Pillowcase Money

Years ago I started picking up change that was just lying around.  I would throw it into a container and whenever the kids needed money for field trips, lunches or the baseball concession stand I would just dip into my change stash and give it to them.  Now, where did all this change come from anyway?  Well, my husband always empties his pockets when he comes home each day and throws the change onto the counter.  And sometimes he just leaves it in his pockets and it comes out in the washing machine.  Also, whenever we go to a fast food drive-thru, Hubby takes the loose change and tosses it in the cupholder.  And my rule is:  FINDERS KEEPERS!

I have kept stashing change although my kids are now grown.  I actually have little containers all over the house filled with coins.  There is also a kitchen drawer right where my husband empties his pockets each day that I simply open and slide the coins into.  Recently, while I was away from home, Hubby decided to do a little work on the kitchen cabinets and while he was doing that he came across quite a few of my stashes.  Whenever I came home, I found a pillowcase FULL of coins!  That was so heavy no one could even pick it up.  He informed me that I should take it down to the bank and put it through one of those cash machines and get the paper money for it.  Hmmm...I had been keeping this change for so long that at first I didn't want to part with it.  I know, crazy, huh?!  And so I got someone to drag that pillowcase full of coins into my bathroom.  Where it has been sitting for about a month now!

Last night I looked at that pillowcase and thought about the trip I'm about to take to Ohio this week.  Some extra cash might be nice, I thought.  And so I drug that pillowcase out and found that I still could not lift it.  So this morning I got 2 more pillowcases out and began to divide the money between them to make my load a little lighter.  I managed to get them into my car and when I went to town I stopped by the bank.  I walked in to make sure the machine was in working order before I drug all those pillowcases in there and indeed it was.  I must admit that at this point I was a bit curious as to how much money was actually in there.

I read the directions and started putting coins in the machine.  Now and then a message would pop up that told me to check the compartment where the rejected coins could be found.  There I found a good bit of foreign money...and some links to a watch...and a few watch batteries.  I still had one pillowcase to go when the machine stopped and said it was full.  I got a teller to come empty it and I continued to fill it with coins. Whenever the process was complete a receipt popped out with the amount of cash I was owed:  $803.22!

The kids knew about my pillowcase money and whenever I told them how much it was they were awestruck.  I still have several stashes of coins around the house and I intend on continuing this little habit I have formed over the years.  All I can say is:  DON'T LEAVE YOUR CHANGE LAYING AROUND ME...