Just counting pennies for real!

Remember way back (if you are old enough) when we saved pennies in our piggy banks?
Those pennies really bought a lot for us back then! Just 5 of them would buy an ice cream cone that now costs $1.50 at Baskin Robbins! Just 5 pennies could also buy a nice sized candy bar which now sells for around $0.65. 29 pennies would pay for a standard loaf of bread which now costs well over $2.00.

Still, even though pennies seem worthless, they really can add up. Being a "penny pincher" nowadays, can still net you much! Here is the catch! Think in terms of how much extra you will have at the end of a month or a year. For instance. A roll of paper towels costs such that each sheet is worth 1 penny. Instead of using the paper towel once, I can usually use it three times. For example: dry my hands, let the towel dry and then use as napkin at table. Later, I can still use it as a handkerchief. Our family really has many uses for paper towels, including in the car. We always try to find numerous uses for each one! We use up about a roll of towels once a week so I am paying about $1.00 a week instead of a possible $3.00. In one month's time, I am ahead by $8.00 and by the end of the year, I am ahead by nearly a whoppin' $100.00. Can you believe that! All that money just from using 1 cent paper towels three times instead of once!

Electricity is a biggie! I never got the cost figured out to know what I would be saving by switching from one wattage light bulb to a lower wattage or from one kind of light bulb to another. I get ohms, watts, amps, kilowatt and such all mixed up. I know I am saving something by using those little 7 watt clear Christmas bulbs on Christmas window candles for lighting on tables inside the house, but I have no idea to how much I am saving compared to if I had several 25 or 40 watt light bulb lamps on in their place. Even if I am saving just 50 cents a day in electrical usage by reducing my lighting one way or another, I can end up a whole $182.00 at the end of the year to buy Christmas presents with!

It really is amazing what saving on pennies each day can add up to!

I know a lot of us here pinch pennies many ways, but what amazes me is how little it takes to save up for the year by just being more creative in where these pennies go and what every bit of use you can get out if them.

I know that if I am in a situation where I have to make an extra $15.00 a month payment, I am very displeased. Yet making the tiniest changes can often save far more than that every month. Just cutting out 50 pennies a day equals $15 a month which adds up to $180 per year which could buy very nice used furniture, a whole lot of yard sale preps, or 450 pounds of wheat, etc!

I don't know how much money it cost me per year to keep an electric cup warmer on each day for hot cider, and coffee, but this Christmas I bought me a thermos mug that keeps my drink hot for 2 hours! I no longer need to use up pennies (what ever amount) on that cup warmer! For you with electrical usage and cost knowledge, my cup warmer used 25 watts, 120 volts and 60 HZ. I had it on 12 hours a day! So what did that cost me each year? Boy, I would love to know that one! [By the way, I am sure someone out there would comment that if I just didn't drink that wasteful coffee, I could save a whale of a lot! Well, I do awknowledge that you are very right!]

Now, where are more hidden places where we can save a penny here and a penny there. How about saving just 5 cents a day. Surely we can do that! At the end of the year, you can buy 90 pounds of flour from Save-a-lot which sells it for just 99 cents a five pound bag!

I would very much like to hear of your hidden penny secrets! Also, if there are any electrical cost savvy folks, may I hear from you too?

I got those funny looking lightbulbs that are energy savers..the twisty looking ones..and have them in every light in the house. I also make sure that not too many lights are on...I get tired of lecturing the kids about leaving the lights on, so I usually end up just periodically doing a 'housesweep' and turning them off myself. When the kids aren't home, the heater stays on 60, and goes up to 70 when they're home to keep them from complaining too much, lol! I got the 'vents' under the house covered with cardboard wrapped in foil to keep as much heat in the house as possible too, and keep my filters changed regularly too. Also, when the kids go to bed, I bring the heater down to 60 degrees. My daughter gripes a bit, but has gotten used to it.

Also, it may sound small, but instead of getting hamburger helper, I get pastaroni..same thing..but one is a dollar cheaper. And instead of using a lb of ground beef, I use 2/3 of a lb, and just add a can of veggies too. A meal on the cheap..average plate is about a dollar, and is pretty filling. I also make 'leftover burritoes'. Whatever we have in the fridge..just add some cheese and salsa to..throw in a burrito..and you have a meal.

