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Comment by iamcasen | Hacker News Reader

Am I the only one who views pennies like an extreme annoyance? I would rather throw pennies in the trash than have them. They are literally THAT worthless. They take up far more space and weight than they offer in value. It seems like such a massive waste to continue using valuable metals to create something so worthless.

Honestly, I think quarters should be the only coin we have.

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I've moved beyond that. I discard all change, ruthlessly. If there's somebody nearby who wants them, I give them the whole handful of change. Otherwise it all goes in the trash on the way out of the store.

Used to wear holes in my pants pockets, get stuck in dryer etc. Cost more than it was worth, in wear and tear, and in emotional energy to manage it.

You can't imagine the freedom you feel when you discard your first handful of change! Just toss it and walk away!

That only works if you're lucky enough to not regularly need a pocket full of coins to e.g. use the washers in the next-door laundromat.

> You can't imagine the freedom you feel when you discard your first handful of change!

I get this from gambling, actually. A $20 haircut or $30 dinner feels like nothing compared to blowing $2300 at a casino so I never complain about petty expenses. It annoys me to hear people in my life (who have healthy incomes) complain about the costs of things or talk about saving a few bucks at costco. It just doesn't matter.

But ironically I do keep my change!

Wait, obviously not everyone in your life is losing $2300 at a casino regularly right? So to them a few dollars might be important?

A $30 dinner every day is $11k at the end of the year.

None of my friends gamble. So you're correct they don't have my perspective. But I don't make money gambling either, so we make about the same amount. And I know that saving $3 on strawberries at the grocery store isn't going to make or break them so it seems irrelevant and petty to even talk about.

The thing is, though, small differences in daily spending do matter, when summed over your adult life, and can make a meaningful difference in when (or whether) you can retire, especially if your savings rate is near zero. But sure, if you're tossing away thousands at a time for fun, then you've probably got some lower hanging fruit you can cut than saving a bit at Costco.

Jeez, at least throw it on the street to make someone’s day. Why the trash?

You'd be fined for littering.

Are you from Singapore? You would not get fined in the US, unless you were poor and/or black.

If the trash has a flat top, I leave it on top. Otherwise, gone. Any other behavior means, again, investing emotional energy to figure out what would be best. And my whole point is to be free.

As a numismatist, I cringe. But I also understand the frustration.

I actually enjoy getting coins. I always check them for key dates. For example, any quarter or dime 1964 or older has a decent amount of silver content, and can easily be flipped for a couple bucks each.

Im in a similar situation. I keep quarters since they are occasionally useful, but in general when lose change becomes an annoyance i chuck it in the closest baristas tip jar.

Same. And maybe I'm(we're) out of touch, but some people act so shocked like I'm a crazy person or generous, I'm not sure which. Change is a hassle. It gets stuck in my keys, falls out everytime I change positions, etc etc. That said, I pay mostly by card these days so it's like like I'm giving away tons of change per year.

Yes and no. No in the sense that you not the only one to see pennies as an extreme annoyance, they really are. But you are alone thinking the annoyance is easy to get rid of.

They are a very good reminder of the currency history/direction, and cheap if you think about the consequences of letting this go unchecked.

They are so not worth hurting my fingernails trying to scoop them up from my cup holder. I either put them into the little container some shops have next to cash register or I just throw them in the trash.

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