# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/81 "2012-01-04T02:58:02Z")
Hard to say. We have a big jar we’ve been filling up with coins from different countries as we return from abroad. It’s added up over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/82 "2012-01-04T17:23:52Z")
Between 10 and 50 dollars, at present. We toss spare change into a basket and periodically we’ll roll it up and deposit it. Once, when it had been over a year, the total was over a hundred dollars but that was unusual - 60ish is more common. And it’s only been a few months since the last session, hence my WAG of \< 50 dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/83 "2012-01-04T17:24:55Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > A lot of the banks, at least around here, won’t take coins. Or charge a similar fee as CoinStar. You can roll the coins yourself, which the banks are usually happy to accept. There are several banks around here that have coin-counting machines that are free. Also with Coinstar, you can usually (always?) redeem the coins for a full-value gift card to, say, Amazon. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/84 "2012-01-06T06:18:45Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > A lot of the banks, at least around here, won’t take coins. Or charge a similar fee as CoinStar. Well, thank goodness my bank, American Savings Bank (yeah, I know, they suck) still takes loose change. I haven’t wrapped any coins in years. I’d never use Coin Star, or similar services. I just can’t wrap my brain around paying money to change my money into a different denomination. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/85 "2012-01-06T12:07:57Z")
Last week, I emptied the various bowls around the house and made a deposit at my credit union - just over $46, so I fell short of my $50-$100 estimate. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/86 "2012-01-06T19:05:42Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > … > I’d never use Coin Star, or similar services. I just can’t wrap my brain around paying money to change my money into a different denomination. Again though, you can get gift cards for the full amount. I assume they’ve got a deal with Amazon or whomever, where Amazon basically gives them a little kickback. So you cash in 10 dollars of coins, Coinstar gets 50 cents and remits 9.50 to Amazon, Amazon gets the “float” on the 9.50 until you spend it (which might be a while), and then they ship 10.00 worth of merchandise you might not otherwise have bought from them. ---
**Author:** ![Hilary\_Algar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilary_algar/32/4282_2.png) [@Hilary\_Algar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilary_Algar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331/87 "2012-01-07T12:18:06Z")
We have virtually no change in the house because we almost never pay for anything with cash. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-spare-change-do-you-estimate-that-you-have-in-your-house/606331.md?page=4)