Comments on: Weekly Roundup – Loose Change Edition

By: Rob Bennett

Rob Bennett — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:07:17 +0000

you seem to have not cured your irrationality as much as just moved it to a new arena.

None of us ever entirely “cures” our irrationality, Anti-Crank. I am not entirely sure that we should want to. I’m not Mr. Spock and I don’t aspire to be Mr. Spock.

There’s no question but that some of the things that I say today are rooted in irrationality. And there’s also no question but that I am not able to see what it is that I am irrational about. If I were able to see it, I would be able to change it.

Some of us never threw pennies away to begin with.

But did you never waste money, Anti-Crank? Is there that much of a difference between spending more than you should on a car or a house or a vacation and tossing pennies into a trashbin? I see these two things as different varieties of the same basic problem.

Can you really say that you have never spent too much because of the emotional relief it brought you to do so? If you swear that you have never done so, can we trust your assessment? My take is that we cannot. My take is that humans are emotional and that emotional beings often engage in self-deception. One of my big beefs with the conventional saving and investing advice is that it pretends that this is not so. I don’t think it is possible to offer truly effective money advice without first acknowledging the basic money reality that money transactions are engaged in by humans and that human decisions are often governed by emotion.

I see emotion in your comment here, Anti-Crank. You can say that I am wrong to see it. But that won’t persuade me. Right or wrong, I see it.

Rob

By: Anti-crank

Anti-crank — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:46:17 +0000

Bennett: “… on a daily basis. My regular practice was to toss the two pennies in the trash. I think that I found emotional relief in throwing money in the trash. I was making a statement (not so much to others as to myself) that I had “made it” to an extent that I could afford to toss pennies in the trashbin.

I had zero savings (except for perhaps $1,000 in a checking account) at the time I was making it a daily practice to toss good money into a trashbin. And I had graduated not only college but law school too. I was oh-so-smart and I was oh-so-dumb.”

I would say that based on your writing here, things have not so much ‘changed’ as they have ‘evolved’ — you seem to have not cured your irrationality as much as just moved it to a new arena.

Some of us never threw pennies away to begin with.

By: John DeFlumeri Jr

John DeFlumeri Jr — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:16:38 +0000

I like to but my lottery tickets with all loose change. feels like I am getting them for free. That alone makes me feel LUCKY!

John DeFlumeri Jr.

By: Mrs. White

Mrs. White — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:56:06 +0000

Good that you are getting settled into your new home.

I often give some of my change to the charity, “The Ronald McDonald House.” My son had to stay there recently so we have seen first hand the work they are doing. I am very grateful.

http://thelegacyofhome.blogspot.com/2009/06/ronald-mcdonald-house.html

Blessings
Mrs. White

By: Jeff@MySuperChargedLife

Jeff@MySuperChargedLife — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:35:14 +0000

Every penny counts especially when you are trying to get out of debt. Many people use the snowflaking technique with their debt snowball to get even more traction. Loose change is a great way to snowflake.

Thanks for highlighting my article!

By: Tim C

Tim C — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:01:14 +0000

I talked to a municipal garbage collection guy once who told me he routinely gets to enjoy a free coffee from the coins he collects that others throw away. He told me that after doing the job for a while, you get sense of the sound of loose change in a trash bag….give the bag a couple of shakes to get the coins into the bottom and then give the bottom corner of the bag a twist to collect the tip before tossing the garbage bag into the compactor!

By: Don@Moneyreasons.com

Don@Moneyreasons.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:01:04 +0000

I googled Ronald McDonald House Charity, and went to the wiki. Pretty much the charity is as described:

A Ronald McDonald House (named after Ronald McDonald) is a place where the parents of children that are in a nearby hospital can stay at night for reduced or no cost.

That works for me!

P.S. I wonder if it’s illegal to throw away pennies… I know there are laws that prevent people from melting the coins… I bet the same law probably applies to destroying (even by throwing them away) US currency too…

“Kids! Don’t throw away money, it’s against the law” hehe…

By: Don@Moneyreasons.com

Don@Moneyreasons.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:52:27 +0000

Hmmm, That gives me an idea.

Maybe I’ll create a “I hate Pennies” or “Pennies Haters Club” jar at work. I’ll tell my coworkers about it. Then once it fills up, I’ll give it to charity.

Maybe even the Ronald McDonald’s House charity (I think this is a medical one?), it’s quick and easy to do. I’ll have to look into this one further…

By: Mrs. Accountability

Mrs. Accountability — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:24:19 +0000

I have also been tempted to toss pennies, mainly when I’m vacuuming. But I don’t. I think it’s crazy that someone would toss all the loose change in the garbage. Sheesh!! But I believe it!

By: Mandi @ Organizing Your Way

Mandi @ Organizing Your Way — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:47:39 +0000

I’ve been tempted to toss pennies, but other than one or two disgusting ones, I never can bring myself to do it, thankfully. I appreciated Rob’s analysis above, though, because I think that makes perfect sense!

Glad to hear you’re on your way to getting settled in your new home! And thanks for linking to my January series!