Loose coins/change are notorious…. they turn up all over the place- at table tops, between/under the sofa, unk and various drawers, at the bottom of handbags/backpack, in the car seat and even kitchen counter top.
In order for clutter not to build up, you need to assign a home to all objects. We cannot be filling our wallets or handbags with all the loose change we found. Hence, how do we find a dedicated place to keep our loose change?
A simple system I used for years is to get attractive glass jars to store these coins.
It can be something you bought from a dollar store or a jar that you have received for Christmas present which you have finished up the content.
I have 2 glass jars- one to store the local coins and another for my Thai coins. I used to travel to Thailand often and these coins would pop up during unpacking or located somewhere in my bag or purse.
Both jars were present that we got- one was a door gift from a wedding (left in picture above) and another was a Christmas gift (right on picture above) from a friend to store chocolate chips cookies that she made.
The jars are stored near our television set and leaning against the wall (since they are made of glass). Each time anyone from our family picks up a stray coin, the coin would go straight there.
On and off, we would remove the coins from the jar and put some of the coins in our purses/wallets for daily use….especially if the jar is getting a little full. In some municipal, we had to slot in coins for parking hence if we know we are visiting those areas, we would be able to reach out to the glass jar for the coins. Also, it is good to keep some loose change in the wallet from time to time so that if an item cost $4.10, then we can give them a 10 cent instead of having 90 cents returned to us.
Do try this out:
- find a nice glass jar (about the size of a jam jar or smaller)
- decorate with some ribbons or stickers if you like
- put at a dedicated place to keep the coins at your local currency
- if you have coins of other currency, put in a separate jar so that you do not waste too much time rummaging over them
Most jars that are used to store food would make beautiful decorative jars with a little creativity.
Example for the jar above was used to store chicken stock. After finishing the jar, I soaked and then washed and air dry the jar. The brand identifier is on the jar which I can easily cover with an artificial flower (glued to the jar), ribbons or a sticker.