On Shopping And Receiving Change

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Topic Author
Munchkin Man
Posts: 930
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:55 am

Re: On Shopping And Receiving Change

Post by Munchkin Man »

Grt2bOutdoors wrote:Greetings Munchkin Man!

I like receiving change for a few reasons. 1) I don't mind having some coins in my pocket, I like hearing the jingle. 2) If you've ever ridden the NYC subway system, occasionally you will encounter the following "Attention ladies and gentlemen, my name is..." that is the prelude to the request for "got any change" while a person sticks a cup with some change in front of you looking for a donation. The fastest way to get them out of the train car is to give them something to "go away". 3) I have a young child, who genuinely enjoys receiving coins for their piggy bank from time to time. 4) They are easy to get rid of - the local coffee cart gladly accepts legal tender of all kinds, including coins - to get change from a commercial bank would cost them money in service fees. 5) Ever been in a store where someone decides to pay the clerk in "coins"? - cash is cash. :twisted: Of course, the other customers waiting patiently don't seem to see the humor in the situation.
Greetings Grt2bOutdoors:

The Munchkin Man would like to thank you for your comments.

The Munchkin Man can relate very well to much of what you wrote.

The Munchkin Man also likes to hear the jingle of coins in the Munchkin Man's pocket.

This probably goes all the way back to the Munchkin Man's childhood.

The Munchkin Man's uncles used to give the Munchkin Man lots of shiny new quarters and half-dollars when they came to visit.

Sometimes they would gave the Munchkin Man a silver dollar.

The Munchkin Man used to love the old-fashioned silver dollars.

They were huge compared to the size of all the Munchkin Man's other coins.

The Munchkin Man does not like the new one-dollar coins.

They look too much like quarters.

The Munchkin Man also likes to keep a one-dollar bill in the Munchkin Man's pants pocket for panhandlers.

This enables the Munchkin Man to be prepared to give a quick and small donation to the panhandler and then make a quick getaway.

The Munchkin Man learned many years ago never to open up the Munchkin Man's wallet to give money to a panhandler.

More often than not, they usually ask for more...........

Or worse.

The Munchkin Man also lives in a neighborhood where there are a lot of street musicians playing outside at night.

The Munchkin Man likes to give them a one-dollar bill too.

Those are some of the other ways in which the Munchkin Man gets rid of the Munchkin Man's excess one-dollar bills.

In regard to your observation about people who like to pay for their purchases with coins..........

The Munchkin Man has noted that a number of elderly people frequently engage in this practice.

Some of them like to keep all their change in a coin purse.

Then they remove the coins from their coin purse and count them out on the counter top in front of the cashier until they have counted out the exact change of the purchase.

This can be very time consuming.

It would seem so much easier and faster to pay for the purchae in cash and then receive the change in coins.

It's almost like they would rather die than to part with two one-dollar bills to pay for a $1.69 purchase.

Could there be some type of correlation between the elderly and this type of consumer coin counting behavior?

The Munchkin Man honestly doesn't know.

In any event, the Munchkin Man has learned to become very patient and understanding with these folks.

After all, the Munchkin Man may also be joining the ranks of the elderly someday.

Thanks again for your message and comments.

Best Wishes,

Munchkin Man
Topic Author
Munchkin Man
Posts: 930
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:55 am

Re: On Shopping And Receiving Change

Post by Munchkin Man »

Greetings To All:

The Munchkin Man has just thought of something else to add to this discussion.

Sometimes, when the Munchkin Man is in the checkout line at the grocery store, the cashier will ask the Munchkin Man the following question:

"Would you like to donate your change to ____________________(name of charity)?"

Then the Munchkin Man says:

"The Munchkin Man would rather give you a one-dollar bill instead."

This is a win-win outcome for both sides.

The charity gets a whole one-dollar bill instead of a few measly coins.

The Munchkin Man gets all the change back in coins.

This is yet another way in which the Munchkin Man gets rid of an excess one-dollar bill.

Best Wishes,

Munchkin Man
Default User BR
Posts: 7502
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:32 pm

Re: On Shopping And Receiving Change

Post by Default User BR »

Munchkin Man wrote:The Munchkin Man loves to accumulate as many coins as possible in change.

