What You Do With Spare Change: 10 Important Money Guides

We often forget how crucial loose change is in our daily undertakings. What is spare change? And how can this small amount of money be of value, especially in times of need?
For instance, you drop by a gas station to grab a drink or lunch to take to work and use cash to pay for your transaction. In this case, you tend to neglect a small amount of spare change and leave it at the store, thinking of its low value.
I used to disregard my pennies, nickels, or dimes at the store or gas station whenever I purchased something, mainly if I used cash for payment. But then, whenever hard times hit, I realized that loose change could greatly help in various ways as the amount accumulates.

For one thing, the spare change helped with our groceries and other necessities during hard times. And because of that incident, I learned to keep every loose change I could pile up.
When my daughter was a toddler, she had this hobby of collecting or picking up every coin she could find. I can't remember how she started the obsession, however. But the point is that every penny counts and supports paying for some of your vital needs.
Extra money can aid you in budgeting when you're broke; I am living proof of this. If you're wondering what else you can do with spare change, here are ten essential extra money guides to contemplate.
Spare change can be your saving starter.
Use loose change for groceries.
Keep your coins for the car wash.
Put your spare change into investment.
Save loose coins for your emergency fund.
You can use spare change for school project expenses.
Use your change or coins for gas money.
Keep your change to pay for some tips.
Use spare change for holiday gifts.
Create a vacation fund with your spare change.

10 Important Spare Change Guides
1. Spare change can be your saving starter.

Accumulated spare change can help start small savings. The extra money generated from pennies, dimes, or quarters is an immediate financial saver. If you don't use it for emerging difficulties, you can pile it up for rainy days.
When the time comes, and you're able to collect enough, all you need to do is exchange it for paper money and open a deposit account.
2. Use loose change for groceries.

I've done grocery shopping by saving coins more than once. Extra coins that may rack up to $100 or less will get you a reasonable amount of food from the store that may last for a week.
This amount for groceries is already an offset from your budgeted income if you can maintain the habit of keeping your spare change.
Primarily, if you are living paycheck to paycheck, a little extra amount you can reserve will minimize your expenses when you need it most.
3. Keep your coins for the car wash.

Another thing you can do with your spare change is to use it as payment for your car wash needs. Regular car wash amounts range from $8-12.
In other words, you can wash your car every week or twice a month with the spare coins you can produce.
To try this idea, you must put a container in your car console for extra coins to keep them intact and organized.
4. Put your spare change into investment.

When discussing investment, many of us may consider giving out a considerable amount of money. You probably wouldn't consider investing unless you acquired a 401K benefit from being employed.
Unlike acquiring an extensive portfolio of stocks that requires substantial money, there are also different small investments you can look for by signing up for Stash, Robinhood, Acorns, etc.
The Robinhood app is a mix of cryptocurrency and stock trading, where you can buy a small share of stocks or crypto coins according to your budget.
I just started investing my spare change in this app, which grows with dividend interest. You can also allocate pennies, nickels, and dimes to Acorns-Invest Spare Change. $5 per week is achievable, and you can expand your portfolio as your budget allows.
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5. Save loose coins for your emergency fund.

You manage your finances well if you are one of those working individuals who set aside money for emergency fund purposes.
An emergency or contingency fund is, in other words, the money set aside and allocated as your security for an unprecedented disaster or calamity.
This fund is not similar to the money you save for your kid's college, purchasing a house, etc. However, it is a crucial fund that everyone should consider.
If you are currently tight on cash and cannot save part of your wage for an emergency fund, you can keep every spare change for this purpose.
In short, never underestimate the value of your loose coins, as they will significantly support your petty cash needs.
6. You can use spare change for school project expenses.

School project expenses are typical and common extra expenditures for most moms like me. But it is part of the anticipated cost.
Best of all, saving spare change can take care of these expenses without taking away from your other budget items.
I developed an obsession with collecting my loose coins, even though I could only set aside a penny at a time.
7. Use your change or coins for gas money.

Gas prices today are pretty high. As a result, budgeting your hard-earned money is more of a challenge.
You can use the loose coins you stack despite the rising fuel cost. It is a reasonable way to reduce your weekly gas budget allocation.
Moreover, check all your purses, pockets, drawers, and any other possible places you can find your loose coins and put them all together in one container for saving.
8. Keep your change to pay for some tips.

Eating out with family and friends is a very much-needed event. For one thing, spare change is helpful for tips, and if you have sufficient on hand, you may also use it as payment for food as well.
Undoubtedly, loose change can be helpful in a variety of ways. But remember that it is always ideal for exchanging coins for paper money.
9. Use spare change for holiday gifts.

If you are on a budget or your finances are tight, it would be an excellent plan to start keeping all your coins for holiday gifts, particularly at Christmas.
If you begin collecting early in the year, you will probably generate many loose coins.
For this reason, you will eliminate the burden of budgeting money for holiday gifts later. Make use of the dimes and pennies any chance you can.
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10. Create a vacation fund with your spare change.

Who would not love a vacation? I'd say that having a dream vacation with extra money is fantastic.
Create extra funds from your loose change to minimize expenses for your trip.
Planning and collecting these coins will give you enough time to generate hefty cash.
Therefore, never take those pennies and dimes for granted from now on. Imagine what you can do to these spare changes in a matter of years of collection.
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