View Full Version : Loose Change
Don't you hate when you walk into a town and hit the grocery or convenience store and your total is something like $4.06? - - there is rarely anything to buy with the 0.94. I sometimes throw it in the charity bucket but for thrus on a budget, that could add up. Coins are heavy and I don't want my little cash zip-lock full of them. So, what do other long distance hikers do with loose change?
kayak karl
08-10-2012, 08:03
i use it for tipping. if you planned on giving a tip of $3, make it a tip of $3.94.
CrumbSnatcher
08-10-2012, 08:17
i get rid of the pennies and keep the rest for soda machines or whatever, i have bought many of sodas from all the nickles,dimes and qaurters i have found laying around in shelters and places hikers have been. its only walking and sometimes its only walking with a soda :-)
i never worried about small thing like the weight of some loose change.
WingedMonkey
08-10-2012, 08:35
I consider it litter at shelters and carry it out.
:p
The Old Boot
08-10-2012, 08:47
Just be glad you're not in Canada where both the $1. and $2. 'bills' are loonies and toonies.
I've been back living in Canada for 5 years now and still haven't adjusted to them - I've been throwing them in a basket to get them out of my pockets. I should have enough for my hammock and all the gear to go with it shortly...lol.
According to this Yahoo Answers posts, the perfect amount of change to carry is 9 coins:
4 pennies
1 nickel
1 dime
1 quarter
1 half-dollar + (1 nickel or 1 dime)
......or 8 coins:
1 Half Dollar
1 Quarter
2 Dimes
4 Penny's
Anything else is extra weight.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080823111525AA5VWyP
Use a credit or debit card. The only thing left over is a receipt and they're pretty light weight or even disposable.
What do you think about the idiotic practice of leaving coins piled on little Ottie Powell's marker down in Virginia? I hope that poor thru-hikers gather them up every once in a while.
I was amazed at how few places accepted credit cards up In New Hampshire and Maine.
fiddlehead
08-10-2012, 09:31
If there isn't one of those penny ashtray type things at the register (where I will leave any pennies or take some if needed), then I just give them to the cashier and tell them to give them to someone who is in need of pennies for correct change.
Quarters i'll keep.
Dimes and nickels? Good question. perhaps I'd keep dimes but nickels are hardly worth carrying sometimes.
America needs to do away with the pennies. They are just a pain. Round it off and be done with it.
rocketsocks
08-10-2012, 09:37
According to this Yahoo Answers posts, the perfect amount of change to carry is 9 coins:
4 pennies
1 nickel
1 dime
1 quarter
1 half-dollar + (1 nickel or 1 dime)
......or 8 coins:
1 Half Dollar
1 Quarter
2 Dimes
4 Penny's
Anything else is extra weight.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080823111525AA5VWyP
I've always carried
3 quarters
2 dimes
1 nickle
4 pennies
so I'd always have enough to pay without going into my pocket for another dollar..hmm
Samme same, I guess
atmilkman
08-10-2012, 09:51
If there isn't one of those penny ashtray type things at the register (where I will leave any pennies or take some if needed), then I just give them to the cashier and tell them to give them to someone who is in need of pennies for correct change.
Quarters i'll keep.
Dimes and nickels? Good question. perhaps I'd keep dimes but nickels are hardly worth carrying sometimes.
America needs to do away with the pennies. They are just a pain. Round it off and be done with it.
When I lived in Montana there was no sales tax. The price of most things was whatever.95, and you got a nickel back. You'd be suprised at how few pennies were actually in circulation. You actually collected more nickels than pennies. We just jarred them like pennies then cashed them in.
Pedaling Fool
08-10-2012, 10:10
America needs to do away with the pennies. They are just a pain. Round it off and be done with it.
I just imitate nature. When there's too many of them pesky quarks nature makes sub-atomic particles, sub-atomic particles become atoms, atoms become molecules, molecules become...
I roll up all my saved coins (including pennies) and convert them to dollars; a little simpler than nature. ;)
Sarcasm the elf
08-10-2012, 10:25
I very often carry 3-4lbs of fresh fruits and vegetables with me when leaving town, so I guess the weight of spare change never crossed my mind. What about saving the change and dropping it into donation boxes at the donation only hostels? (in addition to the normal amount you would leave)
BobTheBuilder
08-10-2012, 10:26
I throw pennies away.
Leave the pennies, take the silver. It's very disappointing to happen upon a soda machine near the trail and not have change. Kind of like finding an empty cooler at a road crossing.
Kryptonite
08-10-2012, 10:53
Use a credit or debit card. The only thing left over is a receipt and they're pretty light weight or even disposable.
You need change and cash too for the machines and soooo many places do not accept anything but cash.
Old Hiker
08-10-2012, 10:54
Leave the pennies, take the silver. It's very disappointing to happen upon a soda machine near the trail and not have change. Kind of like finding an empty cooler at a road crossing.
Drop the change in the empty cooler: the next hiker won't be disappointed and the Trail Magician can use it to restock.
max patch
08-10-2012, 11:34
Worrying about the weight of a few coins is like the person who cuts the edges off maps or half the handle on their toothbrush. May make you feel good but isn't going to change a thing about their hike or the effort expended. Funny how the same person that cuts 3 inches off of a strap on their pack in March is the same person who leaves town in August with a whole rotisserie chicken and a can of beer.
atmilkman
08-10-2012, 11:52
Worrying about the weight of a few coins is like the person who cuts the edges off maps or half the handle on their toothbrush. May make you feel good but isn't going to change a thing about their hike or the effort expended. Funny how the same person that cuts 3 inches off of a strap on their pack in March is the same person who leaves town in August with a whole rotisserie chicken and a can of beer.
Yah but he might be peeling the skin off first.
turtle fast
08-10-2012, 11:58
I thought the coins were for the Nick Grindstaff memorial, at Odie Powells marker i saw little stuffed animals and toys.
Sneak the change into a friends pack, let them carry the weight. My jerk-store friends deserve the extra weight, and could probably use the extra money.
fireneck
08-10-2012, 14:45
What do you think about the idiotic practice of leaving coins piled on little Ottie Powell's marker down in Virginia? I hope that poor thru-hikers gather them up every once in a while.
HA! That's a good point. I'm sure some our paying their respects!
Wiki Answers says
Some people hold to the tradition of leaving something of yourself when visiting a grave. If nothing else, a coin from your pocket serves as a marker of your passage and esteem for the departed. It also signifies to any that pass by that the grave was visited, and that the deceased is well loved and esteemed and has not been abandoned or forgotten. Coins are also an older form of leaving flowers, a practice prompted by the heavy Romanticism of the Victorian era.
--
So many of my fellow thru hikers literally throwing away money... or taking a stack of their coins and leaving them on a ledge outside of the gas station/store etc.
Pedaling Fool
08-10-2012, 14:46
I thought the coins were for the Nick Grindstaff memorial, at Odie Powells marker i saw little stuffed animals and toys.
I don't remember seeing coins at either location; I do remember the toys at the Ottie Powell memorial.
Although, I did find this pic, so I guess some do see a need to leave change. http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=640397
I also found this pic http://www.flickr.com/photos/broken_images/1546094141/ I have a pic somewhere that shows that same duck, but not the other stuff.
I also have a pic somewhere of this thing at Nick Grindstaff's grave http://www.runtrails.net/journal/photos_4.htm
fireneck
08-10-2012, 14:47
Glad this thread was not about a conspiracy theory video some guy made in his Mom's basement... :D
daddytwosticks
08-10-2012, 16:01
With all the homeless people on the trail and living in shelters, just give it to them. :)