Like, in the garbage. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but somewhere in the past few weeks a mental threshhold was crossed, and pennies were judged to be no longer worth consideration. They’re just garbage. What - I save a hundred of them and I can get half a candy bar? If they were coupons I’d ignore the shit out of them, like every coupon ever, so. Pennies, you are now trash, and I’ll only ever see you to say goodbye.
throw some in your pocket. when ever you buy something, cash or not, put them in the ‘take a penny - leave a penny’ tray.
At least recycle them, ok?
Is it more difficult to throw them in a jar instead of the trash? Dump e jar full into Coinstar now and again for a spendable gift card or into the change sorter at the credit union for cash. Or as beowolf suggests, recycle them.
I dump enough change into the sorter once a year to buy half the gas for the annual trip from Nashville to Houston. It adds up.
Silly. Throw them in tip jars or give a penny-take a penny jars. Give them away in places where enough of them make a difference.
I had a pile of them here in Panama. I started giving an extra ten centavos on top of my regular tip to the bag boys at the supermarket and now they’re half gone
WHAAAT? At least toss them into a jar. They add up faster than you might think.
Welp, there goes the water table…
Just as a FYI, I believe it’s illegal to dispose of federal currency (via the rubbish etc).
But anyway, yeah, put them in a jar and after a year or two take them to the bank…and then buy yourself something or donate the cash to a local charity.
When cleaning my truck, any pennies found on my floor board or my cup holder will get sucked up be the vacuum hose.
Someone mentioned Coinstar. The OP could even just randomly toss them into the Coinstar machine so the next person to use it gets them.
There’s so many things you can do with pennies if you really don’t want them that if you’re throwing them away you’re making a point and I’ll bet the OP is telling everyone that he’s doing it. It’s not something you’d do and NOT tell people about. I have plenty of customers that just have me toss them all in the penny jar or tell me to leave them in the register because they don’t want them. Start there.
A couple times a week I walk in a park where is see guys with metal detectors. I toss my pennies in the grass just to give them a little positive reinforcement 
How expensive are candy bars where you live?
If you manage your change correctly you’ll never have more than four pennies at any one time, and never more than nine coins total. It’s really not hard.
you don’t have a coffee can? takes 2 seconds to throw a handful in the can. Once a year take the can to one of those coin counter machines at the grocery store.
If you don’t care about them. Consider what it costs to manufacture those pennies. Getting them back in circulation saves us all tax dollars.
I’ve been tossing them in the trash since 1985 - they long passed the costs-more-to-handle-than-is-worth mark - especially when they stopped being copper.
Abolish them already. We did, and no-one misses them.
Next time you’re at a store just say ‘keep the pennies’. Just an FYI, when stores run out of change they have to buy them from the bank at more then face value*. A box of pennies cost me (off the top of my head) $6, the means a roll costs 62¢ and an actual penny that I get from the bank costs 1.24¢.
Yes, I know, you think it should be free, but think about how much work goes into it counting, rolling and shipping it on an armored truck. That’s not free.
It is simply marvelous now without the dreaded penny. No one misses them at all. What a waste of time and effort they used to be. I’m hoping the nickle is targeted in the next decade.
I don’t think I’ve saved a penny since before I graduated High School. I commend the OP to sticking with it for as long as he did.
I agree, just leave them lay wherever they are. I usually just hand them to my friends and tell them to take them (all pocket change really). I don’t want to deal with it.
I also like to just give a handful of change to the bums who wash my windshield every once in a while.
And yes, I have vacuumed and swept up and tossed many many pennies in my life.
Why would I tell people about it? It wasn’t a principled stand at all. The only reason that I posted about it here was that I was startled to find that I’d made that decision. I noticed it when I was cleaning out my car - silver coins go to the coin tray, brown coins are rotten and go into the garbage bag. Then tonight as I was cleaning the house, I noticed the same thought process taking place. I wasn’t taking a stand, I was zoning, and somehow it’s emerged that pennies just are not worth the hassle anymore. Not worth weighing down my pocket with, certainly not worth lugging to the nearest Coinstar unless the nearest Coinstar is closer than the nearest garbage can. They’re like pocket junk mail, and if I could stop delivery of them - with one request, not one request per every transaction I make for the rest of my (or the pennies’) life - I would.