spare change

9 Little Ways to Boost Your Savings Account Every Day

Tim Lemke — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 09:00:06 +0000

Saving money is not always simple or straightforward. It's easy to get discouraged when faced with a big, long-term savings goal or mountain of debt. That's why it might make sense to start small. Rather than worry about saving thousands for that down payment or paying off that massive student loan, focus on reasonable things you can do each day to give your savings account a boost.

None of these suggestions will make you rich by themselves. But collectively and over time, they can add up to a meaningful sum.

1. Drive less, or at least smarter

Every time you get in your car, you're spending money. You are spending money on gas, and your car is depreciating and getting closer to needing repairs. It may be impossible to ditch your car altogether, but there are small things you can do each day to reduce your costs.

Research shorter and faster ways of getting to your destination. Consider planning your errands so that you can get more done in one trip, and plan your route for greatest efficiency. Drive when traffic is light, so you're not wasting time and gas. Turn your air conditioner or heater off if you don't really need them, and make sure your tires are inflated properly. These are small things, but they can add up to some savings over time. (See also: Cutting Your Car Payment Is Easier Than You Think)

2. Save and deposit your change

Let's face it, we're all reckless when it comes to change. We drop it on the ground. We leave it laying around. We spend it on candy bars and gum. We put it in large jars and forget about it.

It's time to get smarter about change. Go to the bank and deposit it. Even though it may seem like a trivial amount of money, that's still money that can collect interest and add value to your savings account over time. We get hundreds of dollars in change back from purchases throughout the year. Make that money work for you and put it directly into savings. (See also: 20 Smart Ways to Spend Your Loose Change)

3. Round up credit card purchases and deposit the difference

This is just like depositing your change from cash purchases. Let's say you go to a restaurant and are charged $12.65 for a sandwich. If you pay with a credit card, consider mentally rounding that purchase up to $13 and transferring 35 cents into a special savings account. If you do this with every purchase, you'll be banking several additional dollars each week, or potentially hundreds of dollars annually. (See also: 7 Ways to Save Loads of Money Using Credit Cards)

4. Adjust your thermostat

We all want to be comfortable when at home, but making even a small tweak to the indoor temperature can add up to significant savings over time. If it's winter time, consider turning the heat down and just throwing on an extra layer instead. In the summer, open some windows and use fans for part of the day. Always set the temperature differently when you aren't at home — a programmable thermostat can be hugely helpful in this area. (See also: 34 Smart Ways to Cut Your Electric Bill)

5. Use loyalty cards

I know some people don't like to sign up for loyalty cards because they aren't keen on sharing information or being bombarded with promotions. But I say get over it. Whether it's for Dunkin' Donuts, J. Crew, or your local grocery store, these cards can give you access to discounts you may not otherwise get.

The caveat to this is that if having a loyalty card encourages you to spend money you may not have otherwise spent, don't do it. But if the card is for a store you shop at frequently anyway, sign up! (See also: 9 Store Loyalty Programs That Are Worth It)

6. Clip coupons

Searching and cutting out coupons can seem like a real pain, but it's often worth it. Start by finding circulars or online flyers for stores you shop at regularly. Look for places that will double or even triple coupons. If you use a coupon to buy an item, consider taking the amount of money saved and diverting that into a special high-interest savings account. By doing this, you're saving double anytime you get a discounted item. (See also: 9 Online Retailers Who Let You Stack Coupons)

7. Get a credit card offering cash back

There are a million credit cards out there with various rewards, but I am partial to those that offer straight cash back on purchases. That's because rather than spending the reward, you can transfer it directly into a bank account. Other credit card rewards offering shopping discounts or airline miles are nice, but they don't help you increase your savings. I use a card that offers as much as 5 percent cash back on purchases, and it has saved me a significant amount of money over the years. (See also: The Best Cash Back Credit Cards)

8. Eat in

More and more people are eating out these days, because we're all busy, and who has the time to cook? But if you are willing to spend some time in the kitchen, you will almost always save money.

It costs far less to purchase ingredients and prepare meals at home than to go out to a restaurant. This is especially true if you spend money on beverages and appetizers when eating out. If you do cook at home, add up the cost of ingredients and calculate the price of a comparable restaurant meal. Take that savings and place it in a special account. (See also: 8 Ways to Save on Dinner — No Meal Planning Required)

9. Do quick jobs

You may already be employed and don't think you have the time or energy for additional work, especially if it does not pay well. But everyone has a few spare moments where they can make some easy cash. Freelance sites like Fiverr offer access to creative jobs that can be done quickly. There are a number of apps and websites that will give you cash just for answering surveys. Services such as TaskRabbit allow you to make money by offering quick, simple services, like giving someone a ride to the doctor's office. (See also: 14 Best Side Jobs For Fast Cash)

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This article is from Tim Lemke of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Boost Your Savings With This Easy Budgeting System

Tim Lemke — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 09:00:06 +0000

When it comes to saving and investing, it helps to have a system. My family has developed our own system of saving money that has allowed us to reduce our spending and direct more of our money toward long-term goals.

