Transform Loose Change into Gift Cards

For years I’ve kept a coin bucket in the laundry room for loose change.  Fortunately, our kids can still be bribed by a quarter, and it’s handy to have change around from time to time.  However, most of the time the coins build faster than we can use them.  The best way I have found to enjoy this bounty of change is through the Coinstar Machines located throughout Birmingham in many Bruno’s and Food World locations (click on the link for a location near you).

When these machines were first installed, they printed a receipt which you took to a store cashier for cash.  The company kept a percentage of your change as payment, which somehow felt like a punishment for letting the cash sit idle in the first place.  Now these machines also provide the option of counting your change for free and exchanging it for a gift card, e-card, or donation to a non-profit such as the March of Dimes.  Essentially, Coinstar’s business partners now pay to count your change in return for locking your money into a gift card with them.

This is a great trade.  No one has time to count out and roll coins, and Coinstar machines let you dump your change and walk away with what feels like found money.  Gift cards are available from retailers you are bound to use:  Amazon, Circuit City, Starbucks, Pier 1 Imports, KB Toys, Old Navy.

You’ve probably got enough loose change sitting around to do something fun.  Dump those coins into a Coinstar machine and get yourself a treat!