I have so much money and I don't know how to spend it

[StealthPolarBear]

OK now I've drawn you in...
I have amassed a pile of copper and fives.probablt about a fiver in total (not putting my address so I don't get robbed).
I'm completely stuck on how to spend it. I had the bright idea of using it at a self service check out in a quiet time (so as not to annoy the cashier or others) but these are all card. You don't see charity boxes any more. I'm not prepared to go to the bank for this, and I don't think they'd thank me either :)
Before anyone starts, yes I do know there's a pandemic on and I do have other problems.

I never thought to look for a box in an actual charity shop! Will do. I used to see them just in shops but they've all vanished, I assumed because of covid

Just asked dh what he thought I should do and he said "take them to the bank"
Aaaaaaaarggggh

I have a tin which I dump any coins up to 50p in value.
DH has a tin which he uses similarly.

He takes his to Tesco and pays the percentage for the convenience. The machine is quite fun to use.
I take mine to the bank occasionally when they're not busy and as we live in a small town, I bump into cashiers in the street and ask when to bring them in.

@Soutiner

Save the pennies and use the remainder to buy a tube of superglue.

Go for an evening stroll and superglue the pennies to the pavement.

That's why I always give coins lying on the street a gentle kick before I pick them up.

Also because it looks/sounds more as though you're just picking up one you've dropped.

I reckon I make about £3.00 a year from "roadkill" towards my retirement fund. By the time I retire I should have about £72.00.

Our tesco scan and shop is card only, but the self service tills are half card only and half cash or card.

Right. I will try next time I'm at tesco. Just remembered in our small one the scan and pay ones are the same as the self service ones so I wonder if that's why they're all card only. In the bigger shops they're usually separate aren't they.

7% of £2.30 is about 20 pence, so in the OPs situation, I think I'd just do that.

I used to save small coins but stopped when I realised I was just making myself a job of counting, bagging and changing or banking it, so now I just part pay in the supermarket do it yourself tills to stop them building up. I don't use much cash, but do keep a few quid available for small transactions in small shops.

But if this isn't an option in your supermarket OP, it's probably cheaper to give a few pence to coinstar rather than making a special trip somewhere.

reminder - DO NOT USE COINSTAR. 11% commission.

I think when I find a supermarket big enough to have coinstar it'll also have case self service tills. But I will look next time I'm on tesco.

@Papatron

I used to ask the bank for the little plastic bags for various coins. And then exchange for however many £s. Not sure the banks dish them out any more, though.

If you have a big enough jar it’s amazing how they can mount up.

We had a clear out of many years’ accumulation of foreign coins not long ago. There were machines at various London railway stations where they’d take virtually anything - inc. the old francs, pesetas, marks, etc. - for a commission, of course.

They all weighed a ton, but Dh came back with over £90!
He later did the same for a dd’s collection - over £60 IIRC.

My bank has a coin machine just chuck. It In you get a print out that you transfer to your account. Coinstar costs I think

I think I need to wait a while for my £2.30 to be more impressive!

Id hang onto it 😄

I save up all of my small change for our Easter holiday each year,it always amazes me how much I end up with,I've had over £80 before.

The 2p's I keep for the arcade games me and our DC love playing them and we play the one's that have the little sweets,toys and keyrings in so the DC get something else besides just more 2p's.

The rest of the money I put into a Coinstar and I give our DC the money as extra spending money for on holiday.

Small independent businesses like corner shops & pubs have to pay to get change from the bank most will change it happily.

I used to collect some around the house with the NY clear out every year when DC were younger. It would not amount to much, just like yours OP , so DC would take it down to the museum to donate - I always assumed it would not be too much of a pain for them, considering all that foreign currency and coins they have to go over. DC used to feel so good about donating ' so much' money !

If you have younger DC it works, mine are not so charitable nowadays though, and would charge me the amount to pay towards their xbox games instead

Oh yes the cathedral has a donations box too. If we end up going there before I've got rid of it I will remember.

@stealthpolarbear Re the jars: I do think this is a good idea for saving pound coins though, I've never got any any need them. I then have to make a special trip to an ATM then spend some money to get pound coins. Totally counter intuative. I'm going with your jam jar idea for the win!

Dint use a pickled onion jar. It still stinks, a year on

@TheGriffle

Save your 2ps for the next time you are able to go to a seaside when times are better and blow them all on the arcades.

I was going to suggest this. I have a huge tin full of 2ps with I inevitably forget to take on every seaside trip.

Museums etc also usually have donation boxes, but depending on where you are, it may be some time before that becomes a solution.

go to the bank??

You could always do what some fucker does round here - pay my kids in 1 and 2p pieces. My kids sell something that they have an honesty box for, and every week without fail someone puts a couple of quid in small change in their honesty box In exchange for goods. This is a right pain, as we then have to count it all, bag it up and take it to their bank. The woman on the counter scowls at them and last time she huffed and puffed her way through counting it. She has a little counting machine and we give her it in correctly counted bags so it’s not that much effort. So one of our New Year jobs is to change banks for them. I’m trying to teach my kids the value of money and the effect putting a bit of effort into their work has, and about saving a percentage and interest rates, and having the bank behave like dicks over it is not helping.

We did look into the coin machines but the all charge such a huge percentage that frankly, when you have got £100 in 2p pieces, I am not allowing my kids to give away 10% of their hard earned cash.

Go to the bank has become the new 'cancel the cheque' :o