Save your pennies! (and nickels...and dimes..)

[simplelife]

Call ahead and ask - rolling may not be necessary.

[rach528]

I love this thread b/c my boyfriend and I paid for our entire 7 day western caribbean with change we've been collecting for the last two years :D We are going for my graduation so started about two years ago and yes...it adds up much faster then you would think!

 

And we put all of our recycling money to the "pina colada fund" :D

[cruisegirl29]

Hi,

 

I would agree that saving all your change is a fantastic way to have extra spending money!!! I just rolled $288.00!!!

 

 

Leaving on the Carnival Victory Jan 17th!

 

Can't wait!

Sue

[Ellusionz]

With coinstar you can get the coins counted for free for many types of gift cards: Albertsons, Amazon, Borders, Cabelo's, CVS, EddieBauer, iTunes, JCPenny, Lowe's, Old Navy, Overstock.com, Regal Entertainment Group, Rixty, and Starbuck's Coffee. I got it for Amazon a few years back when I cashed mine in and bought a new speaker system for my computer ;) But would be great to buy new things for the cruise, Amazon and Overstock usually have the best prices!

[reeran]

I love this thread b/c my boyfriend and I paid for our entire 7 day western caribbean with change we've been collecting for the last two years :D We are going for my graduation so started about two years ago and yes...it adds up much faster then you would think!

 

And we put all of our recycling money to the "pina colada fund" :D

 

I am going to start taking my cans over myself. I did more research and found out that our Boro is actually paying to have the recyling done!!! I thought I was doing my civic duty giving them my cans!!!! Soooooooo even if I only make enough for one uuummmbbbrrreeeellllie drink it is better than my tax dollars going to have it hauled away. I think we need to recyle our Boro Managers!!!LOL

[doxie2cruise]

We save change DH averages about $250-$300 everysix months. This time at end of week add bills in wallet and pockets. He started this at Thanksgiving and in the end gave it to me for Christmas I got my computer with the money saved. I love counting and rolling the money and coins. It seems to calm me it's relaxing to me. I save about $250. a year. In my Monkeyhead from last cruise.:cool:

[Harley Granny]

I love reading these stories.

 

We've always had a "change" jar but started a quarter one a couple years ago thinking it was a cheesy way to save for Vegas. We never made it to Vegas so we're looking to turn in the coins for this cruise coming up.

 

We're hoping it takes the bite out of the plane tickets or just some extra pocket $$.

[caribb23]

That is a great idea! Thank you for the tip. I have just started that and I hope it will be full by august!! =]

[cookiejarvis]

DH and I have always had change jar and have paid for many vacations with the dough. Since November, we have been adding all $1 bills at the end of the day. This really makes the total jump quick. We use the $1 for tipping from everything to room service, extra gratuities, porters, amd even thrift shopping at port of calls.

[scgirlatheart]

Bank of America has a great program called 'Keep the Change'. It rounds up the amount of each purchase to the next dollar, and dumps the difference from your checking to savings account.

 

I am forever stopping the gas pump at an amount ending in .01 to get the max (99cents) transferred to my savings!!

 

It really is amazing how quickly saving your change adds up. Usually it's 3-4 hundred dollars. We 'cash out' our savings right before our cruise.

 

I also have a funnel-cup-piggy-bank from our last cruise. I throw only quarters into it for my onboard slot machine fund! :D

I had done this for our previous cruises, so this past August when we were on the Grandeur of the Seas I brought my bag of quarters that I had been saving for the past year to use on the slot machines. Imagine my dismay when I found out they no longer accepted quarters!

 

I still save all my change anyway, and cash it out to use for spending money on our cruise.

 

This past Christmas we had a family gift exchange, and we did a Chinese or what some people call a Yankee Gift Exchange. One of the very first gifts opened was a bank shaped like a large jar, and when you put coins in the top they is a counter to keep track of how much is in there. I had my eye on that bank from the minute it was unwrapped! Luckily I was able to exchange my gift for it.

[bplazo]

My new bank does not have a change counter and it took my serveral hours to roll all my change and couple of trips to the car to carry it.

[zstell]

My husband has one coin container already full and another on its way, but won't let me cash it in. No idea what he's holding onto it for??? I told my son about this thread and he started saving his change. He's 16 and cashed in his coins last week for spending money on our cruise next month, it was over $60. Not too bad for a kid

[kuddles14]

A couple of years ago, I started saving my coins just as a challenge and was I surprised when I found out how much I saved and that I was able to buy my daughter her prom gown and all her extras that she needed for it. But since then I had gotten away from doing it until we booked our current cruise.

