By: Chirstian Halas
Remember ole George Costanza from Seinfeld and that monstrosity for a wallet that he carried around? I think that episode was the harbinger for the end of the tri-fold, and even some bi-folds that were so thick that sitting on one tucked in one's back pocket on a continuous basis made regular trips to the chiropractor a necessity. Most people carry money clips these days with a few pockets for credit cards. Ladies can get away carrying billfolds with pictures of the kids included because they have a purse to carry around. While some more liberal areas of the country may allow for the "man bag," you're putting your safety and well being in peril by doing this in traditional and more conservative areas of the country.
Anyway, since we're paying all with paper money, what happens to all of the change? You know, the metal stuff that you get back when you've overpaid, the stuff that old timers (including me at 38) can calculate in their head while it seems that today's youth have never been required to be able to make change without some type of electronic aid. Sure, it may get used if you went to one store to make a purchase, and now you're in the second store on the leg of your trip, you need some change, and remember that you received some in the first store so you pull it out of your pocket in order to make exact change or round it up to the nearest dollar or other denomination to either avoid getting pennies, or be stuck with 90 or 95 cents in change jingling around in your pocket because you didn't have a dime or nickel on you to round it up. Change can also be found in couch seat cushions (having guests sleep over here on the couches at "casa de Chris' can be quite lucrative), in pockets of pants (laundry day is another lucrative day for me), on counter tops, on the gym floor, on sidewalks. If we want to throw something at a buddy, we'll think nothing of whipping a penny at him. But after I'm done, you many change your tune.
TURNING METAL INTO PAPER.
Have you ever wished you could have just a little bit more when it comes to money? You're not greedy, all you want is an extra ten or twenty to buy a round of drinks for your friends on the weekends, maybe a few bucks to donate to your favorite charity, treat your sweetie to an ice cream cone, you name it. What if I told you that you probably already have the means to do this, you're just not properly handling what you have. Imagine the money you would have if all of the change you throw around wantonly could be accumulated in one place. Imagine further that occasionally you would, after reading the paper on sunday morning, dump out the change, separate it and roll it, then take it to your bank and trade it for paper. That's what I call turning "trash into cash."
THE MONEY THAT'S WORTH MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
Pity the lowly penny.........or not? Nothing gets beat up more than the penny. Nothing has gotten beaten up by inflation more than the penny. There used to be penny candy, "Pennies from Heaven," "A penny for your thoughts" etc. Put now the penny is used to throw at buddies (see above), and in the college dorms we used to "penny" the door shut, then blow body powder in the room with an album cover or a hair dryer with a super long extension cord (yeah, not a good idea from a fire safety standpoint, but hey.......it was funny at the time.) If you walk down the street, or look on the floor there are pennies in plain site that people see but not many people even bother to pick up anymore except for old timers, and many of them are getting too old to bend over lest they not be able to straighten up again, so the pennies remain.
Not many people realize though, that when it comes to pennies, 1982 was a very important year. Why is that? Because 1982 was the last year that pennies were made from pure copper. The pennies thereafter were made with a copper composite that is not worth as much. How many people look at the dates of the pennies they receive in everyday life? Not many I'd guess. I can remember that about a year and a half ago, right before the economy took a major plunge, that there was an article questioning the viability of continuing to mint the penny. Included in the article was a caption that many people missed. Because commodity prices were high at that time, including copper. It was actually worth more to melt pennies into their base metal than the pennies were worth as pennies. That being said, imagine how much pre-1982 pennies would be worth. You'd need a lot less, to get the same or more. Incredible and insightful don't you think? Next time you get a penny, take a look at it, you could be holding a valuable metal that you received without having to break into a vacant house to destroy the plumbing.
THE THIRTY DAY TEST
New information is not worth much if it doesn't suggest a way that you can take action, so here is my suggestion. For thirty days keep a jar in a conspicuous place, and put all of your change in that jar. I use an old candy jar I used to have in my other office. If you have a family, make it a family thing, include the spouse and kids. You can get change rolling paper from your local bank for free. The denominations are as follows: $10 worth of quarters, $5 worth of dimes, $2 worth of nickels, 50 cents worth of pennies. Check the change jar every two weeks. Once you have enough, roll it and take it to the bank and change it for paper money. Use that money to buy something cool (like ice cream) or save it for college, retirement or for something else you've been wanting. If you have children and are wanting to teach them the value of money, this is a great tool to incorporate into the training. Have the family put all their change in the jar and it's the kids' job to roll it and trade it in. All money that they receive for their labor is theirs to keep, or heck, you decide the ground rules.
Do you now look at pocket change differently than you did before you read this? Yeah you do, admit it.
Anyway, since we're paying all with paper money, what happens to all of the change? You know, the metal stuff that you get back when you've overpaid, the stuff that old timers (including me at 38) can calculate in their head while it seems that today's youth have never been required to be able to make change without some type of electronic aid. Sure, it may get used if you went to one store to make a purchase, and now you're in the second store on the leg of your trip, you need some change, and remember that you received some in the first store so you pull it out of your pocket in order to make exact change or round it up to the nearest dollar or other denomination to either avoid getting pennies, or be stuck with 90 or 95 cents in change jingling around in your pocket because you didn't have a dime or nickel on you to round it up. Change can also be found in couch seat cushions (having guests sleep over here on the couches at "casa de Chris' can be quite lucrative), in pockets of pants (laundry day is another lucrative day for me), on counter tops, on the gym floor, on sidewalks. If we want to throw something at a buddy, we'll think nothing of whipping a penny at him. But after I'm done, you many change your tune.
TURNING METAL INTO PAPER.
Have you ever wished you could have just a little bit more when it comes to money? You're not greedy, all you want is an extra ten or twenty to buy a round of drinks for your friends on the weekends, maybe a few bucks to donate to your favorite charity, treat your sweetie to an ice cream cone, you name it. What if I told you that you probably already have the means to do this, you're just not properly handling what you have. Imagine the money you would have if all of the change you throw around wantonly could be accumulated in one place. Imagine further that occasionally you would, after reading the paper on sunday morning, dump out the change, separate it and roll it, then take it to your bank and trade it for paper. That's what I call turning "trash into cash."
THE MONEY THAT'S WORTH MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
Pity the lowly penny.........or not? Nothing gets beat up more than the penny. Nothing has gotten beaten up by inflation more than the penny. There used to be penny candy, "Pennies from Heaven," "A penny for your thoughts" etc. Put now the penny is used to throw at buddies (see above), and in the college dorms we used to "penny" the door shut, then blow body powder in the room with an album cover or a hair dryer with a super long extension cord (yeah, not a good idea from a fire safety standpoint, but hey.......it was funny at the time.) If you walk down the street, or look on the floor there are pennies in plain site that people see but not many people even bother to pick up anymore except for old timers, and many of them are getting too old to bend over lest they not be able to straighten up again, so the pennies remain.
Not many people realize though, that when it comes to pennies, 1982 was a very important year. Why is that? Because 1982 was the last year that pennies were made from pure copper. The pennies thereafter were made with a copper composite that is not worth as much. How many people look at the dates of the pennies they receive in everyday life? Not many I'd guess. I can remember that about a year and a half ago, right before the economy took a major plunge, that there was an article questioning the viability of continuing to mint the penny. Included in the article was a caption that many people missed. Because commodity prices were high at that time, including copper. It was actually worth more to melt pennies into their base metal than the pennies were worth as pennies. That being said, imagine how much pre-1982 pennies would be worth. You'd need a lot less, to get the same or more. Incredible and insightful don't you think? Next time you get a penny, take a look at it, you could be holding a valuable metal that you received without having to break into a vacant house to destroy the plumbing.
THE THIRTY DAY TEST
New information is not worth much if it doesn't suggest a way that you can take action, so here is my suggestion. For thirty days keep a jar in a conspicuous place, and put all of your change in that jar. I use an old candy jar I used to have in my other office. If you have a family, make it a family thing, include the spouse and kids. You can get change rolling paper from your local bank for free. The denominations are as follows: $10 worth of quarters, $5 worth of dimes, $2 worth of nickels, 50 cents worth of pennies. Check the change jar every two weeks. Once you have enough, roll it and take it to the bank and change it for paper money. Use that money to buy something cool (like ice cream) or save it for college, retirement or for something else you've been wanting. If you have children and are wanting to teach them the value of money, this is a great tool to incorporate into the training. Have the family put all their change in the jar and it's the kids' job to roll it and trade it in. All money that they receive for their labor is theirs to keep, or heck, you decide the ground rules.
Do you now look at pocket change differently than you did before you read this? Yeah you do, admit it.
Christian Halas is owner and wealth manager with Halas Consulting located in Pittsburgh, PA. Halas Consulting prides itself in providing unique and objective solutions to various insurance, investment, banking, tax, and estate issues faced by individuals and small businesses. Investment services provided in conjunction with Venn Wealth and Benefit Services, a PA Registered Investment Advisor. Christian can be reached via email at chalas@venn.us with any questions or comments on this article Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christian_Halas |  |
