Do You Cash in Your Change and Do You Feel Stupid?

I don't use those machines because they charge 10%. So if you cash in $200. they'll charge you $20 for using the machine. I always roll the coins and take them to the bank in person. There is one bank that has a machine and doesn't charge a fee for using it. One is TD bank. I think Cardinal has a free one too.

Cashing in change, I was able to pay cash for 4 very NEEDED haircuts and a tank of gas!

Well...yesterday, I went to the bank w/ $40 worth of rolled change. I have to admit, I felt kinda embarrassed doing that. :(
But it was probably because I know my pitiful financial situation.

I have never had negative thoughts towards people using those machines.
I'm just not willing to pay to use them.

It doesn't bother me when others do it, but I do feel self-conscious doing it myself. I actually don't use those machines after the first time when I could hear what sounded like nearly a quarter of my change falling into some pit rather than where it's counted.

I actually like to count and roll change. Anything tedious like that helps calm me.

We got a coin sorter for the house, but it's almost more trouble than it's worth considering how many times we have to stop it and take it apart to dig out a coin that's jammed.

never apologize for money.. :)

Yes those are pretty loud but so what. What would be annoying is if you paid for something with all that change LOL! If you feel self conscious about it go to your bank. They have those machines and it is in the back and they do it for you :) Go shopping and have fun.

I cash mine in at the coinstar at Kroger. They don't charge a fee if you put it on a kroger gift card, which I immediately turn around and use for groceries. No, I don't feel stupid at all! That machine never stops going! I have to wait forever to get a turn on it!

I know what you mean. It is pretty loud, but hey, it's my money. Last time I saw someone with as much change as you have, I was jealous! Lol. Enjoy your shopping!!

No way! Cash it in baby!

to me money is money...do it:)

I have to.. I have a piggy bank on my desk.. on the side it says "Girls night out".. One of my daughters librarians gave it to me!

It is not very big and it fills up pretty fast.. The other day my husband needed some quarters, when I picked it up, the stopper popped out and a ton of change fell out.. My husband said.. "looks like it is time to call your friends!"

And no I am not embarrassed. That little piggy always gives me at least $50.

Our daughter has a big plastic Penguin bank. When she was getting ready to leave for college, we cashed it in, she had over $300. in there! We were astounded.

Don't feel silly. If everyone felt silly doing it, the machine wouldn't be there. And you know what's more silly? Counting your change 3 times, and coming up with a different amount each time! Ugh!

Btw, older folks who really have a hard time physically handling change, like those with arthritis, need these machines. So use them. If regular people don't use them, they might remove the machines, and then the poor bank tellers will have to do the counting!

Dawn

I'll admit I felt stupid standing there while folks were grocery shopping and I was doing my impression of Granny at the Vegas slots. Rattle rattle clang clang... But the stupid feeling went away when I walked off with cash in my hand. :) Just make sure the machine doesn't charge you a fee because that sucks more than the noise in my opinion.

I won't use coin star, because they charge a percent unless you get a gift card through one of their partners that pays the percent for you.

Haven't felt stupid about change since my son got all of our spare change for 3 years, and ended up with $400.

Banks have the machines. Some are in the lobby and some are behind the counter. Take your kids with you if it makes you feel silly.

We collect change for our daughter's Christmas money each year. We take it in to get easy walking money and go shopping. Did it last week and it was fun to see my daughter try to carry that jug in and then walk out with $42.

What else are you going to do with it? If you'd like someone to take it off your hands, I'll be on my way over. ;-)

Why feel stupid? That's what it's there for. If you don't like the noise or feel that it's embarrassing to do at a grocery store, go to your bank. Many banks have them and don't charge current customers fees to use them.

I put $402 into the grocery's Coin Star. People kept staring and I realized they thought we were doing it because we were hard up for food money.
Someone offered to pay for our food after following us and watching what we put into our cart. I was moved, though we don't need money now.
Ours is free IF you get a store gift card.

Who cares if it's loud! You must be easily embarrassed :) But don't be - just get your shopping money!!!

We have machines at some of the local back branches. I go there because they don't charge a fee.

LOL. If you don't want to do it yourself a lot of banks have change counters. They may charge you a fee to do it though.

Let me tell you, when I was working as a teller, I had a guy bring me a five gallon bucket of change. Took me an a hour and a half to get through it all. Grand total 675.77, not even joking.

Don't feel silly, there are tons of people that do this, especially in this economy.

ETA: I LOVE to roll coins, I think it feeds my OCD sometimes. LOL

Nothing to feel stupid about! You won't feel stupid spending it for sure! woohoo

My bank does it for freel No one but them hears the machine in the back! No worries, just cash in your pocket!

I enjoy doing it with my daughter. She has a bank at home but often times she also has tons of change. It is fun for us to take it all in once in awhile and use the machine at our grocery store. She feels proud being able to hand the cashier her slip and receive her money. Yes, there is a fee but we do not have access to our bank. On our machine there is no fee if 1) you use it for a grocery store gift card or 2) you donate it. I see no reason to feel embarrassed or stupid.

We save all our change until we have 3 HUGE containers full, usually takes about a year and a half, and then take them all into the bank (The Coinstar machines at the grocery store charge a fee - banks are usually free for members). The the last two times we had over $800 and over $1,100 respectively. We were then able to pay cash for the last two mini-vacations we took (just us to the beach for a long weekend).
Don't feel embarrassed or stupid - it's a great way to get "free" money!

