December 3rd, 2008
A couple weeks ago, I went to my doctor for the SARS. I had already been to a doctor at Med Stop (an urgent care clinic) a few weeks before, but the antibiotics I was prescribed at that first visit didn’t cure me. During the recent trip to the doctor’s office, I received another prescription for antibiotics. My doctor instructed me to wait a few days, and see if I start to feel better. If not, then I should fill the prescription. Well, I waited a few days. And it seemed like the sickness was waning. So I decided to wait on filling the prescription. And today it seemed like, once again, the SARS was waxing. I figured I may as well fill that prescription. I caught the bus around 6:30PM and headed over to the nearby CVS Pharmacy. I brought our piggy bank with, as CVS has a Coinstar machine. Anytime Jen and I have loose change (pennies, nickels, dimes – quarters are saved for laundry), we drop it into the piggy bank. Once the bank has become sufficiently heavy with coins, we empty it out and turn those pesky coins into real money. Unfortunately, our friendly little bank doesn’t have a coin-counting machine. That means we’ve got to turn to Coinstar for our coin conversion needs. After dropping off the prescription at the pharmacy, I carried the (rather heavy) piggy to the Coinstar machine. I flipped the pig and popped the stopper that held in its money-rich guts. I pressed the touchscreen of the Coinstar machine and began the process of feeding the coins into the machine. For those who are not familiar with Coinstar, the service gives you two options for your cashed-in coinage. You can either have your coins converted to real money (I.E. bills) or you can have your deposit amount converted into a gift card. If you go with the real money option (as I did), Coinstar charges around nine cents on the dollar for the conversion. (Conversion of coins to a gift card is free of charge. I wasn’t interested in any of the cards that Coinstar offers.) When the Coinstar feeding was completed, the machine reported that I had doled out just shy of $32.00 worth of coins. And for the privilege of having my coins turned into real money, Coinstar kept just shy of $3.00 for itself. Seems like a bit of a ripoff. But what else could I do? Hand roll the coins myself? Even if I did, would my bank accept them? Once I was done with the coin drop, I walked to a nearby Starbucks to kill some time before my prescription would be ready. I had a coupon for a free espresso, and took full advantage of it. Here’s a photo I took of the pig along with my drink:
After hanging out at Starbucks for a bit, I went back to CVS and picked up the drugs. Paid for ‘em with the cash I made through Coinstar. Which was good ’cause I’m broke, and I didn’t want to have to put the medication on credit. Then, I took the bus partway home, and stopped by another coffee shop to bring something back for Jen. it seems that this entry has lost its way a bit. I guess all I wanted to say is that, Coinstar is a nice service. It just sucks that we live in a world where we’ve got to pay to make our own money usable.
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:40 am
Cute pig! I know what you mean though… Sucks to have to pay them to count your change. If I was close I’d do it for you!
I LOVE rolling coins. It’s a sickness, I know. LOL
December 4th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I feel the same way about PayPal. Then I realize that they are offering a service and they have to make their money somehow. I have to pay $3 a month for my checking account so it’s kind of the same thing. It sucks, but, it’s a convenience fee. It is strange that the gift cards are free, though.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I’ve never paid for a checking account, Andy. Have you looked at any other banks? And it’s true that Coinstar has to make its money somewhere. I think the irritating thing is that my bank doesn’t have a coin counter. I mean, coins are money. I should be able to use them just like paper bills. But sadly, things don’t work that way.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I have looked at other banks. The bank I use does offer free checking. You don’t get a whole lot of services with the free checking accounts, though. It’s also a hassle to move banks. Plus, the other banks I’m not that crazy about.
Yeah, you should be able to count out 100 pennies at the cash register if you had to. You could, but people would become extremely impatient.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Oh and the way our bank operates is if you take rolls of money into the bank to deposit, you have to write your name on the roll. They then re-count it and if it’s wrong, they deduct the funds from your account. You can’t just take it in and have them count it and deposit the proper amount.
December 4th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I had heard that banks weigh coin rolls to judge whether or not they’re accurate. I don’t know. I’ve never rolled my own coins (or anything else).
December 4th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
They probably do, it would be a lot easier!
December 5th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Somehow I could feel where this story was going. I think it’s pretty awful. You always have to be careful around those coin machines. Sometimes one can spend 5 minutes reading all over the machine for any fine print and still not find out about the ridiculous percentage it’s taking!
December 5th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Shawno
In some ways, we have the same thing down here in relation to trying to get rid of excess coin.
As much as possible, I carry notes and cards only because my wallet doesn’t have a pouch for coin.
I’ve got a massive Eric Cartman money box that I put my 5, 10 & 20 cent coins in. 50 cent coins won’t fit and I keep $1 & $2 coins separately. Apart from Cartman, I keep a basket for coins.
Every 3 months or so, I add it up and bag it up and usually have $200 – $300 of coin.
Here, many banks refuse to accept bulk coin or they charge you a fee. Also, our Post Offices act as banks as well and while one of my local PO’s doesn’t like bulk coin, the one where my mailbox is loves it.
We don’t have to wrap the coins (they are delivered wrapped) but bag them up in clear plastic bags. Each bag is for a certain type of coin only and you have to put the amount that is printed on the front into it. And yes, the PO lady does weigh them to make sure they are the correct amount. Once a coin fell out of the bag so I had to re-add and re-check it and I was one coin short.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
That’s interesting, regarding the post offices being used as a bank. How does that work? Do they have an account for you or is it just for taking your coins?
December 5th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Andy/all
Ages ago,the Commonwealth Bank of Australia was owned by the Federal Govt, as was (and still is) the Post Office. The PO was an agent of the Commonwealth Bank. This was especially important in country towns that didnt have a bank but had a Post Office.
Over time, the Post Office accepted more payments for ultilities etc. Now selected banks and credit unions like mine can use the Post Office like a branch.
So I can use the Post Office like my bank. Ironically it is better for me to use the PO as a bank in this case than the actual bank.
December 6th, 2008 at 2:47 am
Interesting, Erk. Not sure I’d trust the USPS to handle my money. Maybe.