# Do I look rich enough to toss my money away for nothing? Of course I want my change back! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 23, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543 "2016-10-23T22:47:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![SUZ\_MAC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@SUZ\_MAC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SUZ_MAC)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/81 "2016-10-31T15:29:36Z")
Well it happened to us again. A group of us were having lunch at Applebees and when the server brought us our checks she asked each of us individually if we would “buy a beer for a Veteran”? Seriously? How can anyone possibly say no to that? Now, I’m all about buying a veteran a beer, but they need to have a sign posted or some other way of communicating this to their customers. Putting you on the spot at the table is not the way to do it. The server also handed each of us a card to “write a message” to the veteran and asked us to “be creative”. Bitch, I just want to pay my bill and go. Of course none of us were forced to do this, but we aren’t assholes either. So we did as we were told. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/82 "2016-10-31T16:05:46Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > I don’t know about other states, but in NYS sales taxes are always rounded up, never down. So if the sales tax comes to $1.301, it is rounded to $1.31, not $1.30. If that was calculated on an even dollar amount item, the new total would be $1.35, costing almost a full nickel extra. Not according to the [New York State Department of Taxation and Finance](https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/st/sales_tax_rates_additional_sales_taxes_and_fees.htm): > [@](#): > > Round the amount of tax due up or down to the nearest cent. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/83 "2016-10-31T17:42:40Z")
I’m with the others here who have expressed puzzlement over how many people chimed in to say that one ought to save every penny. They’re worthless. I throw them in the trash if there’s no “leave a penny” tray. They’re so worthless that if you handed pennies to a homeless person begging for change, he’d probably throw them at you. As for the suggestion of saving them in a jar so that in two years’ time you might have $5…the effort isn’t worth it. Your time is worth more than that payoff, even if you spend that time rubbing one out in the shower or popping zits. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/84 "2016-11-01T02:48:49Z")
## Agreed! I am a very thrifty person, supporting several children on a below median income, and I still wish we would get rid of the penny. Same for the dollar bill. I carry around dollar coins and use them as much as I can, but people act like it’s so weird. What’s weird is using a piece of paper for such a small value amount. Anyone who lived before the early 1970s would have had quarters that were worth more than a dollar is now. But I doubt anyone was saying “boy, I wish we had paper quarters instead of these heavy pieces of metal.” Me trick-or-treating tonight in my Trump mask, with Tic-Tacs at the ready in case I run into any beautiful women and don’t want to wait: [https://twitter.com/SlackerInc/status/793263765084966912](https://twitter.com/SlackerInc/status/793263765084966912) ---
**Author:** ![rosen380](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@rosen380](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rosen380)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/85 "2016-11-01T19:22:16Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > Even if the only change I’ve got coming to me is a lowly 1¢; it is still better in my pocket than in your cash register! > > I must get asked this question at least a couple of times in the run of a day out: “Do you want your penny?” No, stupid, I was standing here with my hand out waiting for you to slap me five. Q: How many cash transactions do you participate in a day? Must be a shit ton if several times a day you are getting no more than a couple pennies in total change. Or, are you the guy I’m waiting behind while you fish out sixty cents for your $x.58 bill? Even so, while you are wasting everyone else’s time, grab some of those pennies already in your pocket to get it exact. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/86 "2016-11-01T21:49:37Z")
Oh, the tales of customers who “have” to give you correct change. Or their pennies. Yesterday I waited seven minutes for a customer to give me 48 cents. And the line was very long. And I have a change machine that spits out the correct change. But no, I had to stand there and watch the minutes go by while she fished out pennies, nickels and dimes. One woman went ballistic with the manager because, when her bill came to $XX.91, I didn’t wait for her to find a penny so she could get a dime back. “She’s too fast. I didn’t want the pennies. She shouldn’t be that way. It’s very rude to the customers.” He apologized and, after she left, burst out laughing. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/87 "2016-11-01T22:24:24Z")
To be fair to her, it does suck to get four pennies back in your change. And in most parts of the country they are so robotic and exacting that if your total is $10.03 and you give them a twenty, they’re going to give you back a five dollar bill, four one dollar bills, three quarters, two dimes, and two pennies. Whereas something I found refreshing when I lived in the NYC metro is that at mom-and-pop stores they always rounded everything off to the nearest dollar or maybe half dollar. I told one bodega owner how in the Midwest they always calculated everything exactly and gave exact change, and he thought that was the craziest thing he ever heard. But again, the desire to avoid getting a bunch of pennies back just underlines the need to kill the penny. Maybe even to kill the nickel as well. The penny in 1973 was worth more than the nickel is now; but the penny of 1950 was worth as much as the dime is now (and the 1950 dime was equivalent to our dollar). I assume people got along fine without bemoaning the fact that they couldn’t get change back from their penny. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/88 "2016-11-01T22:27:52Z")
I have to count my money at the end of every shift, and it is supposed to be exact. Only a 1% margin for error is allowed. You start rounding off and you end up with a bad till at the end of the day. And, yes, even overages count against you. And, I kid you not, I’ve had people county out ninety-nine cents in nickels and pennies so they can get a dollar bill back. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/89 "2016-11-01T22:30:29Z")
That I will not defend! LOL ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/90 "2016-11-02T01:00:09Z")
I use the self-checkout lines in the grocery, whenever I’m picking up just a few things. And, yes, I take advantage of the roboteller to dump a lot of change sometimes. As in, last week I paid 4.63 all in pennies/nickels/dimes. (No, there was no one in line behind me.) For some reason I never have a problem with quarters accumulating… ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543/91 "2016-11-02T01:27:31Z")
Those are great. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-look-rich-enough-to-toss-my-money-away-for-nothing-of-course-i-want-my-change-back/769543.md?page=4)