For the last 15 years or so Hubby and I have been throwing change into a cookie jar I have in the kitchen. Over the years our kids have “stolen” quarters from the jar to wash the car, do laundry at college and the like but never once was it ever completely emptied. Well we got the microwave cabinet (which no longer has a microwave on it) in place in the kitchen and the cookie jar was going to go back into it’s place on the cabinet. That’s when I said to Hubby, “Maybe it’s time to cash that in.”
We had always thought we’d go on vacation with the money or something like that but never did that happen. We talked for a minute about what we should do with the money….we came up with a “really original” plan. We’d share with the kid of ours who could guess the amount and we’d use the rest for an additional house payment.
I sent the above picture to our kids. They were told they had to guess and whoever was closest without going over would get 1/4 of the money. They all had to privately guess so someone couldn’t under bid and say a dollar under another’s bid. I dumped the money into ice cream buckets and was off to the bank.
Kelli was home and watching the childcare kids so I could go to the bank.
I jumped in the truck and just started easing the truck out of the garage…and CRUNCH!!!
I hit Kelli’s car. We have a RULE that no one is suppose to park behind the truck bay. Hubby is a first responder and fireman so we never know when he has to be out of here in a hurry. Kelli had Puppycat and Carver and parked behind the truck bay so Puppycat didn’t run off she could get them both in the house in one trip.
Anyway…here’s what Kelli’s car looks like.
UGH! Kelli was upset. I really wasn’t. Stuff happens. Kelli wasn’t mad at me..more herself.
…but back to the coin story-I went on to the bank….here’s the tally. I will admit that I ended up loosing the excitement of it all….I now knew what my money would be going for, a new bumper. UGH.
So here are the guesses and payout.
Kalissa was closest and the payout was $110.62.
Once we got that done I called the insurance company and was told that most people pay these minor things out of pocket so their insurance premium won’t go up. REALLY?? What’s the point of insurance? Kelli got the estimate…. $1200. UGH. UGH. UGH.
As for the cookie jar, we’ll likely have a similar story about taking the jar to the bank in 15 years….or maybe only 10 years as this time around there aren’t going to be teenagers “stealing” from it living in our house-Maybe it will fill quicker but maybe not. We don’t use cash or change nearly as much as we used to.
Maybe Kelli will pay half since she parked where she wasn’t supposed to park. Might need a no parking sign on the garage bay door. (lol)
So at that rate Kelli can get a new bumper in 10 or 15 yrs. I’d take it to some private body shop and see if they can patch it somehow. Some of those guys can work miracles. And I bet Kelli remember not to park behind the truck and you will remember to look back before backing out…no matter what the rule. She could always just drive it like it is is guess.
My husband and I have always saved change. We buy our toys with the funds. My sewing extras, his fishing gear etc. it is a fun habit.
Sorry to hear of the mishap. You must both be tired after the busy retreat weekend, which would make this an easy mishap to happen.
May I suggest a used bumper and someone can reattach it? Or some kids at a local voc tech school use it as a learning tool to do body work?
just some suggestions..
love your blog wish I could come and do a retreat with you guys.
hugs
vicki
Know what you mean about not using cash as much as 15 years ago. Soooo these days I am trying to only have one charge a day on the credit card….. life changes….
I have a really big piggy bank – I’m not sure when we last emptied it but it is so heavy right now that I can not pick it up. It isn’t all the way full still and I really want to fill it – but like you we do not use cash as much and when we started RV’ing we put quarters in a separate container to take with us for laundry stops – so most of what is in that bank is less than quarters! Really not sure how much it is. Depending on your deducible you might want to go through the insurance anyhow – ask how much your rate would go up – might still be worth it to use – you have been paying for it after all.
OMG $1200 for a Chevy bumper. That’s ridiculous.
My husband was an elementary physical education teacher for 30 years and made it a practice to pick up coins on the playground when on duty. He also threw in pocket change on occasion. When he cashed it in he had over $1000. There is a whole other story about the towels, gym shorts and shirts, tennis shoes and socks left behind by kids.
Oh no! So sorry about the mishap!
Before I retired, I used to empty out my coins every weekend, and threw the coins into the desk in my sewing room…not sure how long I did that, but when I decided to clean out the desk, and I counted the coins, I had accumulated over $300….I was amazed!
My daughter (15) didn’t think coins were worth anything, but when we counted up her coins she had over $50. She was wanting some sneakers that were about $70, so I let her put the coins toward the sneakers and I’d pay the rest. Just last week, she was counting up her coins to go to the mall. I think the lesson took.
Oh no! Makes me feel sick when things like that happen…but better a bumper than a person or pet. Still upsetting. Sorry.
We are trying to fill an old Culligan water jug. . .we have been at it for 4 plus years, I don’t think we are even close to a 1/4 full. I did ask my husband who he thought was going to lift it 20 years from now when it is full. . .HA! He said we would figure something out. .. but there are teens here who borrow quarters. They also know to check their pockets before it goes in the wash or I get to keep it. :)
Someone hit my daughters car recently and wrecked the bumper. College kid backing out too quickly from the frat house, ugh. We took for estimate and it was $1200 too. We went online to search for parts and found the whole bumper assembly with ends and everything for $129 plus shipping. My husband took the old off and put the new on. We settled, with the person who hit her, for cash because he didn’t want to go through his insurance. I’d do that before I’d pay a shop to fix. The parts aren’t that expensive!
Val (http://myplvl.blogspot.com/) has an annual Piggy Bank Challenge that begins in July. Her idea is to save spare change for a year and use it for a special purpose (maybe quilt-related, maybe not). I’ve saved change and $1/$5 bills for years. About once a month I deposit it into a passbook savings account. The interest is next to nothing but when it’s in the bank I’m not tempted to raid the jar. My PBC savings for 2016-17 were $708. I bought 40-yard roll of batting with part of that.
Check a salvage yard nearby. There is a national database for car parts.. I think the website is carpart dot come or something like that. We got my son a new bumper (when he hit a deer) in the same color for almost half..