h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Given my current distressed financial situation, what with not having a job 'n all. I decided that it was time that I cashed up my loose change collection in preparation for paying it into the bank.

In typical male behaviour I don't carry loose change around with me in a purse or the like, to be spent as one goes along. No, I chuck it to one side at the end of the day. In my case I put it into an empty brass 110mm shell casing that's standing in one corner of bedroom.

Well after spending a happy couple of hours counting out and bagging up, I now have the not inconsiderable sum of £372

that's cool!

I sometimes raid my loose change when I'm really short of money, the shop downstairs knows I'm desperate when I pay in coppers.Mind you my loose change is all ones and twos, does yours include silver as well?

"I sometimes raid my loose change when I'm really short of money" - what, do you mean that you scrabble around underneath your coffee table looking for it

The smallest denomination that I deal with is the pound coin. Everything else (for the most part) goes straight into the shell case

In addition to the sterling stuff, there was CAN$25 in notes, plus another few dollars in change. Quite a few bits and bobs in Euros all from my trips over to Belgium and the like. Plus finally, two trolley tokens from the Calais branch of Sainsburys!

After you came up, and Ben pointed out what a hideous tip my flat actually was I actually picked up all the change off the floor, and it's now in a jar.

But yes I used to srabble around on the floor looking for chagne, there's was always at least a pint of milks worth hanging round on my floor!

I got into the habit, after knockign up about £40 in silver a year or so back, of carrying a couple of quid in tens and twentys in my jeans, and a few five penny pieces and a couple of twos and ones, so I can use them when I get the chance, beyond that the silver goes into one box, the coppers into another, if I remember before I go to the bakery, I useually grab a handful of silver, as they are always after loose change you do seem to have accumulated an awful* lot though My Dad saves up all his loose change, anything under a fifty pence piece, and usually gets two or three hundred saved up in a year, which all goes on the Christmas booze for the house

I put £2 coins in my sheep

50p on my dressing table

Carry the rest use in the vending machines at work.

I go to work and everyone else in the house raids my stash for bus money

We cashed in our penny jar a few months back in a moment of dire straits, and were surprised to find we had about $80. Silver coin goes into a separate jar, and I used to deposit this in my son's college fund on a regular basis - until I got remarried. Now Mr B constantly raids it for vending change (and never puts any back!).

It's your round GD!

I save a lot of my loose change - when I was a part time worker I only saved 1,2,5ps, but as I've got better off I put bigger coins in a margarine tub. The other week I put a £2 in there! The trouble is that it goes straight into J's bank account. I did manage to save up nearly £1000 in about 8 years though. Or I pinch it back for the car park machine.

Always said there must be quite a lot stashed away there!

all my change seems to go on car parking at stations or the vending machine at work to get drinks

I am being quite good now I am only paying one mortgage and making sure I put a little by each month to restock the savings that I used while paying both mortgages. Also saving up to pay off the 0% intrest credit card that I have used to buy all the furniture etc for the new house!

a couple of aspects to the continental loose change situation that may be of interest:

when the euro came in, you could cash in your coins at any bank for about 6 months. thereafter, you had to go to the bank of france. not a problem really, as there's one in every town, and it's a dusty kind of place where no one has their account, so no waiting in line. until now. because the faraway deadline for cashing in your francs is now upon us. (actually past, but deadline extended to 28/2 due to the huge crowds: HOURS and HOURS standing in line. i'm kind of laughing because i'm not a loose change kind of person; we've got about 20 francs in dish in the hallway, just enough for souvenirs.

another little titbit: you probably know that euro coins have one face that's common to all, but one that's different for every country. naturally at first you only saw your own. i remember a dinner i business dinner a few weeks after the first euros came out, with some germans and a spaniard. we all got out our change and swapped like boys with football cards. nowadays, europe is really coming together in at least one way... at any given time i can pull the change out of my pocket and about half is foreign. german and italian coins seem almost as common as french ones, but it's a thrill to find an irish or finnish one!

We stuff all hour change in a pot too. Unfortunately being absolute numpties when it comes to budgeting, we always seem to need it by the end of the week, so it never gets to be more than a fiver. Perhaps we ought to drink less...

or drink more and recycle the empty cans...