# Anyone else throw away small change? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 15, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541 "2010-03-15T14:32:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/141 "2010-03-18T13:46:13Z")
One hundred pennies is one dollar. If you always throw away your pennies then you are throwing your money away. This is a bad lesson to teach your children. How about a penny saved is a penny earned instead? I had a useless bf once that never had a dime to his name. At the same time he threw pennies away or left them lying all over the place. He was always broke and I think it was his because if you can’t be a wise steward of a penny then you will never be a wise steward of money in general. I am a person that looks at thing differently then most. If you are throwing pennies in the trash then you need to look into operation rice bowl. Keep the little boxes in your car and in your home and when they get full drop them off at a church. We are our brothers keepers and a penny a day could feed many a starving child. If that is too hard just save them up and drop off the bags of pennies at your local food pantry. That is the lesson a kid needs to see. A parent helping the poor. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/142 "2010-03-18T15:19:03Z")
> [@J-P\_L](#): > > Have you ever heard the expression “Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themself” attributed to [Benjamin Franklin](http://www.scmidnightflyer.com/benf.html) I’ve seen “Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves” attributed ([linky](http://www.answers.com/topic/take-care-of-the-pence-and-the-pounds-will-take-care-of-themselves)) to William Lowndes (Secretary of the Treasury) - who, if he said it at all, probably said it first (his life overlaps with Benjamin Franklin’s but only into Franklin’s teenage years) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/143 "2010-03-18T15:29:19Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > I am a person that looks at thing differently then most. If you are throwing pennies in the trash then you need to look into operation rice bowl. Keep the little boxes in your car and in your home and when they get full drop them off at a church. We are our brothers keepers and a penny a day could feed many a starving child. If that is too hard just save them up and drop off the bags of pennies at your local food pantry. That is the lesson a kid needs to see. A parent helping the poor. What if instead, he calculates what he normally tosses, (about 3 bucks a year) and doubles that to 6 bucks and at the end of the year donates that to his local food pantry. And this is something he is ONLY willing to do in exchange for the convenience of not having to hassle with change all year. Would that be ok? ---
**Author:** ![spazurek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@spazurek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spazurek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/144 "2010-03-18T17:14:42Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > What if instead, he calculates what he normally tosses, (about 3 bucks a year) and doubles that to 6 bucks and at the end of the year donates that to his local food pantry. And this is something he is ONLY willing to do in exchange for the convenience of not having to hassle with change all year. Would that be ok? For the record, I donate a lot more than $6 to local homeless charities…does this buy me any karma toward disposing of my $2.88 per year? ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/145 "2010-03-18T17:37:30Z")
> [@spazurek](#): > > Finally, I will not throw coins on the ground. **This** , to me, is unethical. I’d be annoyed to see a pile of change on the ground – don’t clutter my environment. And you think change thrown in the garbage magically disappears? It goes into the same place as all trash. At least with “litter” that is change, there is a chance that it will be picked up and re-used. ---
**Author:** ![spazurek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@spazurek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spazurek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/146 "2010-03-18T17:42:15Z")
> [@susan\_foster](#): > > And you think change thrown in the garbage magically disappears? It goes into the same place as all trash. At least with “litter” that is change, there is a chance that it will be picked up and re-used. I’m morally opposed to litter, not trash. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/147 "2010-03-18T18:42:56Z")
> [@spazurek](#): > > For the record, I donate a lot more than $6 to local homeless charities…does this buy me any karma toward disposing of my $2.88 per year? Nope. 'Cause you do that anyways. You must give the 6 bucks \*expressly to replace \*the change you are throwing out. Of course, if you do that, I may throw out 12 dollars worth of change just to be contrary. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/148 "2010-03-18T19:37:55Z")
> [@spazurek](#): > > OP here. The throngs will be happy to hear the following story: after gymnastics class today I bought my kid a snack from the candy machine for 85 cents. Another boy from his class came along and I gave him the change left over from my purchase. (I’d have given it to my own son only he would have given it back 10 minutes later, simply delaying the inevitable). > > I thought of you when I did it. You probably could have skipped a step and just left the change in the coin return in the first place, couldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/149 "2010-04-10T06:27:34Z")
> [@spazurek](#): > > Finally, I will not throw coins on the ground. This, to me, is unethical. I’d be annoyed to see a pile of change on the ground – don’t clutter my environment. Any change you throw on the ground isn’t likely to stay on the ground for very long. I guarantee you that if I see any money on the ground, I WILL pick it up. I’m sure I’m not the only one who adopts the same policy. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/150 "2010-04-10T06:42:15Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’m sorry you don’t believe poverty exists in your paradisaical notions about the US, but it does. Yes, buying my lunch even once a year would make a significant different in my life. It would mean someone actually gave a damn about me. It may surprise a lot of people living a middle class or better existence that pocket change is worth anything, but even a quarter on the ground would brighten my day. It’d buy me a pack of ramen noodles at least. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/151 "2010-04-10T08:20:47Z")
Well at least maybe save up the coins and dump it in a tip jar or those MDA/cancer cure jars… ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/152 "2010-04-10T13:40:36Z")
I use cash for everything and collect my change. I usually get about $200 per year, mostly in dimes, nickels, and pennies - I use quarters for laundry. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/153 "2010-04-10T14:24:54Z")
Anything under a peso coin I try to get rid of as soon as possible. I have no idea why some cashiers will give me two 50¢ pieces instead of a $1. Maybe they think they’re doing me a favor? Any anything under a 50¢ coin, I give away as a souvenir. If I see such coins lying about, I don’t even bother to pick them up. Current MXP-USD is about 12.5:1. ---
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/154 "2010-04-10T18:01:22Z")
I stack up my small change and roll them up when I get enough of 1 denomination, then put it in my savings account. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/155 "2010-04-11T02:16:02Z")
> [@N.Sane](#): > > When we go to Buffalo on vacation, … This phrase doesn’t make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/156 "2010-04-11T02:25:58Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > This phrase doesn’t make any sense. Certainly, N. Sane meant Niagara Falls. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/157 "2010-04-17T23:49:56Z")
> [@spazurek](#): > > I’m morally opposed to litter, not trash. Loose change on the ground is not litter. Or, at least, it doesn’t stay litter. It gets re-used by people who find it. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541/158 "2010-04-18T20:00:51Z")
I didn’t read all four pages of the thread, but I thought I’d throw my two cents (ha!) in… I hate coins. I usually put quarters in my pocket with resignation, but I stopped keeping any other change several years ago. It usually doesn’t end up in the garbage, though. I either leave it on the counter (I quickly learned to leave it out of sight of the cashier to keep them from yelling, “Your change, sir! You left your change!” when I left 9 cents or whatever) or, if that doesn’t work for some reason, I leave it somewhere public, knowing that someone will see it and excitedly pick it up. (I’ve seen great joy in people who’ve discovered coins lying around, and I’m happy to rid myself of round metal chunks in a way that can provide joy to others.) Once in a while, I’ll find that I’ve ended up with a few small coins for some reason (e.g., hands were full after transaction, and the easiest thing to do was pocket the change) If I discover these coins on my person when I’m not near my coin bucket at home, they might end up in the trash. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-throw-away-small-change/532541.md?page=7)