Change is Good

Change is good

Change: smaller currency in exchange from larger. Petty cash, especially coins, silently drift through this world forgotten or abandoned. We neglect coins. We devalue them as they roll around in our cars, in the bottoms of our purses, in the gutters, on the ground outside the drive-thru's. It's almost as if we've decided it's lesser-currency or of no value. Coins are the bones of the bills. We break them, and are forced to collect cumbersome coins. It's easier to say keep the change than to take the time to properly pocket it. We see change as a burden, something we have to keep track of. We can't rightly throw it away, so it gathers in couches, pockets, jars, bowls, anything to hold the irregular shape of a mountain of coins.

A great way to make the most out of every penny, literally every penny, is to pay for things with exact change. This idea works especially in cars. Keep it handy; when you go to the drive-thru, or in to purchase something, take your change and give it away while paying. This produces the immediate result of less change or bigger, more 'valuable' money. It's nice to get a solid $5 dollar bill back instead of $4.95 in change. A $5 bill means more to us and we're more likely to take care to keep it, save it, for later. Of course the point is to reduce spending... but when you do splurge, get rid of that change. Giving it back is how it was designed to work.

The other way to make the most out of change is to invest in a money sorting and counting machine. Saving pennies has never been easier, take advantage of this simple invention to help you organize your money and tally the total. Make a point every day to gather any small change. At the end of each month take it in to the bank and trade your change up for cash. Some banks even offer an option of rounding any transactions up and sending the difference into a separate savings account. It adds up. Smaller units fit uniformly into the larger, increasing the value of your money. You just need enough, and change is not hard to come by.

Ask a waitress the importance of change, or a bartender, a taxi driver. The majority of their income is through change given by strangers. What are we throwing away when we refuse to reuse change? If less valuable, it's still money. Look at it differently. Look at it as tiny pieces of a financial puzzle. A little can go a long way.