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.

They have them in my bank too - saw the machine today

Ours just has the one set of tills for both scan as you shop and self service. I just don't know for sure that they're all card only, assumed they were. I will check.

I popped into a shop for one item, which cost £1.20. I apologised for offering coins, but they were delighted. So keep them handy, and they'll be gone before you know it.

I honestly can't imagine them being overjoyed. Especially at the moment when they want to handle as little as possible

What is the problem with banking it / changing it at the post office? Most places have one not too far away.

Hand it to a beggar on the streets x

Sadder, the bank would be an hour round trip and cost as much in parking.
Does the post office offer this service?

Every time I buy petrol I pay cash £20.57 or something, always some pence, soon uses it up.

Just run your hands through them - let the coins fall rhrough your fingers, - a good bit of AMSR.

And then take them to Metro bank who have a coin machine which doesn't charge you like the Coinstar ones.

@BriocheBuns

Hand it to a beggar on the streets x

and then what do they do with it...?

@rookgizzardpie - well they won’t think long and hard about using it in my opinion x

[quote BriocheBuns]@rookgizzardpie - well they won’t think long and hard about using it in my opinion x[/quote]
If OP can’t spend it because self service tills don’t take cash/ it’s heavy and a pain to carry/ the embarrassment of having to wait for the shopkeeper to count it out penny by penny...why would you think a beggar would think differently?

Yes, you can bank money or change it at the post office. The more people use their local post office, the more chance there is of keeping them open.

If you use your local shop a lot, bag it onto £1 and use it to buy something. Tell them there's £1 in it but you understand if they want to count it.

@BlackForestCake:

Downunderduchess
Do you pass any homeless people on your way to the shops etc.? You could give it to them.

Thus passing your problem onto someone else who already has problems.

Ok Grinch... I don’t see giving someone less fortunate a few dollars is problematic.

[quote Downunderduchess]@BlackForestCake:

Downunderduchess
Do you pass any homeless people on your way to the shops etc.? You could give it to them.

Thus passing your problem onto someone else who already has problems.

Ok Grinch... I don’t see giving someone less fortunate a few dollars is problematic.[/quote]
Giving a homeless person money isn’t problematic at all. It’s the attitude of ‘this is a pain in the ass for me but I’m sure those poor homeless people will bite my hand off for it’. If you want to give a homeless person money, pound coins are much easier to deal with

@rookgizzardpie ok, I take your point, I didn’t think of it like that, thanks for explaining. I’m in Australia and the lowest denomination note we have is $5. Thanks for taking the time to explain though, appreciate it.

Use a coinstar, I'm going to get rid of my coppers this week. Can't remember the last time I was given copper in a shop, I use my card for everything now.

@backinthebox

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.

Take it to a post office instead. You can pay cash into any bank account at any post office

Same to @StealthPolarBear

@Charlieandlola

Just run your hands through them - let the coins fall rhrough your fingers, - a good bit of AMSR.

And then take them to Metro bank who have a coin machine which doesn't charge you like the Coinstar ones.

The OP can use coinstar in any supermarket for about 20 pence.

Seeing as most people are nowhere near a Metro Bank, that 20 pence that everyone seems hell bent on not paying sounds like a bargain.

I save small change all year, and then use it towards the cost of Christmas. Usually around 70-80 pounds with not much effort.
(Obviously this year was different with card only payments (and Christmas was different too!))

Forgot to add, my post office has an ATM with coin counter

@SadderThanEeyore

Yes, you can bank money or change it at the post office. The more people use their local post office, the more chance there is of keeping them open.

Sadly a year too late for ours, it's now inside a convenience store

Done, it took ages :o but I now have two bottles of herbs and a box of lasagne sheets which I didn't have to 'pay' for. Suspect I looked extremely suspicious but never mind.

I spend cash... most places take cash.
Barring that, My bank takes all sorts of types of cash deposits over the counter.