I skateboard, so I *hate* having change in my pockets. But I’m too cheap to forgo change entirely, so I only take the quarters and leave the rest of the change on the counter. Using this method, I almost never leave more than $.15 behind, and don’t have my pockets full of effectively worthless change. When I have a quarter or two in my pocket, I use the quarters to pay fractionals, leaving the lower change again.
Some incredibly frugal (even compared to my extreme frugality) people may disagree with this policy. A back-of-the-envelope puts the absolute value of the change “lost” to this technique in the realm of money I don’t care about. The peace of mind is worth it to me. And extra pocket space for my phone, chapstick, floss, eyeglass cloth, lighter, earplugs and keys doesn’t hurt, either!
=darwin