I have learned from experience that some things buying generic are fine, like canned goods, but some things it doesn't pay to skimp on because you just use more or the quality is so inferior is just isn't worth it..like toilet paper and dish soap.

Those are just the ones off the top of my head..

This is a little off topic but I have often thought it would be a good idea to convert some of your paper money savings into coins, even pennies. If the dollar becomes worthless as some people say it will then at least you will have some scrap metal to trade.

I remember reading about how after WWII in Europe cigarettes and other items were used for money...

Well, I don't think cigs would work as much..but I think chocolate might still have it's appeal..don't know about the 'pantyhose' tho, lol!

But seriously, there are people who would be willing to let go of a lot for something to drink, even if not alcoholics..especially to forget about how bad things are..

So I was thinking about gettting a box or two of cheap whiskey..for tradin purposes..I can't stand cheap whiskey myself, so there would be no danger of me drinking it..

wouldn't work with beer tho..

Your message reminded me of a conversation I overheard during the week. One woman was telling another how she had everything in her house plugged into power strips and when she was done with something (computer, TV, etc.) she turned off the whole power strip. She stated that she had a battery operated wall clock and a watch so she didn't see any need for the clock on her dvd, microwave or cd player to be on 24/7. She also didn't need all her electronics to be 'Instant-On' so she didn't need them on standy-by sucking up electricity. Since turning everything off when not in use she said her monthly power bill has dropped by $50.

That caught my attention!

I came home and walked through the whole house in the dark; there were tiny, glowing lights in every room on all sorts of things: dvd player, VHS player, TV, stereo/cd player, computers (2), monitors (2), printers (2), electric toothbrush, electric razor, toaster oven, foot massager, electric blanket, clock radio, alarm clock, and others I don't recall right now.

I'm going to use power strips and see if it makes as noticeable a difference for me as it did for the woman I eavesdropped on.

Until later...
FT

With just Angel and myself at home now , we have got in the habbit of flipping the breaker to the hotwater heater off after we get our showers. This way it is off until early the next morning . I also have switched to the new floresent light bulbs . Try to get in the habbit of saving all your change each day, it will amaze you just how much money you can save in a yeay. A word of caution, the change machines that you find in a lot of grocers will charge you a small percent of your change to use them. We roll our own and take them to the bank to get them changed.
Spot

Those compact fluorescent bulbs really saved me many, many pennies. I put them in any light that is left on the most, like living room and kitchen lights. There was a noticable drop in our electric bill when we did that. They also last at least five years. They really last a lot longer, but they start going noticably dimmer after about five years, and I replace them after that.

I also am one that picks up pennies when I see one on the ground. The way I figure it, if a penny is given to me like that (from Heaven), i should accept it. This has opened me up to receiving more. I usually find dimes and quarters now. On my walks around our neighborhood, I can commonly find 30¢ to 75¢ per week. It adds up week to week.

I liked the old fireballs for a penny. Now, smaller ones cost a nickel.

Penny gumballs now cost 25¢.

I wonder how much my gallons of pennies are worth. Maybe I should dump them out and check prices of the old ones.

Annother electricity saver is unplugging your electric toothbrush stand. It only needs charging about once a month...no sense in wasting electricity on that.

found a 1923 wheat penny the other day. googled it and It is worth one dollar.
I fell off the chair when I saw that a 1922 wheat penny is worth $1250.00 !!!

Lots of things we may be overlooking.....go to www.sammler.com

coins, banknotes, stamps, arts, toys, paper money, postcards, sportcards, kinder eggs, and much more

I read someplace that a pound of pennies is worth more for the copper in them than face value is.
but here is a trivia site that discusses that more thoroughly than anyone needs

http://home.att.net/~numericana/answer/trivia.htm#pennybulk

I'm waiting for Penny Loafers to come back into style bigtime...then I'm going to sell off all my pennies to those with the shoes.



warren.

