Last week I talked about doing something with the money that I had found over the past eight years. This was a bank with just money that I had found, nothing else. Yesterday I took it to the bank and deposited in an account so I could get the free coin counting and then put it into an interest-bearing account. There are no specific plans for the money right now but even while I was counting I found a Brazilian 50 centavos coin and another US penny. So my grand total sans the 50 centavos piece was $100.75. That wasn’t bad considering all I had to do to get the money was pick it up. There were a lot of pennies in the lot, but I also had $20 in bills – ten ones and two fives.

Before I took the money in, I sorted though the coins to see if there were any interesting coins. I save wheat pennies in a small bank. I also like collecting coins so I was looking for some that may potentially have value or ones that I didn’t have. The coins that I took out, I replaced with exact change. I only took out twenty cents, a dime, a nickel and 5 wheat pennies. The nickel is about sixty years old and might be worth a little more than face value. This wasn’t an investment thing; it was a curiosity thing.

One hundred dollars will not make me quit my day job but I can use this money for a treat that could last a little while. Yesterday I got a subscription guide for the Goodman Theatre and I can actually get a three-play subscription for as little as $45. So my hundred dollars could go a long way. Or if I wanted a four-play subscription at the Goodman in a different theatre, different plays I could get a subscription for more of my found money but not over – $88.

Later this month, Phoenix is sponsoring a prosperity campaign called “Save Your Change Week.” This is part of “Arizona Saves, Build Wealth Not Debt.” During that time, select banking institutions are going to offer free coin counting and residents are urged to take in their change that they lying about the house and cash it in. I wonder if people actually use the money that they have lying about for “wealth building” or if they will use it for something more frivolous like I am thinking of doing.

If I had actually made a point of saving all of the change that I accrued and put it into a savings account I would have more. Some people claim that having a change jar costs you money, not just in the interest that you would have earned, but in the cost of taking it to a coin counting machine and then having to pay a fee. The fee that my bank charges for non-account holders is similar to the fee than a non bank related coin counting machine. That’s a simple solution to get around. If you really want to use that change, open an account with that money.

This has also made me look around and see if I could get a little more interest out of my savings. When the Fed cut the rate online banks dropped their rates too. Their rates are still much higher than you could get with a traditional bank but I want as much as I can get in interest – legally.

There are some accounts that do earn a little more interest but you have to have a minium. After reading the reviews people who have used these banks have found that they are difficult to use or have fees. The main reason I have a savings account is to save some cash temporarily, earn a little interest and then transfer it to my main checking account to pay for the purchase. Some of the accounts require a minimum of $1500 to open the account. I would rather try an online bank with a small amount first, even if it is FDIC insured, before trusting them with a lot of my money. I found one company that had a good rate but it only allowed deposits to be made by check, ATM or mail. If you are searching for a bank or comparing rates, try Emoneycentral or Bankrate.

After searching around and toying with the idea of opening a new account, I still haven’t decided about opening a new one or not. The found money may be the catalyst to try something new and shake things up. Besides the money is money that I found. Is it worth it to open a new online account just to earn an additional 43 basis points (.43%) on my money.

I haven’t spent the money yet.

I still haven’t decided what to do with my bank of found money. I started thinking of ways I could use that money but I have not come to a concrete decision yet so for now it is staying in the bank where I have it.

When I talked about the bank where I have all of the money that I have found (outside of my house) over the past eight years it made me start thinking that maybe I wanted to at least earn some interest on it. I came up with a list of things that I could do with my change jar and possibly inspire you to use these ideas as well.

Ten things to do with money from a change jar

1. Start a savings account for a kitchen remodel or vacation

2. Order a pizza or other treat

3. Donate it to a good cause

4. Buy a magazine subscription

5. Buy some yarn (or supplies for your hobby)

6. Add money to my 401k/mutual fund

7. Increase the principal in your mortgage payment

8. Buy a savings bond

9. Take it to Coinstar and get a gift certificate

10. Use it for coffee / lunch money or gallon of gas

No change jar? You could start one by tossing all of your change into a jar at the end of the day or week. You might decide that you just want to save a certain denomination of coin, go for it. You will still save money doing that. Though it may not add up to a large amount, if you have it in one place you can still use it later on for an expected treat.

A change jar: I have a couple and other people have them. That may be the only savings some people have.

The bank shown in the photo above is what I have found over the past eight years. When I moved into my condo I decided that I was going to save all of the money that I found in one place just to see how much I found. This isn’t really just a change jar. It is a found money jar. I find money even when I go on vacation I find foreign currency. In those cases I just add the foreign currency to the collection of coins that I bring home.

I have decided that I want to do something with this money. The problem is I don’t know what. I could use it for something fun – a nice dinner somewhere. There are quite a few pennies there but there is at least one five-dollar bill and some singles too. I received a promotional email from Coinstar advertising its services. The email stated that If I cash in at least $30 for an Amazon gift card at one of their machines, I would also receive a $10 Amazon coupon and a fee free gift card. The deal sounds pretty good. Though, I am not so sure I want to even take the money out of the bank at all. Throwing change into a jar and getting gift cards could help around Christmas time.

The money isn’t doing anything and it’s not earning interest. Will I have $30 in coins in the bank? TCF Bank has a machine at a nearby grocery store which allows me to count my own change and then I could put it in my account and transfer it to an interest bearing account or add to my investment account.

That all sounds so clinical and impersonal since the money was “found” in the first place.

Another change jar that I have is the one I use for exercising. Exercise is good for you but I’m not that fond of it. So, I pay myself to exercise: for every minute that I exercise I pay myself a penny per minute. Then when I get about $50 I take it to the bank and fill out a form for an I series savings bond. This is a way of diversifying my portfolio. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but in a year I can get about $100 in bonds that way. [I series bonds are sold at face value and have different restrictions than EE bonds. The current rate until October 31 is 3.74%.]

The rate of return is low, but when I first started buying I-bonds the rate was much better than I was receiving from a savings account in a bank. Plus, I don’t have to have $1000 or more to get a better rate with a certificate of deposit. Also, I can cash in small amount without losing the interest on other bonds. So there are benefits to having bonds.

Hmmm… I’m open to suggestions. Let me know what I should do with my change jar and what you use your change jar for.

Now… what shall I do with my container of pennies?