Money Making (and Taking) Coin Machines

My change jar was half full yesterday, so I decided to risk an experiment with one of those coin sorting machines at our newly Whole-Foodsified Safeway.  Think spot lighting, lowercase fonts, and faux wood, just-like-a-hipster-barn entry.  I’d never used a coin sorting machine because they used to advertise how much of your change they took.  The machines at our local Safeway, however, are devoid of any notice about the fact that a fee is taken – and yes, I looked for all small print.

Anyway.  I had just over $40 in my change jar, and the machine levied an 8.9% fee, taking about $3 worth of my change.  This left me with a voucher of $38 to use on my groceries.  The voucher had to be used at Safeway within the next 24 hours.  Since we’ve just returned from Maui and needed groceries, that wasn’t an issue for me.

So – that’s how the coin machine at Safeway works, for the unfamiliar.  I was willing to spend $3 to experiment this time around.  Next time, though, the huge change jar goes to the credit union for a deposit.