I think every kid on earth has a piggy bank. Heck, I'm old(er) and I still dump all of my pocket change into an old cigar box.
This weekend my daughter and I head over to the bank to deposit her change and I could not believe that they charged a fee for counting it. When I asked if the fee could be avoided by rolling it myself, the answer was no because they would still have to count it.
Maybe I am new to being a Dad but I don't remember this charge before, so we walked out and came home. I did a little searching and found a way to keep 100% of your money. Here is a decent solution:
In several grocery store chains throughout the US, UK and Canada, there are now machines operated by a company named Coinstar. They still charge a fee ($.089 of each $1) but that's only if you get cash. They give you an option of getting the money in the form of a gift card to Starbucks, Amazon, etc. If you choose that option, you get 100% of the value.
So, I chose Linens N Things because there are a few things we need around the house and I gave my daughter $19.47 from my wallet.
So it's not ideal, but you are keeping your money and avoiding fees. I've linked to their machine locator so you can see if you have one nearby.