In a sense, this system is similar to the famed "snowball" debt-reduction approach in that it focuses a person's attention on small, achievable goals. But while the snowball method is geared toward paying down small debts before large ones, our method is more focused on saving money in small increments, and hoping that small gains eventually turn into large ones.

My system does require some discipline and it can be challenging. But the challenge is part of what can make the system fun. (See also: 7 Smart Money Challenges You Can Totally Do)

1. Track your spending

We use credit cards and debit cards for most purchases, allowing us to have a real-time record of what we're spending. Our credit card company does a good job of placing our expenditures into categories such as "restaurants," "automotive," "grocery," and "entertainment." Account aggregation websites such as Mint and Personal Capital can help with this as well. (See also: These 5 Apps Will Help You Finally Organize Your Money)

2. Find monthly averages

Once your spending is tracked and categorized, it's time to do some math. Your goal should be to determine what you spend in each category each month, on average. I like to find the average over the previous 12 months, but a six-month average is also OK. Once you determine those averages, save them into a spreadsheet. Each of those numbers is now your starting monthly budget for those categories.

For example: Let's say that you have spent $1,000 eating out at restaurants over the last 12 months. That averages to about $83 per month. Your goal for the upcoming month should be to keep your restaurant spending under $83.

It's important to also include monthly averages for large, but irregular expenses. Perhaps you spent nothing on auto repairs during 11 months out of the year, but spent $2,400 in July. In this system, it's prudent to budget $200 per month for auto repairs so that you have money saved if you encounter a similar expense.

3. Beat and lower your averages

We all know it's not good enough to be average. You want to be better than average, right? So your goal each month should be to spend less — significantly less, if possible — than your monthly average. You may not be able to beat your average in every spending category, but you'll likely spend less in some places and hopefully lower your spending overall.

If you spend less than your average in a given month, the next step is a crucial one: It's imperative that you lower your goal based on your new average. In other words, if your goal was to beat your average $50 in fast food expenses during the month, and you find that you've spent $40, it's time to recalculate your average and make that the new goal. Embrace the challenge!

4. Try to beat your best

If you really want to challenge yourself to save money, adjust your monthly budgets even lower to have them in line with your best month, not your average. We all have that one month where we impress ourselves with our financial discipline. Maybe you went an entire month only going out to eat once. Perhaps you had one month where you were super about saving energy. Find that month, and make that the new budget baseline. If you can beat that number on a consistent basis, you're doing awesome.

5. Savor the small victories

One of the reasons I like this system is that it allows you to zero in on specific parts of your finances without getting overwhelmed by the big picture. It can be demoralizing to look at your total lump sum of expenses and debt and feel like you're not getting ahead. But if you are focused on reducing spending in various categories, you have many opportunities for small wins. Even if your overall spending didn't decline much during a month, you can feel good that you spent less on groceries, or found ways to reduce your electric bill. That good feeling can be contagious, and before you know it, you'll find that you are spending less overall.

6. Treat saving like an expense

My family makes a point of putting away a set amount of money each month into a variety of separate savings and investment accounts. There is money directed toward Roth IRA accounts, some funds placed in 529 College Savings plans, and another amount put into an online savings account with a higher interest rate. We also set aside money for big ticket items, such as a new car. When we track our spending, we treat these like expenses. Only in this case, we are treating these costs in the opposite way we treat our day-to-day expenses. Rather than reduce this number, we want to increase it if possible. So if you're putting $100 a month into an IRA, try to bump that up to $110 or $125. This may require you to reduce your spending budgets in other areas, but that's the whole point, right? (See also: 5 Retirement Accounts You Don't Need a Ton of Money to Open)

7. Pay down debt or add to savings

This system is all about saving money, so if you reduce your spending in one area, it's a bad idea to go and increase spending somewhere else. If you find that you have spent less in one category in a given month, use that money to pay down debt faster or increase your savings investments. Let's say you spend $25 less on groceries this month. Well, think of that as $25 more to pay off your auto loan, place into your IRA, or fund your college savings account. (See also: 5-Day Debt Reduction Plan: Pay It Off)

8. Keep an eye on new expenses

No matter how maniacal you are about saving, there will be times when you are forced to increase spending in some areas. If you have a child, rest assured you will be spending more on food, clothing, and a host of other things. If you have an older car, you may find yourself paying more for repairs. You may get a new job that adds income but also commuting costs. It's fine to make appropriate adjustments to your budgets as you go, as long as you eventually settle into a practice of trying to reduce spending and boost savings whenever possible.

