Oh how cliché, I know.. but really, there is so much truth in this simple statement.We have always kept jars around the house to toss change into. I’ve not got one of those really neat old glass water bottles, the 5 gallon kind – a flea market find, of course. Bob and I, and the boys always put our loose change in this. I even put in bills periodically – but usually it’s only when I have a lot of them at one time.

We use to keep our change in smaller jars or containers – the most common around our house were empty Pringles cans (the tall ones). I like these because you can leave the lid on, but cut a nice slot for change (and bills) to drop in easily. In my car, I keep an old Wet Ones container. I had to cut the slit in the top a little bit so quarters would fit through it more easily. I like that big old glass jar… but it will never get filled up in our house, we “break” into it too often, ha!

After a while, all that loose change starts adding up.

This spring, we decided to buy family passes to the local amusement park. We were realistic and knew we’d only go a few times in the spring and a few times in the fall, but overall, buying the passes would save us money. Plus, we never feel like we have to go the whole day. We can make short trips, more often.

Seasons passes for a family of 5 (we didn’t get a membership for our oldest daughter) are pricey.. so we emptied out our change jar (which we’d started the fall before) and started separating all the coins. The bank teller gave me a bag of coin wrappers… and we went to work. About 2.5-3 inches of change and bills in the bottom of that jar and we added up to somewhere around $375… I was exciteed – it almost paid for our tickets. Much more than what I thought, and much less than what I expected to come out of pockets!

We have always tried to use our change collection for something fun – movie rentals and a fun eat-in fest, movies out (though we usually prefer in), a trip to the local aquarium or zoo.. museum memberships.

I met a couple who said they’d started saving in two large 5-gallon jugs when they first got married. They promised themselves a trip to Hawaii when both jusgs were full. She said they had about 1/4 of one left to go… I don’t think it would take me long to finish that much off!

Do you save your change? What do you save it in and what do you plan to do with it?