Cardinal said:

I read someplace that a pound of pennies is worth more for the copper in them than face value is.
(snip)

Click to expand...

True for pre-1982 pennies. It takes about 140 per pound, but they're worth close to $2. You can still find pre-82s in change, but it's getting harder to do.

Pearl

Good topic, Anne. I have changed most lights in my house to the curly florescent ones and seen a big differece in my power bill. I only use the ones from Sam's Club - WalMarts are terrible. I also put the dish washer on the short wash now and they are always clean. Can't believe I wasted all that electricity using the normal wash.

I've also started using sponges more in the kitchen and using less paper towels. I keep a spray bottle of water/bleach and spray the sponge each night to kill germs.

I now remember to take the wrappers off the soap and let the air at it. The bars seem to last twice as long.

I also put my coffee in a thermos. It stays fresh longer and saves electricity. Unfortunately I have a Bunn coffee maker that keeps a tank of water hot 24/7 so when I make coffee, it's done in 1 minute. I know it's using electricity all the time but I paid a lot of money for it so I'll keep it until it dies.

Look after the pennies and the dollars will look after themselves.

Turn off the heat dry option on your dishwashers. Mine has an air-dry option.
I also dont melt any more plasticware.

Dont whack the fluorescent bulbs, I've already destroyed two. They come apart very easily. One I killed in the garage by moving something around-I think a reg. bulb would have burst anyway there, and the other day I was throwing a sweatshirt up into the closet shelf and hit the dang flo. bulb with it and it came apart-still works but its just crooked now. And I agree, the wallys ones are garbage. 2 failed very quickly and they have a strange unpleasant cast to the light they give off. We got some at Costco and we liked them.

I went to Lowes and got some house switches that turn the light out after so long a time if no ones in there-they are in the bathrooms and laundry room. Hubby does NOT turn lights off if he can help it. I'm not sure these save much since they are "always on" like a TV is since they have to "sense" when someone come in the room. But they sure save me the aggravation of having to always turn the lights off.

Wallys used to have and maybe still do packs of 12 handkerchiefs-I got 12 dozen of them for preps and another dozen to just use for now. think of all the kleenexes you use when you're sick and you just saved a bunch o money. I think they were about 6 bucks for the dozen-but that was about 1.5 yrs ago, too.

Start buying soap ahead of what you use. Unwrap it and let them dry-the dryer soap is, the longer it lasts. I buy it by the case and unwrap all of them and put them back in the box till I use them. The soap we are using now is over a year old. And it lasts a long time. Hubby used to use up a bar of soap in 3 days, now it takes 5-6 days with the dry ones. (I can get Kirks castile bars for less than 1$ a bar with shipping, and no i dont work for them or anything, its just such a deal and its good soap) The only soap it wont work with is ones like Dove-they have something greasy in them and they wont dry.

Liquid dish soap, I get the big ones on sale and pour it into a smaller sink size bottle only halfway and fill the rest up with water. Its plenty strong enough for what I want it for.

I wash my kitchen sponge when it gets really grungy in the diswasher in addition to the clorox treament.

When my boss promoted me to Operations Manager of a 3.5 million dollar per year business with 30 employees he had a "Come to Jesus" meeting with me.

In that meeting he said that any idiot can manage the "big numbers", but being in a business with stiff competition required "managing the pennies". He was right. We had 15 years of success over our competition because of his philosophy. One example....we knew we had to spend bunches of thousands for new IS equipment and software, while still working with our staff to save on envelopes and postage. Same with managing miles on the vehicles, lowering thermostats at night, etc.

Finally, due to gumment regulations we decided it was time to sell the business. I got a nice kachingo for those 15 years of service and took my bundle and bought a boonies resort.

I use those skills now in my resort business and it pays back in spades.

AND....every day me and DW take our pocket change and put it in a gallon jar. Every jar = about $450. 2-3 gallons a year buys our plane tickets and more for our vacations.

I know many people that think in terms of single expenses and don't put those expenses into the larger budget perspective. My brother thinks nothing of committing to a $50 per month expense every few months and just doesn't seem to connect it to $600 a year for each and every time he does that. Then he wonders why he never seems to have any money left over to save or pay for unexpected expenses.