9. Throw new income into savings

This system is all about reducing spending and finding ways to shift your money from costs to savings and investments. Income is not irrelevant, because you need to know how much you have to work with. But you should try to avoid making grand changes to your budgets if you get a boost in pay. Any new money you have should be used to increase savings, pay down debt, or invest. It should not be used to increase your individual budgets. If you got by spending $200 on groceries before your pay raise, you can get by on that same amount now. (See also: How to Budget When You're No Longer Broke)

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This article is from Tim Lemke of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

How to Find the Savings Strategy That Works For You

Emily Guy Birken — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 08:30:05 +0000

Creating a savings strategy may sound like an odd concept. Saving money seems like a simple task — one that doesn't require much strategy on your part.

But saving money, like any other financial skill, can be set up to either fit in with your psychology, lifestyle, and preferences, or go against them. And just how successful can your savings plan be if your savings strategy doesn't work for you?

If you've ever struggled to save money, you might have been using the wrong strategy. Instead of following the same old failed savings path, try a strategy that works for you:

If you like getting something for nothing: Use a change jar or roundup app

When I was in high school, I was the person holding up every transaction by counting out exact change to the cashier, while my friend thought nothing of breaking a $20 bill. For a long time, I thought my friend was bad with money — until I learned what he did with all the loose change he gathered by breaking bills. Every few weeks, he'd take his change to the bank and deposit the money into a savings account.

My friend's habit was an excellent way for him to set money aside. He got to avoid counting out change at every transaction (which he hated doing), and he felt like he was getting a nice financial bonus every few weeks.

In 2017, change jars may not be as practical as they were in the 1990s, but you can consider using an app that offers a similar strategy. Apps like Acorns and Qoins recreate the feeling of throwing change in a jar. These apps round your purchases up to the nearest dollar, and use the difference to build your savings account or pay down debt. (See also: Spare Change Apps — Are They Worth It?)

If you like seeing progress toward a goal: Manually transfer your savings

Sometimes, the best motivation to do something is the same one your elementary school teacher offered: gold stars on progress charts. If this describes you, consider manually transferring money to your savings account every payday.

This may sound counterintuitive, since so much personal finance advice suggests automating your savings so you don't have to think about it. But if you're someone who feels great about seeing the progress made on a goal, manually transferring your savings will make you excited about doing it in the first place. It will motivate you to stick with it, and maybe even put more money aside.

In addition, actually creating a savings chart or other visual representation of your goal will help you stay on track and inspired to find more ways to save. That's because tracking your progress helps build a chain of good habits, and you want to keep that chain going until the good habits become second nature.

If you don't want to think about saving money: Deposit your whole paycheck into savings

Some people have trouble saving money, no matter how hard they try. If this describes you, why not set up your finances so that your money goes into savings before it hits your checking account?

Under this system, your entire paycheck is deposited into your savings account on payday. Once a month, you'll transfer the amount you need for your regular expenses and bills into your checking account.

When you follow this strategy, you'll automatically spend less than you earn and save money every month without having to think about it. The money has already been saved for you.

If you correctly calculated the amount you need to cover your monthly expenses, the money in your checking account should last until the following month. If you are running short before the end of those 30 days, you can decide to move more money from your savings account, or go on a spending ban (make no unnecessary purchases until the next month begins).

If you find that you're regularly adding a second transfer near the end of the month to make ends meet, take time to re-evaluate your expenses.

If you want to productively ignore your savings: Automate and use savings apps

Part of the problem with saving money is the fact that it becomes just another financial decision you have make. How much should you set aside? When should you make your transfer? Where will you find the money to put into savings?

If you'd rather skip the whole task of saving money instead of answering these questions, then automation is the right savings strategy for you. Setting up an automatic transfer from your paycheck into your savings account means that you don't have to think about putting the money aside. It's a seamless transfer of your money to savings.

Digit is one way to do this. Digit is an app that analyzes your cash flow. After syncing your accounts, about twice a week, the app will determine an amount of money ($5–$50) that is safe to transfer out of your checking account and into an FDIC-insured Digit deposit account. This is a simple way to save money without having to think about it. Digit is free for one month, and $2.99 per month thereafter. (See also: 5 MicroSaving Tools to Help You Start Saving Now)

If you have trouble prioritizing yourself: Treat your savings like a bill

Many of us have trouble putting ourselves first, including paying ourselves first. If you're someone who prides yourself on always paying bills on time, but who struggles to prioritize savings, then start treating your savings like a bill to pay.

Set up a reminder to transfer money to savings on the same day you pay your other regular bills. Making "savings" a bill when you are paying all your other bills makes it feel like a nonnegotiable, which will help you make it a priority.

