5 Ways Your Spare Change Can Make A Big Impact

Nearly every time we make a purchase, it results in spare change. Some of us let it jingle around in our pockets, while others drop it into the charity bucket next to the register, hoping that it makes it to the featured charity. Even more of us let it pile up in our vehicles, waiting for a chance to put it to use. But, what if that spare change, as small as it may seem, could actually add up to something big – making a difference in the world or give your family a fun vacation? The good news is that you can!

“We all have spare change, and most of us see it as trivial, ” explains Leena Patidar, chief executive officer and co-founder of Coin Up.“What people don’t realize is that the aggregation of this spare change is actually quite powerful. It adds up quickly, allowing for major effect, depending on how you want to use it.”

According to the Transportation Security Administration, there was over $531,000 worth of spare change left behind in the country’s airports just during 2012. Imagine what that much money could have done to help a charity. There are some good things that your family can do with their spare change. Here are 5 things to keep in mind as the change begins to pile up:

1. Save for a family vacation. Many families find it challenging to pay for a family vacation. Yet if they saved spare change throughout the year, putting it into a big bank in the closet, they may have $600 or more at the end of the year. That’s enough to take a nice little family vacation or staycation and create some memories.
2. Keep saving it. If you put all of your spare change into a bank in the closet, and then once per year you cash it out and add it to a savings account at the bank (or invest it), you will be building a nice nest egg toward retirement. Even saving a few hundred dollars per year, this will add up to a nice payday once retirement hits and the money has all been compounded in the bank.
3. Pay it forward. Use your spare change to pay it forward for someone else. If you let it pile up in the car, once you see you have a few dollars just use it to pick up the tab for the person’s latte in line behind you. That good deed is likely to create a ripple effect of kindness.
4. Eliminate debt. In our society, most people carry around some debt, whether from credit cards, automobile payments, or student loans. Save up the spare change, and every time it adds up to $25-50, apply it to debt. Over time, those extra payments will add up and will help eliminate the debt quicker.
5. Give to your favorite charity. Everyone has a cause they are passionate about. Giving spare change to a favorite cause or charity can help have a major impact on that issue and lead to a better world. Apps such as Coin Up have helped make giving spare change to one’s chosen charity effortless. By downloading the app and choosing a charity to donate to, your purchases are rounded up to the nearest dollar, with the change going to your chosen charity each month.

“We know the impact and power that spare change can have on society,” added Coin Up co-founder and chief technology officer, Scott Graham. “That’s why Coin Up is revolutionary, because we are creating a society that can easily engage in charitable giving through the convenience of every day transactions; taking incremental spare change from your daily credit/debit card transactions and donating it to the charity of your choice.”

The Coin Up app is free to download. All users do is download the app to register, choose a cause they are passionate about, put in their payment source, and set a monthly limit. The spare change from their transactions (at stores, restaurants, or that daily coffee) will automatically be given to their chosen charities. The app provides a secure way for people to control their monthly charity donation amount, and provides for a tax-deductible donation. Coin Up’s mission is to create a society that engages in charitable giving through the convenience of every day transactions. The company was co-founded by Leena Patidar and Scott Graham.