The other common financial problem seems to me to be that some people often don't or can't make the distinction between a want and a need. I'm amazed how people rationalize that they just HAVE to have something. If I really want something, I spend the money knowing I'm treating myself but I don't lie to myself that I'm somehow fulfilling a vital need. Example: I just spent way too much money on a crossbow for which I have zero need and don't even have a place to shoot (not to mention the silly thing didn't even come with any bolts, which means a future expense), but it's long been on my list of things to buy and by golly I thought it was about time. I fulfilled a want, not a need, and I'm VERY clear about the difference. I also knew I could afford it without impacting my overall financial health.

Speaking of pennies, I'm currently collecting those pre-1982 ones and polishing them in a tumbler (so pretty!). Copper coins used to be valuable in their own right and often took their place alongside silver and gold coins. Somehow you just never hear the same thing said about zinc coins, which is what pennies are these days (no matter what they look like on the outside). The last I heard, it was still a toss-up whether a pound of pennies was actually worth more than the pennies themselves, but it was close. If you want the specifics, here you go:

- one pre-1982 penny weighs 3.11 grams and is 95% copper/5% zinc
- therefore, there's 2.9545 grams of copper per penny
- there are 453.59 grams in a pound
- therefore, one pound of copper consists of 153.5 pre-1982 pennies (assuming no loss for wear)

I've seen different numbers for the pennies-per-pound and even the different individual weights, but I'm confident my numbers are right and everyone else is wrong.

I just returned from the change counting machine at Food Lion.

I had two zip-lock sandwich bags full of pennies, ten and a half pounds.
Got sixteen dollars for them.

http://www.kitcometals.com/

Hmm... seems you might of got alot closer to $20 bucks if you could of recycled at $2 bucks a pound.

I've been saving my change at the end of the day for many years, and I used to cash the coins in periodically, especially when faced with extra bills. However for the last few years I've been holding on to them. I don't want to be faced with giving up a $20 bill for a three dollar item when TSHTF.

Jan

West

Hey, thanks for a recent copper quote! With copper at over $2 per pound, that means that a pre-1982 penny DOES contain more than a penny's worth of copper!

Steve Sjuggerud, The Daily Reckoning, March 15, 2005 - "A penny now costs two cents to produce! It cost the U.S. government 3.8 cents to produce a nickel and 0.98 cents to produce a penny, according to the U.S. Mint's last annual report, dated September 30, 2003. We haven't heard from the Mint since then, but metals prices have nearly doubled. By my quick math, as of this morning's metal prices, it would cost 1.7 cents to produce a penny and 7.2 cents to produce a nickel today. Am I the only one who's ever run these numbers? The government needs raw metal to produce the coins. Anyone want to go in with me and set up a metal recycling business outside the mint? We buy freshly minted pennies and nickels for 1 cent and 5 cents respectively, melt them down, and then sell the metal back to the mint for 1.7 cents and 7 cents. It's the perfect business ... Don't we wish - what's more likely is the government will take the profits for itself. It will have to change the metal content of the coins. Older, worn coins will be turned in (if we're not forced to turn in our old coins), and the government will melt them and make the profit for itself. Argh! You do own gold coins by now, right?"

Opps, I don't mean to hijack the thread. This thread is about saving money in your budget, not about the pennies themselves.

In that vein, I took a multi-week trip to the East Coast in 2003 and before I left I unplugged everything except the refrigerator. I was amazed that my electricity bill dropped so much that I had to remove that month from my electricity use spreadsheet otherwise it would have seriously skewed that month's average. I didn't do the obvious thing (unplug everything when not in active use) since my bill is low enough for my tastes. It's almost always under $50 even during high usage months, so I could save more just by not eating out so often or even just skipping the soda during meals.

I don't think of myself as particularly cheap or frugal, so I really don't have any suggestions other than think before you buy and know why you're really buying something. I just live below my paycheck and try not to satisfy every whim I have the moment I have it. Okay, so the crossbow clearly was a whim, but at least it was a whim with a long history (twenty-plus years) of desire!