If saving money bores you: Create targeted savings accounts

If you have trouble getting excited about saving money when there is so much fun stuff you could spend your money on, you're not alone. Having money funneled into a savings account can feel pretty boring if you don't have any specific plans for the cash.

You are much more likely to get excited about saving money if you have a set goal for your savings. This is partially due to something known as mental accounting, which is our tendency to value money differently depending on how it is physically and mentally labeled. You might not hesitate to "borrow" $400 from your general savings account for a couple of tickets to Jay-Z's 4:44 tour — but taking that money from your new car fund, on the other hand, would hurt.

Many online and traditional banks will allow you to create several targeted accounts, each with its own nickname. Taking the time to put a name to each one of your savings goals can help you save more and spend less.

Know thy savings self

Finding the best savings strategy for you starts with understanding your psychology and preferences when it comes to money. Working within those preferences makes saving money a much easier and far more satisfying prospect.

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This article is from Emily Guy Birken of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Everyone's Using Spare Change Apps — Are They Really Worth It?

Carrie Kirby — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 08:30:13 +0000

Dad had one. His grandfather had one, too. And today, despite using credit cards for most transactions, I, too, have a change jar sitting on my dresser.

As people shift from cash transactions to paying for everything with credit cards, debit cards, and even their phones, is the opportunity to invest “spare change” lost? Not if you try one of these micro-investing apps that purport to effortlessly grow your savings. Let's review some of the most popular apps, including their pros and cons.

1. Acorns

What it does: After you link one or all of your credit cards to your account, Acorns rounds up each purchase to the nearest dollar and takes the difference from your checking account. (See also: Here's What I Learned About Money After Using Acorns)

Cost: Free for college students for four years, $1 per month for others; 0.25 percent for accounts of $5,000 or more.

The good: Automatic saving is great because you don’t have to remember to do it. Your investment account is auto-managed in ETFs (exchange-traded funds), so the money that grows there will feel like pennies from heaven.

Partners including Jet, Airbnb, and Hulu have agreed to give Acorns users cash back, which they deposit straight into your account. Free money, people!

The bad: If you are only investing a few dollars a month, that $1 management fee could turn out to be an outrageously high percentage of your investment. Also, if your bank account tends to run low, the money this app withdraws could cause an overdraft and cost you a nasty fee.

2. Stash

What it does: Stash is simply an ETF investing app, but unlike stockbrokers who require a $1,000 or larger initial investment, Stash keeps the initial investment threshold at just $5. Pre-arranged portfolios have cute names like “The Activist,” to help people with no interest in financial jargon figure out what funds to buy. The Auto Stash feature will periodically transfer a predetermined amount of money from a linked bank account.

Cost: $1 per month for balances under $5,000; 0.25 percent per year after that (which starts at $12.50 per year for $5,000).

The good: If not knowing what to invest in or not having enough money to buy into a mutual fund was keeping you from investing, user-friendly Stash could be a good jump start. It could be a good way for kids or young adults to experiment with investing on a small scale.

The bad: As with Acorns, the $1 a month fee is actually quite expensive for small account balances. Then there’s the question of whether you’re getting good advice on what to invest in. The funds currently offered on Stash have a relatively high expense ratio, meaning that, market performance being equal, other funds might yield more money to the investor after fees. And Stash doesn’t auto-balance your investments over time like other robo-advisers.

Special offer: Want $5 to get started? Use our referral link: Sign up for Stash and get $5 to start investing today!

3. Qoins

What it does: Qoins skims the “change” from transactions, and then uses that change to pay off debt. The company estimates that most people end up paying down an extra $40 in debt each month they use Qoins.

Cost: Qoins deducts $1.99 from each monthly payment sent out on your behalf. If your monthly total is less than $20, Qoins won’t send out a debt payment and won’t charge you; instead it will roll over your accumulated spare change into the next month’s payment.

The good: If you’ve got high-interest loans, you can probably save more in interest by chipping away at debt than you could earn from saving at today’s low interest rates. And unlike investing, paying off debt is risk free.

The bad: Again, that fee is going to erode gains. Paying $500 extra each year on a student loan might save you $25 in interest, but the app costs nearly $24 a year to use. You could achieve the same benefit for free by setting your monthly automatic loan payment $40 higher.

4. Debitize

What it does: Aiming to help people avoid credit card debt, Debitize links your checking account to your credit card and makes a checking withdrawal every time you make a credit card charge. Then it pays your monthly credit card bill with the money it withdrew. The end result is the ability to use a credit card like a debit card.

Cost: Free.

The good: At first it’s hard to grasp the point of Debitize. I mean, if you want to pay for all your purchases at the time you make them, you could simply stick to a debit card, a choice millions of conservative spenders make.

