How to Turn Coins to Back-to-School Cash with Coinstar

This is a money-saving post sponsored by Coinstar.

If you’re ready for your kids to go back to school but not ready for back-to-school expenses, Coinstar® can help.  At convenient kiosks, turn loose change into spending cash or NO FEE – eGift Cards.

Get FREE Coin Counting when you turn coins into a Card or eCertificate. with Coinstar

You can exchange your coins for FREE when you load the value onto a card or eCertificate. They have big name/ well-known brands such as Amazon, CVS, Old Navy, Starbucks, Regal, and more. This is a great way to get rid of your loose change and get some gift cards.  We did this recently with the kids and they got a Toys R Us gift certificate.

Use the advanced machine locator to find your nearest Coinstar machine and to see what options are available.

Back to School

In a recent Coinstar back-to-school survey, the majority of parents (84%) plan to send their kids to in-person schools in the fall.  Although excited for their kids to return, 61% of parents expect back-to-school expenses to be higher than pre-pandemic costs.

Many families have tight budgets now, recovering from the pandemic, and welcome any opportunity to save some money.

When asked about spare change in the house, 68% of parents said spare change at home is higher or about the same compared to last year.  70% said they plan or consider to cash in spare change to cover back-to-school expenses.

Spare Change

Do you have a jar or junk drawer collecting spare change?  We keep an old glass juice bottle to collect our coins.  It’s amazing how fast it starts to fill up.

Money-saving tip: Keep a jar or container in a prominent place in your home, to serve as a daily reminder to save.  Then, at the end of the day, or when you find coins in the laundry or couch, add them to your jar.  This is a great way to teach kids about saving money and budgeting.

Cash

In just a few minutes, you can turn your coins into cash.

Do Coinstars take a fee? Yes, if converting coins to cash, an 11.9% service fee applies. Fees may vary by location.

How to Turn Coins to Cash, eGift Cards, or Charity Donations

Coinstar’s convenient kiosks easily turn loose change into cash, NO FEE eGift Cards, or charity donations.  You don’t have to sort or roll coins.  Just bring your jar, bag, or container and slowly dump the coins into the machine found at many grocery, drug, and retail stores, as well as financial institutions.  Find a kiosk near you here.

eGift Cards

There are many eGift Cards to choose from such as Starbucks, Apple Store, Amazon, Lowes, Home Depot, Old Navy, Red Robin, Southwest Airlines, and more.

After converting coins, the kiosk gives you a paper eGift Card with a unique code that works just like plastic gift cards.  You can then use this in-store or online.

We took our jar full of coins to our neighborhood H-E-B and walked away with an Amazon eGift Card.  How cool is that?

Make A Donation

If you would prefer to donate to charity, you can help change lives with your spare change.  Donations can be made in any amount and are tax-deductible.

Not all charities are available on every kiosk.  Some examples of charities include The Humane Society, The American Red Cross, and The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Include The Family

Using Coinstar kiosks is a fun way to teach kids about finances.   As a family, have the kids collect coins around the house and see how quickly they add up.  Then, go to the kiosk together and discuss which eGift Card or donation to choose.

You could even make a game of it and have family members guess the total value of coins. Maybe the winner gets the eGift Card?  🙂