Argh! You do own gold coins by now, right?"

Click to expand...

Argh, your asking me?

Argh, Sliver me timbers. Exchange FRNs for glod then dig hole for bounty.

YAR!

Argh, I'll be pierceing me nipplez and hanging Maples and Morgans on them musklez. Roll around nekked in me bounty I will .... ..

Argh, Stupid barbaric, induztrialized and heavy metals!

Argh, swab the deck you banksters b@sterdz or walk the plank, cause I'll for one have called your hand.

Argh, some day I'll be signing this song....

Bang, bang!...(pound on deck)....

Show me the way to go home....
Bang, bang!,,,
I'm tired and I want to go home....
Bang, bang!,,,
I had a little drink about a hour ago....
Bang, bang!,,,
And it went right to my head....
Bang, bang!,,,
Where ever I may roam....
Bang, bang!,,,
On land or sea or foam....
Bang, bang!,,,
You will always hear me signing this song....
Bang, bang!,,,
Show me the way to go home....

Ca-ching $$$$$ honest money....


Best... ....

Anne in TN said:

A roll of paper towels costs such that each sheet is worth 1 penny. Instead of using the paper towel once, I can usually use it three times. For example: dry my hands, let the towel dry and then use as napkin at table. Later, I can still use it as a handkerchief. Our family really has many uses for paper towels, including in the car. We always try to find numerous uses for each one!

Click to expand...

Anne, please mention what brand of towels you use. I haven't found any that will last even ONE use, except for "Shop Towels On A Roll" from the auto parts store, and they are not fit for kitchen use.

okie medicvet said:

I got those funny looking lightbulbs that are energy savers..the twisty looking ones..and have them in every light in the house.

Click to expand...

Yeah, those are neat. I found out that a lot of the dollar stores carry them in wierd wattage and voltage ratings. So if you don't mind rummaging through a pile of dusty boxes to sort 120V bulbs from 240V bulbs, and ending up with a pile of 13 watt or 11 watt lamps instead of 16 watt lamps, you can illuminate your pad for $1 each. But I still haven't found any way around them being longer and wider than standard bulbs.

Rams82 said:

This is a little off topic but I have often thought it would be a good idea to convert some of your paper money savings into coins, even pennies. If the dollar becomes worthless as some people say it will then at least you will have some scrap metal to trade.

Click to expand...

Copper pennies! Don't bother with the zinc slugs. Drop a penny on a hard surface. If it goes "JINGLE" it's copper. If it goes "CLACK" it's zinc.

FollowTruth said:

I'm going to use power strips and see if it makes as noticeable a difference for me as it did for the woman I eavesdropped on.

Click to expand...

Yes! Even more important, a power strip on your computer eliminates the wear on the CPU power switch. When the switch on power strip breaks it's $3 or $6 for a new one, but when the switch on the computer breaks it's $50 to $100 for a new one.

Spot said:

With just Angel and myself at home now , we have got in the habbit of flipping the breaker to the hotwater heater off after we get our showers. This way it is off until early the next morning .

Click to expand...

I tried that for a month once and found no difference at all in the bill. And it's even worse with an electric heater because it takes much longer to heat up than a gas unit.

Now here is my offering:

Search google for "toilet paper oil filter" and you will find several dealers offering conversion kits for about $150. If you have been changeing oil every 3,000 miles, the conversion will pay for itself in just 10,000 miles and thereafter your driving expense will be reduced by $50 per 3,000 miles. (These numbers refer to my car. The numbers are different for other kinds.) Some people are offended by the idea of toilet paper, but the filter is a proven product as you will see in the sites you find.

These pages are a collection of pictures from a talk I gave while a Civil Engineer at Texas Tech University in 1980. Our senior year we practiced giving technical presentations.

The following is the basic pattern for building cantilevered structures with Pennies. Although it looks trivial, we can build amazing structures with these pillars.

Pictures of Pennies (No samples 'cause I'd have to copy the whole site here!)

Spot & Pamilco,

DO NOT USE THOSE COIN MACHINES!
They charge you 9% to process YOUR money.