However, Debitize positions itself as a way for previous debit users to take advantage of all those rich credit card rewards out there, and build their credit score, while avoiding the risk of getting into credit card debt. I can imagine this as a training wheels program for people who have had trouble with credit card debt before. (See also: The Fastest Way to Pay Off $10,000 in Credit Card Debt)

The bad: To me, this service would add an unnecessary layer of complexity to life. It doesn’t offer to increase my savings or cut my expenses, just to save me from myself by putting aside money to pay my bills.

5. Digit

What it does: Instead of focusing on transactions, Digit analyzes your checking account inflow and outflow. Every day that it judges you can afford to, it moves a little money from your checking to an FDIC-insured savings account.

Cost: $2.99 per month.

The good: Digit's “no overdraft” promise means that if a transfer causes your account to go negative, it’ll cover the fee. It’s also nice that Digit will allocate your savings toward goals of your choice, such as a rainy day fund or a new TV.

The bad: When you save and invest, your money is supposed to grow. But unless you’re saving large amounts each month, your savings may shrink a bit with Digit. Digit is putting your money in a savings account on your behalf, and paying you a 1 percent annual “savings bonus,” broken into four quarterly payments — which is not a bad rate. But it also charges $2.99 per month. So if you invest $1,000 over the course of the year through Digit, you’d earn $10 in interest, but pay $35.88 in fees.

6. Change

What it does: Change monitors all your transactions and texts you with reminders and suggestions for wiser money management. For example, the app might point out how much you’ve paid over the course of a year for a service you forgot you were signed up for.

Change also offers “auto saving” which, like Digit, analyzes your account and transfers money it thinks you don’t need to a separate account that pays you “savings bonuses” instead of interest. The standard bonus rate (like today’s interest rates) is low at 3 percent, but you can increase your rate by referring friends to sign up for the auto-save service.

Cost: Free.

The good: Fans of the app appreciate getting insight that they would not have gleaned on their own. Unlike the other apps in this post, which focus on saving in small increments, Change is looking to change big picture and long-term behavior. Its impact on your savings efforts could be huge.

The bad: If you already get a lot of texts, having your phone start notifying you when you've spent too much money could be annoying.

The takeaway

One drawback to all of these accounts is that they focus on adding money to after-tax accounts. If you are earning income, you should really focus on contributing to your tax-advantaged retirement account. That said, if you’re already paying into your retirement fund, one of these apps could be a way to contribute to a rainy day fund, or to chip away at debt.

Another concern that applies to all of these apps is that you're inviting a second or third company to peruse and make use of your financial data, meaning that your privacy and the security of your accounts could be diminished. Of course, each app has reassurances on its website about how great its data security is, but hacks happen. Before handing over your account information to any service provider, make sure you understand how it plans to handle your data.

Personally, I don’t like paying fees. I don’t dump my real change jar into one of those machines that charges a fee to turn it into folding money, and I wouldn’t pay a monthly fee for a company to make micro-withdrawals from my checking account for me. Instead, I’d be inclined to emulate their effect for free by setting my checking account to autodeposit a set amount of money into savings or an investment account.

If you value novelty and convenience over a buck or three a month, and you have never invested before, any of these apps might help jump start your savings and investment career. If that’s you, take one of them for a spin. But be sure to re-evaluate after six months or so to see if you’re getting enough value from your monthly fee, or if you’re ready to graduate to another form of saving and investing.

This article is from Carrie Kirby of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

With Micro-Investing, Your Smartphone Pays YOU

Kat Tretina — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 10:00:07 +0000

Approximately two-thirds of Millennials do not have any money invested in the stock market due to concerns about risk, putting them at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to retirement. Without regular returns and compound interest, young professionals will need to sock away a much larger amount of money to retire.

But new, micro-investing apps can help Millennials dip their toes into the stock market. Because the invested amounts are small, and the apps make investing accessible, young adults are more likely to start contributing money and earning returns.

What Is Micro-Investing?

Micro-investing, where users invest tiny amounts of money on a regular basis, allows people to start investing with relatively small sums. Some brokerages have investment minimums as high as $1,000; for those just starting out or battling debt, coming up with that first $1,000 can be overwhelming.

With micro-investing, your account is linked to your debit card or bank account. Every time you make a purchase, such as your morning coffee, the apps round up the purchase and the difference is invested in stocks. While the amounts are negligible and you are likely not even going to notice the withdrawals from your account, small investments build over time and help you develop the habit of saving and investing.

These innovative apps and platforms make investing simple and easy to do, even if you are new to financial management.

