Should I Use Coinstar?

I've never understood why people put their money into a Coinstar vending machine. You have to pay 8-9% in commissions to the company just for the privilege of making change for your money, and the other options they present you with are just as bad. Depending on your location, you may be allowed to get your exchange fee waived if you agree to accept a Starbucks or Amazon gift card. This kind of defeats the purpose, though, because you will be blowing your money on coffee and online junk, which is probably what you would have done if you didn't have a coin jar in the first place.

I think there are two intelligent approaches to taking care of loose change which are vastly superior to paying a substantial convenience fee to use Coinstar. First of all, you should consider rolling up your coins and taking them into a bank to deposit into your account--that way, you pay no fees, and the money goes straight toward your savings. If by some chance your bank doesn't deposit change, or if you have a weird hang-up about coming across as the crazy cat lady with a bag full of coins, then you should consider purchasing your own automatic coin-counter machine that sorts the coins into the rolls for you. They only cost about $25 to $30, so after your first $350 in loose change costs, you'll come out ahead. Plus, you'll have an incentive to maintain your loose change because you'll have a cool machine that auto-sorts the money for you.