9% is a serious hit on your wallet!
Any bank will GIVE you the coin wrappers for FREE.
I've heard that Bank Atlantic has a free coin machine.
Go to the dollar store and buy a coin sorter kit, 4 tubes. Fill to the correct height, then jiggle the paper tube over the coins. It works quickly.

Remember to sort out & KEEP the following:
All coins before 1965 -- 90% silver.
Kennedy Halfs 1965-1970 40% silver
Pennies before 1982 - 95% copper.

=====

Coupons and Buying in bulk certianly help.
Be careful when buying in bulk you need to calculate everything based on a common unit -- i.e. price per ounce ... per sheet. Laundry Detergent is sometimes cheaper in the smaller containers.
Another tip is to have a price log book, keep it updated for all the stores you visit.

My favorite is the bread machine. We make yummy loafs of bread for less than 50cents, each. More importantly we know what is in said loaf, not sawdust. PM me for more info.

We don't use paper towels to dry our hands, don't like the feel of them. I put up a small towel ring and some cute kitchen towels. The only time we wash our hands in the kitchen is during food preparation. We use dish soap and hand sanitizer.

We use the bathroom sink to clean up in, if we have dirty hands from outside etc.

I used to use a couple of rolls of paper towels a week, now one lasts about three weeks.

I use sponges to wipe up spills, Paper napkins (300 for a dollar) and tissues for my nose (200 for a dollar). I can go for days without using a paper towel unless that cat makes a hairball, and then I usually grab a napkin.

AmartAZ.

We use Brawny "Pick a Size" paper towels which are smaller than the regular size squares. They are very durable. Best I have ever found!

Lynn,

I use a paper towel after I wash my hands and dry them with a regular towel and then put lotion on them. Even though I use a tiny bit of lotion, I usually need the paper towel to wipe the residue moisture off. After that, the towel goes on my table to be used as a napkin and after that I still can find numerous other uses for it.

Just didn't want you to think I was being wasteful because I use a paper towel after hand washing. "There is a method to my madness!"

DO NOT USE THOSE COIN MACHINES!

Click to expand...

I roll everything but pennies. Rolling pennies is a poor return on my time.

I happily pay the nine percent, it's only five cents per roll and it makes something from what would otherwise be nothing.

I just ain't rolling pennies.

> I got those funny looking lightbulbs that are energy savers..the twisty looking ones..and have them in every light in the house.

these are GREAT! - but as someone else noted, they don't fit in a lot of lights...


also, I tend to view leaving some lights on as a security measure.

the ones with movement detectors (outside) and inside lights on timers ar good.

as to lights on appliences - those are LED's and they take teeny, tiny sips of electricity... you are not saving anything noticable by doing that.

dish towels that can be washed are better than paper towles - ditto for cloth diapers verses disposable.

as to electricity, was reading about friges in power outages, and they will keep things cold if not opened or minimizzing openings for a long time (many hours) with no juice... that would be a great item to put on a timer, as they gulp electricity.

not so water heaters. if you let them cool down, it takes a TON of power to get um up to temp again. I don't think anything is being gained by turning them off daily, in fact, this may be costing you money...

This thing will help you do an audit of what's really costing you and what's not (110V only)

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/7657/

as to pennies, my uncle told my cousin to save pennies because "they would be worth something one day" - she had a 5 gal glass bottle she was filling up... bet she still has it and is onto additional bottles!

btw: all you "melt um down" folks - it's illegal to destroy US currency... as in FELONY!!!!

probably your best penny saving measure is insulating your home - build a vestibule, get weather stripping, put plastic over the windows (wet cloth over cracks in leaky windo frames will freeze in winter and make a great seal!), and turn the thermometer down and wear sweaters...

all I can think of for now...

-t

I wash my kitchen sponge when it gets really grungy in the diswasher in addition to the clorox treament.

Click to expand...

microwaving it also kills the bacteria/germs. I put mine in bleach water, then in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Bleach water itself does not remove all the germs in a sponge.

tsk, tsk...