Acorns

Acorns' name is derived from the saying "From little acorns mighty oaks grow." Its goal is to empower people to build a large nest egg from small, regular investments. The app links to any credit card or debit card. When you make a purchase, the app rounds up and deposits your change into a portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). There are different portfolios available depending on your risk tolerance, from conservative to aggressive. If you do not know where to begin, Acorns also provides recommendations based on your age and target retirement date. There are no minimum account balances or commission fees, but there is a monthly cost of $1 and a management fee of 0.5%.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood is one of the few apps that offers zero-commission stock trading. It features a simple and intuitive design and allows you to connect to your bank account and make recurring deposits. You can shop for specific stocks or sell shares directly from your phone. Each day, the menu will show you how much you have earned on the market. Once you are ready to withdrawal money, the funds are easily transferred to your bank with the touch of a button.

Stash

Stash is one of the newest apps on the market. Their motto is if you have $5, two minutes, and a phone, you can be an investor. It is a tool that allows you to buy fractional shares, rather than having to pay the entire amount for a single share yourself. You can pick investments based on what is important to you, such as clean energy or fair trade. Stash charges $1 a month with no commissions. Special offer: Wise Bread users can get $5 to get started with Stash!

For Millennials spooked by the stock market and traditional stock market investments, micro-investing apps can be a useful tool to help them test the waters and get used to regular investing. These apps enable users to start investing with just small amounts, eliminating one of the main barriers to entering the stock market. With regular contributions and patience, over time, these small amounts can grow to substantial amounts of money.

Are you a micro or macro investor?

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This article is from Kat Tretina of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

15 Surprisingly Valuable Uses for a Penny

Paul Michael — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 11:30:04 +0000

Here's a quick fact for you: it costs more to make a penny than a penny is actually worth. The Government Accountability Office states that it costs 1.7 cents to make a one-cent penny. The reason is rising metal prices. This probably means the venerable penny will not be around for much longer, as it is a money pit for the mint. So, while it's still around, here are 15 valuable uses for your humble penny. (See also: 12 Smart Uses for Safety Pins)

1. Decorate Floors and Tables

If you have the time, and patience, pennies can be a decorative and highly durable surface for floors and tables. Do a quick Google search for "penny table top" or "penny flooring" and you'll see some quite ingenious and beautiful designs using the penny. Even better, it's a very affordable option for covering your old tables or floors. All you really need is a huge amount of pennies, some epoxy, and a way to seal the finished surface. And if you're budgeting this in your head, it takes about $3 of pennies per square foot. That's cheaper than most tiles or wooden floors.

2. Check Your Tire Tread Depth

Tire tread depth is important. Worn tires are unsafe, especially in winter conditions or heavy rain, and you should monitor it often. New tires are usually between 10/32" and 11/32," and depending on the type of tire you have, and the kind of driving you do, this can wear down quickly. To check the depth with a penny, turn it so that Lincoln's head is pointing down. If the top of his head is covered by tread, you're in good shape. If all of his head is visible, get the tires checked. It's probably time for a new set.

3. Turn the Screws

Often, we'll find ourselves in situations that require a screwdriver. And we might not always have one on hand. In these situations, a penny can come in handy. Of course, it's not exactly ideal (it will only work on slot-head screws), but a penny can be used to turn that screw and get you out of a jam. You can also use pennies to pry open containers.

4. Make a Cold Pack

Every home should have a cold pack in the freezer. They are a very effective way to reduce the swelling on an injury, but they can be expensive. However, you can make your own with just an old sock or cotton sack, and a whole bunch of pennies. Pour them into the sock, tie it up, and pop it in the freezer. The pennies will form around the leg or arm, and they stay cold for a long time.

5. Keep Cut Flowers Fresh for Longer

There are several tricks out there for prolonging the life of your flowers. According to florists, all it takes is a copper penny (dated before 1982) and a cube of sugar. Add both to the vase and fill it with water, then add your cut flowers. The copper from the penny acts as a natural fungicide, which helps keep your flowers free from yeasts and bacteria.

6. Use as Spacers When Laying Tile

As Alton Brown often says, you should try not to buy items that have only one use. Bags of plastic tile spacers are available at every hardware store, but they have just one use. Instead of wasting your money on them, use pennies instead. They give you the width you're looking for, and you can clean them off and use them again, or cash them in.

7. Pay With a Vengeance

Some people say this one is a little petty, but hey, depending on the circumstance it can be a great way to make a statement. If you get a bill that you think was undeserved, or just owe money to someone that you believe deserves to be taught a lesson, pay it back in pennies. They are legal tender, but it can become a nightmare to count them. Just think, even $10 is 1,000 pennies. You may get told you cannot pay in pennies, but this is not the case. Money is money. This is not a check; it's hard currency.

