# How much spare change do you estimate that you have in your house? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331 "2011-12-15T19:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/1 "2011-12-15T19:59:58Z")
The were several comments in thread about the US abandoning the $ coin about people not spending coins and letting coin change accumulate. That’s what I do as well. At the end of the day, I empty my pockets and the change piles up and collects on the vanity in my bathroom until I move it somewhere else after too much accumulates. I would estimate that I have approximately $700-$1,000 of spare change that I’ve collected over the last several years. I’ve been meaning to haul it all to my bank and let them count it and deposit it into my account, but I’ve just not gotten around to it. So, how much change do you think you have in your house. Poll to follow… ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/2 "2011-12-15T20:02:29Z")
$5 to $6. I have a change purse in my bag and use the change when I make purchases. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/3 "2011-12-15T20:04:11Z")
Maybe $7. When the jar fills up I’ll bring it to CoinStar. That happens may twice a year. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/4 "2011-12-15T20:05:18Z")
I probably have about $10 worth of change in my house but none of it is spare. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/5 "2011-12-15T20:08:18Z")
I have well over $1000 in change in my house. How do I know this? A few years ago I brought a little less than half of what I had then to the bank and it came out to a little over $1200. I have much more now. I do what you do. At the end of every day, whatever change I have in my pockets goes into a small glass bowl I have set aside for it. When the bowl becomes around 3 quarters full, I dump the contents into one of the 5 gallon Poland Spring water bottles that haven’t reached capacity yet. Although it’s just a guess, I’d say I have somewhere around $3,000 in change. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/6 "2011-12-15T20:08:41Z")
I myself probably only have a few dollars, but my kids both have pretty big jars. Granted, it’s mostly pennies in those jars. I voted more than $10 but less than $50. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/7 "2011-12-15T20:09:00Z")
I just ditched 20 bucks in pennies at a CoinStar last week. I still have a bunch of quarters and dimes left though so I put 10-50. In retrospect, I should have ditched the quarters and dimes too. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/8 "2011-12-15T20:11:10Z")
I voted “none,” for certain values of “my house” (that is, me as opposed to **Mr. Mallard** ). I always have less than $1 in change, none of it spare in the sense that it’s there to be used for purchases. I am always mystified by people who have more. One of the little ways I amuse myself in life is always having the minimum amount of coins. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/9 "2011-12-15T20:13:08Z")
I’m not in the same league as Onomatopoeia but I do the same thing - probably about a grand in various buckets and things. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/10 "2011-12-15T20:14:08Z")
Probably somewhere between $10 and $50 (are we including vehicles as well?) I try to use up change when I can. I use up change in the vehicles for car washes, the occasional drive-through purchase and to give to the scruffy guy at the local gas station who washes people’s windows for fifty cents. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/11 "2011-12-15T20:16:18Z")
I take my spare change to my bank’s coin counting machine once or twice a year. It’s been several months since I did, so I’m probably in the middle of the $10-$50 range. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/12 "2011-12-15T20:29:58Z")
In addition to my coin jar, I have a book with nearly 50 quarters in it. They’re not really doing much good there, as the thrill of collecting them has long since worn off. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/13 "2011-12-15T20:32:02Z")
I’m guessing a little under $50. I’m using a strict definition of “spare change”… that is, coins that are intended solely for spending and not collecting. I probably have a hundred bucks or so in coins that I’m saving (mostly not really valuable, just various oddities). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/14 "2011-12-15T20:37:36Z")
i keep some in the cars for parking meters. Maybe $5 per car but probably less. And I have a small jar for the rest which goes to the bank when full. WAG $20 there. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/15 "2011-12-15T20:42:51Z")
My husband tosses all his change at the end of each day into a 17l water bottle. It’s only about 10cm deep right now so I voted for the $100 - $500 range. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/16 "2011-12-15T20:45:51Z")
Less than $10. We live paycheck to paycheck, and about once a month we have to scrape that change up to help pay off bill, get groceries, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/17 "2011-12-15T21:13:04Z")
I have no idea, so I didn’t vote. I tend to cash in my change as I get it. Now, I do go through my purse and pocketses every so often, and I put the quarters in a coin purse to spend in machines. I also put pennies that have a date of 1981 or earlier in this coin purse, in case I run into a penny squishing machine. Pennies that were minted after 1981 have a lot of zinc in them, and so squishing them results in unwanted silver streaks. I dump the dimes and nickels and post1981 pennies into a wine jug. Every so often I’ll roll the coins, or I’ll just take them down to the credit union and put the cash in my savings account. My husband also has a coin container, but he’s less diligent about rolling and cashing in his coins. Much less diligent. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/18 "2011-12-15T21:23:23Z")
I have a question that has always bothered me. Why do people use the coinstar when banks will sort your coins for free for you? No fee or having to chose a gift card… just good ol’ cash, put right into your account if you want it! Do some/most banks just not have these machines? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/19 "2011-12-15T21:23:33Z")
I have so many buckets full of change. I’d estimate that I have at least $200 in a cookie tin and a jar on my little table next to the front door. I think I have another two or three jars full squirreled away somewhere. One of these days I’ll cash it all in. Probably when I’m otherwise broke. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/20 "2011-12-15T21:31:59Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I have a question that has always bothered me. Why do people use the coinstar when banks will sort your coins for free for you? No fee or having to chose a gift card… just good ol’ cash, put right into your account if you want it! > > Do some/most banks just not have these machines? A lot of banks either don’t have these machines, or they don’t let their non-business customers know about them. I know my credit union has one…and I also know that it’s unavailable at certain times, and those times have to do with the city employees’ payday. (It’s a CU for city employees and their relatives.) I’d also not be surprised if some banks won’t allow non-customers to use the machines. At our old bank, we had to label every single roll with our name, address, phone number, and account number. Now, I can understand why the bank wants that info…but we really didn’t enjoy putting that info on a label, and then having the coins sold to a convenience store or the like. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331.md?page=2)