Cardinal,

It may have been this one. And yes, at least for now, we have a bubble in pennies as well as everything else.

Sorry for the digression, but these dang bubbles are everywhere. Far better, IMO, to get rid of debt, stay liquid, and prep. Yes, that goes for PMs as far as I'm concerned. Gold and Silver are NOT an investment, only a store of value. If you have extra funds, that's fine. If you have 30 days worth of food, I'd bump that amount by many more months before I'd even think about commodities or PMs.

David

===================================================

Ashtray Outperforming My 401K
Alec Nevalainen
Coinflation.com
January 10, 2006

Losing money making money. That sounds strange, but that's exactly what occurred when The United States Mint produced 95% copper/5% zinc cents in 1982. Material and production costs exceeded $0.01 to manufacture the cent and they changed the composition to 97.5% zinc mid-year (how they're still made today).

Now, the copper in the pre-1982 cent wasn't worth more than a cent at the time - it took 23 years for that to happen. On February 18, 2005 copper settled at $1.5126/lb and the pre-1982 copper cent had an intrinsic value of $0.01006437.

I thought the milestone was interesting, so I wrote an article titled, "Gresham's Law Returns." 321gold and PrudentBear published a link to it, but the response was little to none. It's only one cent, not exactly front-page news.

Fast forward to January 6, 2006 where copper settled at $2.1208/lb. To calculate the intrinsic value of the pre-1982 cent, use the following:

2.1208 (copper price per pound) x .0022046 (this value converts the copper price from pounds to grams) x 3.11 (gram weight of the copper cent) x .95 (percentage of copper in total weight) + .8849 (zinc price per pound) x .0022046 x 3.11 x .05 (percentage of zinc in total weight).

Do the math and you come up with $0.0141171. What does that mean? If you have 100 pre-1982 cents, you now have $1.41 in copper/zinc (40% gain in one year).

On a percentage basis, the coins in my car ashtray doubled the gains made in my 401K last year. Now, I'm not expecting to retire on what's in the ashtray, but it's an illustration of what's happening right now in the metal markets... and money with intrinsic value.

To find out the intrinsic value of U.S. Coins (including pre-1965 silver), visit http://www.coinflation.com.

Alec Nevalainen
email: alec@rockbend.com
website: coinflation.com

Copyright ©2006 coinflation.com. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/nevalainen/nevalainen011006.html

Anne in TN said:

Lynn,

I use a paper towel after I wash my hands and dry them with a regular towel and then put lotion on them. Even though I use a tiny bit of lotion, I usually need the paper towel to wipe the residue moisture off. After that, the towel goes on my table to be used as a napkin and after that I still can find numerous other uses for it.

Just didn't want you to think I was being wasteful because I use a paper towel after hand washing. "There is a method to my madness!"

Click to expand...

I use "Softsoap" with aloe vera made by Colgate-Palmolive so I don't need to put on lotion. I get it at the Dollar Store. My hands were so dry, this stuff works great, also smells good, even DH is using it and his hands are much better.

I don't think your wasteful at all. We all save money in different ways and you certainly have several good ways to save.

The paper towels I buy are Brawny and quite strong. I also tend to use them twice. Why throw away when you can stuff it in your utinsel drainer ready for another use such as a coffee spill?

Lately though I have ditched my sponges and paper towels for regular use and started using dish cloths which never "sour" because I discovered dish soap with bleach in it. (Naturally I dillute it with water as soon as it gets down half way which extends it.) A dish towel for hands and a dish towel for dishes not washed in the dishwasher. I utilize simple rags for cleaning windows and appliances.

Like Walrus Whisperer I dry out my bars of Dove soap.

I also have been known to wash out zip-lock bags providing it's previous tenant wasn't yucky.

I'd say that's not too bad in saving a few extra pennies.

Rams82 said:

This is a little off topic but I have often thought it would be a good idea to convert some of your paper money savings into coins, even pennies. If the dollar becomes worthless as some people say it will then at least you will have some scrap metal to trade.

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Save them pre-82 pennies! They're 90% copper, and about 150 make a pound of copper, selling for about two bucks a pound.

--Rich