8. Save a Glass of Wine

It's happened to all of us who partake in a glass of wine now and then. You go to sip your delicious glass of merlot or claret, and boom; you're hit with the smell of rotten eggs. This is because volatile sulfur compounds (mercaptans and thiols) form when the chemicals in the wine react with oxygen. Fortunately, the wine can be saved by a clean copper penny; just make sure it is dated 1982 or earlier (anything after this date is made mostly of zinc). Pop the penny in your glass of wine and give it a stir. The sulfur in the wine will bond with the copper in the penny, creating copper sulfide (which has no smell). Problem solved, wine saved, party on.

9. Make Your Own Washers

If you need a washer, and fast, you can use a penny. Simply secure it in a vice, or clamp it down with woodworking clamps, and drill the appropriate-sized hole in the center. And as you're drilling, think about this: Similar-sized washers cost between 10-15 cents at the hardware store. By using a penny, you are saving 90% on the price of a washer.

10. Create Tap Shoes for Kids

Okay, so they won't be good for actual competitions or professional dance lessons. But, if you want to let the kids experiment with tap dance, you can improvise some pretty cool tap shoes using pennies. Just find an old pair of shoes or sneakers that are not being used. Find some good, industrial-strength glue, and affix three to five pennies on the front part of the sole, and two to four on the back. Let the glue dry, and you have a pair of tap shoes that sound great on hard surfaces.

11. Give Your Birdhouse a New Roof

Birdhouses are great, but most of the time the weather takes its toll on them. The roof, in particular, bears the brunt of the wind, rain, hail, sun, and snow. With about $5 worth of pennies, you can create a new roof that is not only great against the elements, but also looks just like an old tiled roof. Here's a great example of a birdhouse that was given a penny makeover.

12. Add Weight to Curtains

If your curtains are a little lightweight, and don't hang as straight as you'd like, pennies can come to the rescue. Simply make an opening in the hem, and slide pennies into the cavity, at even spaces along the width of the curtain. Use as many as you need to weigh the fabric down without it being cumbersome. Then, simply sew the hem shut.

13. Make Buttons

Pennies can become very cool buttons for coats, jackets, and bags. First, decide if you want the pennies to look worn and dated, or shiny and new. You can get brand new pennies from banks, or shine your own by popping them in a bowl filled with vinegar and a little salt. When you have the pennies ready, drill two small holes side-by-side in the center. Now, sew them onto your garment.

14. Stabilize Wobbly Chairs and Tables

Most of us fix a wobbly table or chair by folding up a piece of paper several times, and jamming it under the short leg. It's a fix, but not a very good one. And sooner or later, the paper will come out. Instead, glue pennies to the bottom of the offending leg. Place pennies in the gap until the table or chair is stabilized, then remove them, glue them together, and let them dry. Then, glue your penny wad to the base of the leg. If you're worried about scratching the floor, glue a small piece of felt to the bottom penny.

15. Create Amazing Art

If you have some artistic ability, pennies can be transformed into incredible works of art. As this site here demonstrates, you can make a portrait of Lincoln using a variety of pennies that have different levels of shine. But you can take it even further, and create any kind of image or portrait.

What are some other creative uses for pennies? Share with us in the comments!

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This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

25 Great Things to Do With Your Spare Change

Debbie Dragon — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:24:42 +0000

For many, spare change accumulates all over the house — piling up on night stands, in the dryer, in candy dishes, and in our cars. Have you ever stopped to think about how much money you really have each year in the form of loose change? If you did, you might be more inclined to do something purposeful with the money, rather than leaving it in piles wherever you change your clothes or empty your pockets! (See also: 25 Places to Look for Spare Change)

Here are 25 great things to do with your spare change.

1. Save All Year for Holiday Shopping

Every time you get change back when paying for a purchase, put it in a jar or piggy bank, and don’t touch it until you start your holiday shopping.

2. Save All Year (or Longer) for a Vacation Fund

When I was in high school, I worked at Dunkin’ Donuts. We had tip jars on the counter, and every day I would go home with a coffee cup full of change. I saved the majority of my change over a three year period and then cashed it in to go on a road trip to Virginia. The change paid for the gas for the car from NY to Virginia and back, the hotel room, most of my meals, and even a trip to Busch Gardens.

3. Use as Your Coffee Fund or for Work Lunches on the Run

Instead of swiping your debit or credit card for small purchases like a cup of coffee on the way to work or lunch from a fast food place, grab a handful of change.

4. Donate It to Charity

If you’re not already doing anything productive with your spare change, you may as well roll it once a year or so and donate it to a charity.

5. Pay Down Debt

Use your spare change to help pay your debt off faster. Every time you get enough change to match a credit card payment, cash it in and send a double payment to your creditor. Alternatively, you can save it over a longer period of time and make a larger payment all at once to one of your creditors.

6. Use It When the Tooth Fairy Visits Your Home

If you have children, you may need to keep money around in case someone loses a tooth. Most children are not expecting the tooth fairy to pay with a debit or credit card!