The Munchkin Man likes to stash them all into a large empty vitamin jar at home until it gets full.

The Munchkin Man's jar got full this morning.

The Munchkin Man took it to the coin exchange machine at the Munchkin Man's local Harris Teeter store.
What is the point of all that? Why not carry a smaller amount of change with you. When have enough change to cover the fractional component of the amount due, give them change. Otherwise get it and keep it for next time.


Brian
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abuss368
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Re: On Shopping And Receiving Change

Post by abuss368 »

Munchkin Man wrote:The Munchkin Man loves to accumulate as many coins as possible in change.

The Munchkin Man likes to stash them all into a large empty vitamin jar at home until it gets full.

The Munchkin Man's jar got full this morning.

The Munchkin Man took it to the coin exchange machine at the Munchkin Man's local Harris Teeter store.

That is awesome Munchkin Man!
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
Topic Author
Munchkin Man
Posts: 930
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:55 am

Re: On Shopping And Receiving Change

Post by Munchkin Man »

CoderDude wrote: My credit union has a coin counting machine in the lobby with no fee. You dump your coins and it prints a receipt you take to the teller for cash or to deposit into an account. Not sure if it's open to the public or restricted to members. Either way, it's another nice perk of a credit union.
Greetings CoderDude:

The Munchkin Man would like to thank you very much for your message.

You have identified a missing piece to the puzzle of the Munchkin Man's coin change habits.

The local branch of the Munchkin Man's credit union does not have one of these "no fee" coin counting machines.

The Munchkin Man could have bought a nice martini with the money that the Munchkin Man would have saved with one of these "no fee" machines.

The Munchkin Man is going to submit a suggestion to this credit union to get one of these machines.

Thanks again!

Best Wishes,

Munchkin Man
scrabbler1
Posts: 2798
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 1:39 pm

Re: On Shopping And Receiving Change

Post by scrabbler1 »

Here is how I get rid of most of my excess coins which are smaller than a quarter: Every so often, when I am at the supermarket, I use the self-checkout lane and dump them all into the coin bin as part of my purchase (I use cash, but I could split it into a credit purchase). Sometimes, I get coins as change from the purchase but it is always much less than what I inserted and always in fewer coins.
Topic Author
Munchkin Man
Posts: 930
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:55 am

Re: On Shopping And Receiving Change

Post by Munchkin Man »

Default User BR wrote:
Munchkin Man wrote:The Munchkin Man loves to accumulate as many coins as possible in change.

The Munchkin Man likes to stash them all into a large empty vitamin jar at home until it gets full.

The Munchkin Man's jar got full this morning.

The Munchkin Man took it to the coin exchange machine at the Munchkin Man's local Harris Teeter store.
What is the point of all that? Why not carry a smaller amount of change with you. When have enough change to cover the fractional component of the amount due, give them change. Otherwise get it and keep it for next time.


Brian
Greetings Brian:

The Munchkin Man would like to thank you for your message.

The main "point" of the Munchkin Man's coin change habits described above is..........

It's fun!

When the Munchkin Man drops a handful of coins into the Munchkin Man's coin jar...........

The Munchkin Man is having fun!

When the Munchkin Man jingles the coins in the Munchkin Man's pants pocket..........

The Munchkin Man is having fun!

When the Munchkin Man shakes and rattles the coins in the Munchkin Man's coin jar and makes a guess as to how much they are worth..............

The Munchkin Man is having fun!

When the Munchkin Man empties the jar, counts out these coins, and finds out how close the Munchkin Man's guess came to the actual amount............

The Munchkin Man is having fun!

When the Munchkin Man watches the coins in the Munchkin Man's coin jar rise closer to the top every day.............

The Munchkin Man is having fun!

When the Munchkin Man empties all the coins into the coin counting machine..............

The Munchkin Man is having fun!

If and when the Munchkin Man is able to find a "no fee" coin machine.............

The Munchkin Man will have even more fun!

The Munchkin Man also has a lot of fun performing magic tricks with coins and mathematical puzzles with coins.

In conclusion................

Coins are fun for the Munchkin Man!

Best Wishes,

Munchkin Man
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