No way! Our bank has one of the machines with no fee! Our kids divide up the spare change around the house into their banks. Once they're full we make a trip to the bank, make 3 seperate transactions and they get cash and an empty bank to start again!

Every year I roll up the change in my daughters piggy banks (she collects them). My hubby and I are always dumping our change into them. Last year I rolled up almost $400 in coins and put it in her bank account.
This year I will be using the coin machine at the supermarket and pay the 10 cents for each dollar. I had trouble carrying the shoe box full of rolled coins into the bank, I forgot how heavy they can be, lol.
You shouldn't feel silly, it is all acceptable money.

Not at all. I think it's fun. But we go to our credit union to do this - they have the machine in the lobby. So it's different from doing it like, in the middle of Wal Mart or something. Less people stare.

To me, money is money. I've done it at the grocery store machines and have never felt weird.

Nope because I bring it to the bank. :)

I've never done the machine but everytime I go to the store someone is doing it. I roll mine and take it to the bank. Do I feel stupid -- No! I usually walking away with a couple hundred dollars. :-)

at my bank, you can bring in a bag of change and they charge $5 to count it and the rest is credited to your account. I was a little bummed about the charge, but it was still less than coinstar, and I got cash (well, a deposit I could use as cash) instead of a giftcard to a particular store.

AHHH, remember the good old days when you could go to your bank, put your change in their machine and get your cash that day?! I do, and I'm not THAT old!

I do it every year - but I usually take the money and use it to buy gifts for our Christmas angels.

never feel stupid - that is MONEY - ya know? WHo cares if it makes noise - especially if you're going to walk away with $200? I'd be laughing all the way to the crazy loud noise making Coinstar machine and back again while I bought myself something fab with my newly found money.

You go girl!

I'm not embarrassed to use them because of the noise, I did it for a long time until my teenage daughter told me I was a lunatic for giving away 9%. She is now in charge of rolling our coins!

I see using them around here and we do it everyonce in awhile. We have a coin jar and use it for a dinner out when we notice it is full. I've also seen people who have collected coins for a charity project in classes use them. Banks aren't so coin friendly around here so CoinStar is the way to go.

I don't use the machines, not because of the noise, but because I refuse to pay to have my change counted for me. I save change and when I get enough to roll, I wrap it while I'm watching tv.

I don't use them b/c I'd rather keep all my money to myself (and not give Coinstar that ten percent). I have probably $5 in change in my purse, at home, and in my car. I spend it during the week on fast food or at the thrift store when my total is only $3 and I feel dumb swiping my credit/debit card for $3. When I see someone using the machine, I do not think anything weird, except I wonder why they would give 10% of their money away!

btw - my dad rolls his, then pays for items WITH the rolls.

Money is money. If someone thinks the machine is annoying, they are free to leave. Don't feel stupid. I admit when the machine was brand new, I did feel like a spectacle, but honestly, I never even give a glance to someone using the machine anymore, so I would find someone who did care "who was doing what" with their money a little......weird.
If you go to a store and do it, they do take a percentage. (Is it 10%?) If you go to a bank and do it, you can give a teller the slip and they'll give you the money for free if you have an account there.
Otherwise, just sit down with your kids and do it together. I separate stuff out and my 5 year old knows to count and make stacks of 4 on the quarters, stacks of 10 on everything else. It helps him practice counting and is a fun little activity because we chat a bit while doing it. We count English a little bit, then switch to Spanish. He puts things in stacks while I write my account number on the rolls. Then I doublecheck as I put the coins in rolls. It's not too tedious.

Yes I do, and not at all!

Think Vegas! LOL

I totally cash in my change, and I don't feel stupid. Why would you feel stupid? Just because the machine is loud? I always get a gift card to Amazon so I can avoid the service charges.

i wouldnt feel silly at all. $200 thats awesome. have fun!

No I don't feel stupid. In fact I bought a battery operated coin sorter and have a ton of the paper coin wrappers around the house. Just think this is your fee money for the machine and the wrappers.

I just sit down one evening and wrap up the money. Come to think of it, it is time to do it again.

Have a good holiday season and enjoy the coins.

The other S.

PS You never know just how much you can get out of all that change a good meal or a nice outfit.

I apologize for not reading all the responses but I did read a few. Do it at your bank, it's free. And do you really need a $200 gift card to Kroger?
Good Luck

I won't use a machine because it takes a cut of your money.

We have a bog jar and we keep loose change in it. About once or twice a year, depending on how full the jar is, daughter and I roll the coins, take them to the bank and put them in her savings account.

It takes some time to count and roll but it is something we do together and have fun.

We also collect a lot of coins and we look at each one and have been known to hold back on a bunch of them and put them in the collector jar. We keep all the good expensive coins we have purchased and or collected in the safe.

My husband ALWAYS has change in his pocket so I put a coin jar on our dresser for him to empty out his pockets. We always get about $200 at the end of the year. But, like many people have said, I take it to the bank. It's free and it's usually in the back so there is no noise! :)

Okay... I know this is a month later and I'm still chiming in, but.... at Chase they don't charge if you have an account there.

Maybe you need to have a minimum balance of some kind.

They just take it in the back room and drop it in the counting machine. Last time I got over $300! yay! (But.. it had been years of accumulating coins to get that high.) The best part... you don't have to stand next to the noisy machine and it's free of charge!!