Money Jar Mojo

Walking around with a pocketful of coins can come in handy -- if you're in front of a parking meter or a slot machine, or hanging out at the laundromat. And a pocketload can keep you from blowing away in a strong breeze.

Everywhere else, coins make great anchors. They weigh you down and make you clink. At the end of the day you toss the silly things somewhere -- maybe you have several somewheres -- and forget about 'em.

Or worse, perhaps you spend them all and, at the end of the month, wonder where your money went.

Here's the thing: Pesky as they are, coins are still legal tender. They can work for you. They do take a little care and feeding, though.

First, they need a home. Someplace that's child/pet/housemate proof, easy for you to remember and easy (but not too easy!) for you to reach.

Jars and piggy banks are traditional, but woven baskets, small cedar boxes from the thrift-store, even entire desk drawers (watch the weight!) all make great "jars."

Once you've seen the coin crop grow, you might want to start planting some real green. Dollar bills don't clink, but they take up more space than they're worth.

If you want to go hard core, how about those fivers?

In fact, I like to put all of my "found money," that is, little bits of money I didn't expect and don't need right away, into my cedar box "jar."

Soon you'll enjoy a lovely harvest of coins and perhaps some assorted green. If left alone, it will take over your bedroom, and its sheer weight will crack your floorboards.

Preventive measures are necessary. It's time to transplant your crop to a better growth medium: your friendly neighborhood bank or credit union.

I've been doing this for a couple of years and, well, now I'm truly hooked on watching pockets of change, plus a few bills here and there, grow into a pile that looks like real money.

But until I do something with it, all I've got is bits of money taken from out of a bank account, supplemented by the occasional quarter I pick up off the sidewalk. For real growth, the pile needs to start earning interest. Time to transplant!

Now, if your crop has grown to floor-bending proportions, you might want to just bag up all the clinkers and roll it over to your nearest Coinstar machine. But Be Warned: Coinstar charges 8.9 cents per dollar U.S., and 9.8 cents per dollar Canadian. You can get your full value in gift cards, but gift cards earn no interest.

If you're looking for growth, not just a quick harvest, banks and credit unions are the way to go. SUGGESTION: Call your financial institution first, and ask them how they want to handle your crop. Some possibilities are:

• They might not want to deal with large numbers of coins at all. Might be time to shop for a new account!
• They might have a per-deposit limit on coins.

• They may want coins in rolls, dollars in stacks of 25 bills, and fives in stacks of 20 bills. If that's what they want, ask them if:
  • They want you to write your name, address and/or other info on each paper coin roll. And, Most Important:
  • Will they supply you with free coin rolls? (For stacks of bills, a simple paper clip should suffice.)

I like to transplant my crop when I have $100 in either rolled coins or bills. And thanks to the miracle of e-banking, I can watch my crop grow ... like magic.