to smash a gift that DS received for his last birthday?

[DoreensEatingHerSoreen]

One of those really nice ceramic money pots that you put coins in but can't get them out, you wait until the pot is full and then break it.

I left my purse in reach and DS (2.11) has put ALL of my money in his pot! Only about £8 in change but this was literally all the money in the flat!

I need cash to get the bus to work / nursery tomorrow. So - do I smash it, or go to the cash point at the local shop any pay £1.75 to take a tenner out of my own account? (The shop doesn't do cash-back and the nearest free cash point is not in walking distance - I'd have to get the bus ).

Obviously I'd keep all the coins saved so far in another jar or something.

smash it
they are stupid

What tools do you have? Would it be possible to smash it at the bottom as neatly as possible, then glue it back together? You could lie tell the person who bought it that DS knocked it over and you had to fix it...

Ohh no, I think I'd have to suck it up and pay the £1.75!

He will be heartbroken if you break it, and he can't really understand at 2.11 that it's okay to put some money in there but not other money. (Silly present for a 2 year old, really...)

can you shake it, use a knife tolever the coins out?

Have you tried the shake and knife method?

I'd pay the £1.75 now, but if I was skint I'd break it.

Stick a pallet knife in the hole and the coins slide out along it

Use a knife to get enough for your bus fare out - I've had to do this with my own one before! Just tip it upside down, poke the knife around and money will fall out.

The base will be paper thin. Knock a hole in it, retrieve the money and then reseal it.

A circle of thick card cut to size and superglued on should do it.

I have not done this on my own terramundi pot, oh no. Honest.

The other option is to get a pair of tweezers, hold the pot above your head and tilt it towards you, tip the pot towards you and when you see a coin you want, tweezer it out. I've not done this before either

I was an expert as a kid at using a knife in the money in hole to lever the money out - maybe give that a try before breaking it.

This is why I am in two minds - on the one hand, I agree with 2shoes, and it's going to be broken one day anyway ... but then DS does really love it when I give him my spare change 8p not £8 and he sits there putting each coin in the slot. I'm the overly sentimental type though, I struggle getting rid of his old toys etc, I'm sure he'd be over it in a day!

DontmindifIdo Just the usual - screwdrivers etc. I do have super glue so I could have a go ... I've been shaking it upside-down for 5 mins but only a 5p came out.

smash it and then buy a new one for him, with a hole to remove money from like normal people

OK - not tried the knife tactic so will have a go at that first!

You can use a knife & turn it upside down. I know it works as I do it all the time with ours!!

I can vouch for the knife tactic too.

Must have used it so much that DS obv saw me and is an expert now too.

Knife in as far as it will go, hold pot at 90 degrees, shake so that coins land on blade of knife, tilt and out they slide. Repeat

The pots cost about twenty odd quid. It's very stupid to smash it for £8.

Do normal people really have a hole that money comes out of, Lisad? [Grin]. Wish I knew some normal people, I'd give them a good probing with a pallet knife.

Smash it, and when you get into town next, buy him a new money box on the market or in the pound shop or somewhere. Do it when he's asleep though or he might smash every breakable thing you posess in delight at a "new game".

We have those money pots for our girls - I'm dreading the day that they get full up and we have to smash them!
I would definitely try all other methods before smashing - even then I think I would take the cashpoint option.
If you smashed it beyond repair, (by accident!) they are not cheap to replace!

It's silly to smash it for the sake of £1.75, if you're going to replace it.

However when it does get full I think one with a stopper on the bottom might be more practical

yes this is working I've got £1.78 so far but thought I'd better pause to update you all! I also had a hunch about the jeans I was wearning yesterday and found a pound coin in that pocket.

I just need another £1.62 bloody rip off buses I know there is a 2 pound coin in here so if I can get that I'm laughing ... the problem is, the thing was half full with coppers already so finding the bigger coins is a challenge.

Thanks all - back to it!

I bet this is the last thing you thought you would be spending your Sunday evening doing eh, Doreen?

:o

The bus driver is going to love you!

The bus driver wouldn't have been that impressed with a £10 note either so I was never going to win that one

I noticed someone over on the "everyone send me a £1" thread telling the OP to raid the DC's piggy banks instead - easier said than done!

Babooshka - to be fair this hasn't really distracted me too much from what I was already doing (wine and mumsnet), but maybe that's got something to do with how DS managed to get his hands on my purse unnoticed in the first place

I would say a 3 year old is old enough to know not to go in their mums purse, and I would smash it too rather than waste money unneccesarily.