The factual details that define life, are often in the small stuff, the things that don't make the headlines, or nightly news. It's the daily verifiable realities that deserve our real attention and observation, just as much, if not more than the latest drama on Wall Street, in the banking, mortgage, and credit industries. The small stuff, is our only real measure of truth.

The rest of the world will not notice the "small stuff" that individuals across the world deal with on a daily basis. The small stuff is not so small, when you personally are on the receiving end of a financial reality earthquake. If you are the one who is pawning your last gold tooth, or grandma's old gold ring, it's not a small thing.

If the factory your work for, just went out of business, it's not so small. If you live on a fixed income and your latest utility bill means you choose between needed medications and electricity -- it's not small stuff. Nor is it small, when the sheriff tacks the foreclosure auction notice or eviction notice, on your front door. None of this will make the nightly news, but it will get your attention in a profound way.

Standing in line at the local grocery store lately, there's something small in the grand scheme of life and something new going on -- lines in front of the store, stretching longer than the check out lines, for people to cash in their spare change at automatic coin machines.

These machines aren't new, they've have been in stores for years, in most communities. In the past they were a nice convenience for cashing in spare change, or cure for the occasional day-before-payday, got no money blues, for the many living from payday to payday. Now, they are a good barometer of how far things have spiraled down financially.

Occasionally, in the not so recent past, you'd see someone using these machines. Maybe you'd even use them yourself. Some banks don't give the paper rolls to roll coins anymore, and just direct you to the nearest Wal-Mart to buy the rolls. Other banks have gotten snippy about coin rolls, some of them even limiting the hours that you can turn in large amounts of change. None of the allow you to deposit or cash them in via drive-through service.

These types of kiosk machines typically have you just empty your loose change into an opening that sorts and counts the total amount. In return, you lose a percentage for the convenience of not having to go through the tedious task of hand counting and rolling coins, and then take them to your bank.

Once the machine has determined the total of acceptable coins, you receive a printed voucher for the amount, minus the stated fee. Generally, you take this voucher to front cashier's counter to receive your portion of the cash.

These a hugely popular for grocery stores, as it is almost guaranteed that once you have cash in hand, you will use this opportunity to spend some of that cash on something within their store.

A peek inside of one would surprise you in the simplicity of the machines. As the machine sorts the coins by size, the net result is simply funneled into large very thick plastic bags. When one of them gets full, the machine will not function, until someone from the store comes to remove them, and place a fresh empty receptacle bag. Back in business, the machine can count six hundred coins per minute.

Some machines will also offer you the chance to redeem your coinage in other forms of payment besides cash. Currently, you can redeem your spare change for gift cards or eCertificates from such businesses as:

• AMC
• Amazon.com
• Borders
• Cabellas
• Circuit City
• Disney Shopping.com
• Eddie Bauer
• J.C. Pennys
• ITunes
• Linens N'Things
• Lowe's
• Old Navy
• Pier 1
• Prepaid Debit Card
• Prepaid Long Distance Minutes
• Starbucks

Noticing all of this, I decided to do my own personal unofficial survey at our local grocery store. Being a little older, it's easy to get by with unnoticed observation by simply sitting down on a bench nearby. Watching and eavesdropping, here's what I learned:

• Couple #1 -- Her purse heavy with coins, they anxiously looked around (as if they were doing something to be ashamed of) and scooped out handfuls of coins into the machine. Clearly disappointed with the end tally -- they had a heated discussion about what they could and could not buy for dinner.
• Young Mother #2 -- With two babies in the grocery cart, she dumped to plastic baggies full of coins into the machine. After redeeming her voucher she emerged from the grocery store with cereal, candy, and baby food.
• Elderly Couple #3 -- Brought in two half full grocery bags of coins to feed the hungry machine. They were quite pleased with netting over $100 for their efforts. He went out to the car to wait for her, while she redeemed the voucher and came out with a prescription from the pharmacy.
• Young parents #4 -- Dumped a plastic ice cream bucket full of coins into the machine. Bought diapers and had a lively discussion about who needed the money more for car gas to get to work.
• Middle Aged Couple #5-- Brought in a huge amount of coins for the machine to count. Clearly unfamiliar with using the counter, they clogged the machine and had to get help from the store manager twice. In the end, they netted a couple of hundred dollars and stood happily in line, while they divided up the money for car gas, lunches for work, and lunch money for the kids for school.
• Two teenage girls #6 -- Exchanged their coins so they could go to the movies.

Survey Conclusion:

Obviously, my unofficial survey just showed that people are exchanging coins primarily for and out of necessity. Clearly, doing so isn't age or gender specific. Upon further casual research, I noticed the following:

• Coinstar, Inc. is a publicly traded company since July 1997. It is traded on NASDAQ under CSTR. It's up in a down market.

As tedious as it is to count loose change, anyone trying to save in less than desirable economic times, should consider the facts:

• The average person can roll a paper coin roll in about two minutes, which to an hourly savings of $1.34 (Based on available research at a formula of 60 minutes/2 minutes roll = 30 rolls * 50 coins a roll *8.9% or 4.45 cents fee (coin machine) for each roll = $1.34). Using the smallest denomination of coin as a starting point.
• Keep in mind, this rate varies with the larger size of other denominations.

So, if our time is as valuable as we fool ourselves into thinking, can you afford to throw away an extra $1.34 an hour? In a multi-tasking world, it isn't like this task can't be combined with other activities (like watching a mindless television show). It's not like you are making money doing that.

• Keep in mind that there are many inexpensive devices available for home use for counting coins, if you are feeling lazy.

Then, consider that if you redeem your coinage for a voucher, this is a sample of what you get in exchange:

• $25.00 worth of coins = $22.27 net (You are throwing away a box of Mac N' Cheese, or a can of soup)
• $50.00 worth of coins= $45.55 net (You are throwing away a gallon of car gas, or a gallon of milk with a few cents to spare)
• $75.00 worth of coins = $68.22 net (You are throwing away a six pack of beer.
• $100.00 worth of coins= $91.10 net (You are throwing away an average priced dinner for one, at most restaurants)
• $200.00 worth of coins= $182.20 net (You are throwing away an average priced dinner for two, at most restaurants)
• $500.00 worth of coins = $455.50 net (You are throwing away a tank of gas in most cars).

What can you afford to throw away?

Well, one last observation -- I used to have a lot of rental properties, which meant people frequently skipped out on their rent or had to be evicted. Those who ended up in those predicaments had a couple of common denominators in that they demonstrated they didn't value their hard earned money.

I say so, evidenced in small things, some of the things most wouldn't notice.

• They always left behind pennies and other small change.

Often, before we could clean up the carpets, I would have to have my children pick up coins to not break the vacuum cleaner.

• They often had money for beer, cigarettes, steaks, videos, and cable -- but couldn't pay their rent or utilities. It's a matter of priorities, that can often make the difference between chaos and stability.

If you don't take care of your small change, minding what you throw away money wise in the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters -- you could find yourself in the line to cash in -- without knowing how and why you got to the front of the store, using a machine to count for you -- what you should count for yourself. Life is measured in the small stuff -- even money.