Jump Start Jan: Personal Finance Week: Day 5
Yesterday was a big day in Personal Finance Week, so today is going to be nice and easy to balance it out. This Sunday we’re going to take just a couple of moments to make it easy to start collecting.
All you have to do today is get organised with collecting your spare change, or any coupons.
You could:
- Find a big jar or bottle for your spare change
- Get a proper tin or piggy bank for coins
- Use separate pots for specific coins (2p, 5p 10p, 20p etc)
- Get magnets for sticking coupons to the fridge
- Make a mini folder for coupons and vouchers
- Download a voucher app and save things into ‘My Vouchers’
- Create a space for coupons in your wallet or organiser
If you’re starting a coin jar, remember to site it in a spot where it’ll be used regularly. For example, in my house, we’ve put a jug for coins on the bookshelf by the bedroom door, but you might be happier with a tin on the hall table, a piggybank in the living room, and so on.
You can collect all your small change, or you can stick to specific coin types. For example, I know more than one person who collects £2 coins whenever they’re given them in change – these are usually saved for a few months and cashed in for treats such as a nice restaurant meal, or holiday spending money. We collect all our 1p, 2p, 5p and 10p coins here and use them up in supermarket self-service machines to subsidise our grocery shopping, but it’s up to you how you cash them in.
What’s happening here?
I’m cleaning out my wallet, and putting all my business receipts into the business receipts box (yes, where they should have been put weeks ago, I know, I know), which will leave plenty of space for a few vouchers and coupons.
Also going to turn our chalkboard piggybank into a 50p fund for the rest of the year, proceeds to go towards a spangly new party dress. Well, you can’t be sensible all of the time, and it’ll be nice to have something to look forward to.
What are you going to get up to?
Did this for a couple of months at the end of the year. Had a crisp tenner in my hands on Saturday after taking a smallish box of coins to the supermarket and cashing them in at one of those machines – definitely worth doing, I normally just let it gather dust.
Hi Abi – all adds up, doesn’t it? £10 is pretty good going for a couple of months of collecting too.
I have found if the money tin/box is easily opened then my teens dip into it for bus fares etc, so I have bought a money tin from the poundshop that can only be opened with a tin opener! I have started emptying my purse at the end of the day and all coins except £1 coins are deposited. It’s a good sized tin so hopefully by the time it’s full, a little treat can be had by all.
Also we have a large Natwest bank that has a coin sorter and all of the money is deposited directly into my account without having to pay a fee for the service.
Hi Tracey – sometimes you do need to go down the ‘sealed pot’ route, especially if someone’s sneaking the spare change out of it! Hope you have a nice little treat once the tin’s full.
I really dislike the coin sorting machines you see in shopping centres and outside supermarkets – the fees they charge seem too high for my liking. Wish more banks had coin sorting machines like the one you describe, but in the meantime, people can still demand coin bags from their bank to speed up paying in, or use their change in self-service grocery tills without paying a penalty.