7. Pay for Someone’s Meal in a Restaurant

Roll your change and exchange it for cash or deposit it to your bank account. When you go out to a restaurant, pay for someone’s meal as a random act of kindness.

8. Start or Add to a Savings Account

Use your change to start or add to your savings account. You can make a deposit each month with all of your spare change (giving it the chance to earn interest once deposited into an interest-bearing account), or you can wait and make your deposits once or twice a year to get a larger amount to deposit at a time.

9. Use It at the Laundromat

If you don’t have access to your own washer and dryer, keep your spare change available for the laundromat. You can buy your laundry detergent and dryer sheets, and pay for the washer and dryer all with quarters.

10. Go to the Casino

Take an annual trip to your nearest casino and try your luck at turning your bucket of spare change into a lot of dollars!

11. Keep in Your Car for Parking Meters and Tolls

Having spare change handy in your vehicle is ideal for feeding parking meters or paying road tolls. Just try to keep it out of sight, so thieves aren’t tempted by a big pile of change they can see when peering through your car windows.

12. Keep in Your Car for Volunteer Firemen or Kids Sports Teams

If you keep your spare change in your vehicle, you will always have access to money to help support the local volunteer firemen or kids sports teams when they stand by a stop light collecting donations or have a table set up in front of a store. Just reach into your container and donate a handful of change to a good cause.

13. Buy a Scratch-Off Lotto Ticket

Some people like to buy a scratch off ticket or two each time they have a few dollars in spare change. It’s a fun activity that just might give you a few dollars back once in a while.

14. Tip the Bartender

Most bartenders don’t mind if you leave a few dollars in quarters as their tip. If you’re going out for a drink or two, bring a long a stash of coins for tipping, or at the very least, putting good songs on the juke box.

15. Sponsor Someone in the Checkout Line

Brighten someone’s day with a random act of kindness! Deposit your spare change before you go to the grocery store, and watch as people check out. When you see someone with a grocery bill about the amount of your spare change deposit, offer to pay for the bill. No one will expect it, everyone will remember it, and you will feel good about doing something nice for someone without any expectations for getting something in return.

16. Buy a Stock or Two

If you are someone who tends to leave money in jars or all over the house for years at a time, you would be better off cashing the money in at regular intervals and buying a stock or two in various companies. These stocks can pay dividends which you may choose to reinvest — and this method will turn your spare change into a growing investment.

17. Pay Your Kids an Allowance

You can gather all your spare change each week and use it to pay your kids an allowance. They can then decide whether to feed their piggy banks with the change or do something else with it.

18. Use for Unexpected Car or Home Maintenance

If you save spare change around your home for a long time, you probably have a couple hundred dollars or more built up. This can come in handy if you unexpectedly need new brakes on your vehicle or have to replace an appliance in your home. While you may not have enough to fully pay for an unexpected maintenance need, having money to contribute that isn’t counted as part of your monthly budget can really reduce the stress many families feel when an unexpected expensive comes up.

19. Treat Yourself

Use your spare change every month to treat yourself to something you wouldn’t ordinarily spend your money on. Maybe this is a massage or a new haircut, getting a makeover or buying a new book or some other special item.

20. Buy Stamps From Vending Machines

You can buy stamps from a vending machine using spare change. This helps you avoid waiting in line at the post office, especially during the busy holiday season!

21. Use in the Self-Service Line at Your Grocery Store

When grocery shopping, if you go through the self-service cashier line, you can feed spare change into the machine to pay for your purchases. While you can pay for purchases with change in the regular checkout lines, there is almost always a line of people who will get annoyed with you for counting your change. In the self-service line, there are less people waiting and you can quickly feed the money into the coin slot to pay for your items.

22. Buy Savings Bonds for Kids

If you have children or buy gifts for other people’s children, cashing in your spare change for savings bonds is a great use. Children have a lot of time for the savings bonds to earn interest, which means your small gift will become a much larger gift if the child waits for the bond to fully mature and stop earning interest before he or she cashes it in.

23. Use for the Ice Cream Truck

Does the ice cream truck pass by your home regularly? Keep your spare change handy to buy a treat once in a while.

24. Put Gas in Your Vehicle

Once a month, deposit your change into your bank account and use it to fuel your vehicle. It will help eliminate some of the strain on your regular budget for gas and is a good use of your change.

25. Pay One Bill Each Month

Depending how much money you accumulate each month in spare change, you may find you end up with enough to pay one of your regular expenses. If you have $50 or more each month, consider rolling and depositing your change regularly and using it to pay one of your bills.

Many of these methods require saving the change over the long term, and then rolling it to deposit or cash it in. Counting and rolling change can be time consuming! Here are some of the best ways to count and cash in your change.

This article is from Debbie Dragon of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: