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The Fastest Way To Turn Spare Change Into Holiday Spending Money

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Special thanks to Coinstar for sponsoring this post on how to quickly turn spare change into holiday spending money.

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When I was little I remember my grandpa always telling me that “it all adds up” whenever I would find change on the ground.

I’m not sure if it was because I was lower to the ground or if there was just more of it to be found, but I always had a steady supply of change to add to my piggy bank that I found while walking around. I would carefully collect it all and then I would wait until my parents would bring me home change rolls to put all my coin in. Then I would have to wait again for them to take it to the bank, wait for the bank to count and then deposit it into my account. Then I could finally ask my parents to go back to the bank and withdraw the money for me to use. Phew! I’m tired just thinking about all of that from a kid’s perspective and from my parents’ perspective. I was never a patient person, so I’m sure they grew tired of me asking about my money throughout this process!

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Thankfully times have changed since those days. It is now much easier to turn coins into cash!

Now when you find spare change in couch cushions or the junk drawer you can just take it to your local Coinstar® kiosk to get some extra money in the form of cash, or no-fee eGift cards. You can also donate the coins directly to a charity. This is especially helpful during the gift-giving holiday season, when most folks tend to go over their allotted budgets.

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Emmy is showing how easy it is to turn a bag of loose change into spendable cash!

We walked into our local store with our bag of coins and then we went straight to the Coinstar Kiosk. We answered a couple of questions and then Emmy poured our bag of coins into the slot and it started to tally up the coins. Less than a minute later we had a total of how much money we would be getting back and it was time to get our cash.

We all made estimates about how much money was in the bag. I thought maybe $10-$15 because it wasn’t a big bag at all. I was so surprised to see that we would be getting $37!

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The printout that the kiosk gives you has the breakdown of your transaction and then you just take it up to a cashier and exchange the slip for cash.

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It’s that simple! The whole thing took less time than ordering a coffee and totally inspired us to round up all of our spare change. We are even thinking of taking all of the change we have at home to fund a special donation this holiday season to our favorite charity. We have so many ideas after seeing how easy it is to turn our change to cash!

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Coinstar also has bright yellow Coinstar Exchange kiosks that offer instant cash for those unwanted gift cards. The kiosks are located in grocery stores in major U.S. cities and accept gift cards from more than 150 retailers. I love that Coinstar can help with unwanted gift cards like this and turning coins easily into dollars!

Learn more about Coinstar and Coinstar™ Exchange and find a local location to turn your spare change or gift cards into much-needed cash this holiday season!

Did you collect change as a child too?

Heather Reese
the authorHeather Reese
Heather Delaney Reese is the storyteller and photographer behind the lifestyle and family travel blog, It's a Lovely Life®! For the past decade, she has vacationed over 150 days a year with her family. She is a vegan, and loves being by the water, spending time with her children, husband, 2 Shih Tzus and Cat.

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