I went back to saving my coins and my husbands. I cash them in about every month or two and put the money into an old passbook savings account that we don't use any more. We are paid every two weeks, so at the end of the two week period, if we have any extra monies left, I put that into the account also. Going on our trip in June and have managed to save a nice little some since last June.

[Teala]

we have a change vase, its much bigger than a jar. DH always puts all his coins in it, but i dont ever use cash just my debit! so now, each week with my paycheck i get a roll of quarters to empty into the vase and DH does the same too. if i did bills, i would fish them out when i needed some extra money!!! this way, i can save up with out the temptation of having $1, $5, and $10 bills lying around.

 

if we keep it up, we will have close to $1000 by the time my next cruise rolls around...

[Teala]

My new bank does not have a change counter and it took my serveral hours to roll all my change and couple of trips to the car to carry it.

 

 

but was it worth it?

[diane.in.ny]

I've traveled to countries where US $ are accepted but only if they are in perfect condition...no marks, tears, etc

 

So every now and then, when I get a great looking $1 or $5 I pull it out of my wallet and put it aside. Now THAT adds up fast

 

(I also do the coin thing :))

[ayiticherie]

I went back to saving my coins and my husbands.

 

 

So how many husbands have you saved so far? Do they all fit in the same jar?

[abaci]

This would never work for me as I use debit card all the time. I get points everytime my debit card is used as a credit card. I usually never even have cash on me, which actually tends to be a problem.

 

I have enough points through my debit card to get $100 in gift cards for select retailers, or $75 in visa gift cards that are good anywhere visa is accepted. Plus all that extra chainge just stays in the checking account. I know doing this I don't know how much was saved, but I justed used the debit card to pay for the cruise anyways. (and I got points for it)

[oceanaddict4life]

My brother always puts his pocket change each day in a coffee can. By the end of the year he has several coffee cans filled with coins.

 

I use a PayPal money market account to save for cruises. You would be amazed at how fast a $3000 account compounds interest with PayPal. They are actually one of the best accounts I have found.

[imru12]

I'm doing the change jar now and I also have a new rule for every five dollar bill in my wallet i put it away. I do work for TD bank and the coin counter is free for everyone. I have an account with another bank that does keep the change and that account is adding up for my cruise.

[suzski]

I belong to Navy Federal Credit Union and use their free coin counter for my change. You just enter your account number and drop your coins in....they are automatically counted and deposited into your account.

 

We use one of the old Tupperware Pickle Jars for storing the coins. They hold about $100 worth of change, and we are able to fill it up about once every *quarter*;), so that gives us about $400 extra a year.

 

It's amazing the places you can find change....so many people don't want to deal with it so they abandon it (in parking lots, counters, etc.) and I swoop in and grab it!

[CruisingChristians]

I love reading these stories too.

 

You have all inspired me!

 

Last night, hubby and I began our "Change Challenge" too to see how much we can save.

 

We are moving houses too...so that should unearth all kinds of coiny treasures!

[youngestof9]

I'm doing the change jar now and I also have a new rule for every five dollar bill in my wallet i put it away.

 

I saw this post and started doing this and WOW has it added up! I'm actually using it for specific costs. First thing is once I get to $180, I will get the passports for my girls (already at $100!). Then I'll start over and put toward the gratuities for our January sailing. Then I'll put it toward our excursions.

 

Between the $5 bills and my coin counting, all the extraneous costs should be covered. I won't count the coins until later in the year to figure out where I'm at, but so far, we're really doing great.

 

Thanks for the $5 bill idea!

[copi2boys]

Since we use our debit card for everything we don't have much change at the end of the day. What I started doing in my Quicken ledger on my computer is round up each purchase at the end of each day. I then transfer that amount over to the vacation fund twice a month. It's been averaging $30 per month. What little change we do have does go into a large water bottle. Since returning from our cruise in Feb I think the bottom of the jar is filled... Will empty it in January for our next trip.

[marylp]

The best way to make your rolls is make it fun. We put on music, divide the coins, (i always take the nickles). And just turn it into a family thing and talk about how much fun we are going to have and what we are going to do. Make sure you do it after you have eaten something. The first time, I wanted to put out snacks but found it to gross. We had to keep stopping to wash our hands. We usually roll our coins on a Sunday. We come home from church, have lunch, then get busy! One time we rolled 600 bucks in change! :eek: