was just too expensive to have everyone printing.  We paid the jar when we printed also, so when we ran out of ink the jars held enough to buy new toner cartridges.

Since we don't have roommates anymore the jars morphed into just change.

I have been doing it and cashing it in when the bank (a giant PEZ dispenser that holds money) gets fullish. I take the proceeds and buy Disney Dollars, which are for my trip next month.

I save change!  Then when I get quite a lot I take it to the credit union and dump it in their coin machine and get a receipt and then they give me the cash for it or I deposit it.   I love doing that because I don't enjoy rolling it up.   And at the credit union it's free to use the machine.

We have been doing that for years and every once in a while we will count it and spend it on something.  It had been almost two years since the last time we "cashed" it in and we recently took it down to the local food pantry (donations were so far down they were going to have to close the doors for two weeks) when they counted it up it was $568.

So while it may not seem like it - it really does add up.

There are about eight pickle jars of coins at every corner of my living room, and a little pot of bills by the door. When ever a pocket jingles, or a change purses, all the loose money goes into a container. I think the Snoopy bank in the hallway has about 100$!!!

I save change also. My friends house burned down Feb 18th. They learned the hard way that insurance only pays $200 on coin (coin collections have to have a seperate rider) plus paper money lost in a fire. I can't imagine the thousands they had saved in about 25 metal coffee cans stashed around the house.They lost it all... So, I cashed in my change last week. Kid guessed $60, I guessed $80. It was $163!! There's my garage sale money for the summer..... Learn a lesson from their loss and don't let that change reach over the $200 mark.

PS: The change was the least of their worries, but burned money is burned money. Period.

We save our change in a big plastic Stripes drinking cup. When it's full, it holds about $60.

I usually change it at the bank's coin sorter and pay it into the DS's savings accounts.

I save mine in a mason jar...that way I can see it accumulating.  When I get it full, I take it to the bank...keep $10 and treat myself to a dinner out.  It's a little reward, and makes me want to save more.

I'm the only one in my house that collects change, so everyone just gives me their spare change.  I use a plain old clear jar, so that way I can see it accumulate.  But I always get impatient and start rolling them to see how much it adds up to.  Even if it is $10, i still feel like it is $10 bucks I didn't have before.  Small things make me happy :)

I'm surprised I have as many coins as I do (over $10 when I put them in the other day and I added some more last night) because I usually swipe my debit card or credit card instead of getting cash but I know I sometimes get $10-$20 back in cash at the grocery store or walmart when I use my card 'jus tin case' and somehow it disappears (usually breakfast tacos or if we eat out at work). but I'm curious to see how much I have at the end of the year.

I haven't decided yet how to 'cash them in' because my checking account is with my credit union which is on the other side of town. :-( too far to drive just to sort coins and the randall's near me charges 10% for their machine -yikes! I wonder if I rolled them if a different bank would give me cash for them or a money order..hmm..oh well  not there yet!

my coworker found some that count the money for you as you put it in..got them after christmas in '07 she said and has over $100 already jus tin one jar.

I'm active on wheresgeorge (where you track where your money travels), so I'm always trying to get more bills out in circulation.  That means I rarely pay with change.  I save up the change that I get in a big clear popcorn container in the pantry.  I roll up the money every few weeks and take it in to deposit in the savings account in the bank probably about 3 times a year.  I would estimate that my husband and I generate somewhere around $600-800 in change a year that I end up depositing.

wow that's a lot! maybe I need to get a hubby LOL!

oh well I'm gonna see how much I end up with!

We've been doing this for years, ever since my SO worked at a coffee shop and would come home with lots of change from his tips. We don't collect so much these days, back then we would go to the bank and have hundereds of dollars worth, but I still like to collect it.

We have a hundred mile yard sale in my part of the country and I save change all year to take in the sales.It last five days so you could spend a lot of money but saving change all year really helps.My husband gives me all of his change so both of us save quite a bit.The yard sale is Memorial Day week-end and we look forward to it every year...Barbara N (Barbie 4)

We save our change in a large bulk pickle jar. We fill it up about 2 or 3 time a year and get about $200 each time. All of the money goes into our daughters savings account so that she'll have some money for college.

I enjoyed reading all of the savings stories that everyone has posted above... My son has a small star bank, and I give him my change every few days - and he puts it in his bank. When the bank gets full- I put it in a used, clean plastic Ragu jar.  When the Ragu jar is about half full..it holds about $16.00. Im trying to "wait" to cash in the money, until its all the way full!  I usually spend the money on groceries or save to buy a Gift for my son.

I collect all my change in an old gallon Mason jar so I can see how it adds up.  Only silver chage goes in my jar; I give all the pennies to my young son for a "long-term" investment in his piggy bank (yes, it really is a piggy).  Every few months I cash in the jar and deposit the money in an emergency fund my wife knows nothing about.  When we need a hunk of cash and con't manage on the salary, I pull out what we need like "magic."

I don't like to roll coins. The banks around here (maybe just the smaller branches) don't have coin counters anymore. But we do have grocery stores that have CoinStar (or similar) machines. Most do charge a small % as a counting fee IF you take the proceeds as cash - but will count for free if you take it as a gift card. Check the link to read details and/or find a machine near you: http://coinstar.com/us/html/a-home

My coin saving story: a few years ago, I attended a conference & gave a presentation on behalf of a charity. Later in the day, the manager of the hotel hosting the conference offered a donation to the charity. Seems they had a fountain and people threw coins in it to make a wish - but their bank wouldn't take the coins! So he offered them to me, if I'd take them for the charity. I said yes, of course, and was glad I'd driven - at checkout they loaded 6 bags of coins (mostly pennies, but still...) in my car. I stopped at a grocery with a CoinStar machine, had to wheel a basket out to the car and load the coins, but after counting, had nearly $600!

I am just starting to save coins myself,  but 11 years ago my dad saved up enough to take me to Disney World.  This included airfare, hotel, rental car, a trip to a water park, plus the actual Disney tickets  :)     He had been saving for a long time, years in fact, and had a very serious girlfriend who moved in, and when she left him she stole our entire change collection (which was all for Disney, and she knew it). He had been about to book the trip, had to start all over, but he just kept at it!

i bought electronic coin sorter so i just put all change in there when i come in to apartment and roll it . i put it on top refrigrar see soon how much i have i also have debit card which i spend 24.03 then they round it off 25.00 out of account and put .97 in saving account.

I wish my checking account offered that round-up service Carol..but can't complain since it's free and  that credit union offers a lot of other services. I could discipline myself to figure it out myself though since I usually do bills and such online at work instead of on my own time!

amber, that's so upsetting..I hope that woman gave herself bad money karma for the rest of her life. no way I'd take someone's money like that.

I've enjoyed all the stories and I"m convinced this change adds up...just from cleaning out my car,  purse, and the money left upstairs in a glass from the washer/dryer and emptying pockets the past few months..I have over 10 bucks and I've just now started!