coinstar

went to a coinstar machine in safeway today because i realize that im keeping a lot of loose coins and change at home from grocery shopping at home.

first you pick either you want to convert to cash, donate or get a gift card. getting cash cost you a penalty ~15% so theoretically you only want the other 2 choice. if it's a gift card then unfortunately there's no amazon gift card to be chosen. it's mostly retail stores and doordash. then it's where it get a little confusing. there's a slot you are supposed to dump all your coins in, but I don't know what happen then. i asked an employee nearby then only she showed me the slit at the side - you are supposed to lift the bucket and the coins will fall into the slit. from there, you need to make sure it doesn't get stuck and it's slow enough so the counting is accurate. you also have to check for rejected coins. i found a few coins left behind by someone in there so I got a few extra nickels and dimes.

my total sum came to be $50 and i opted for an apple gift card. that seems to be the best option.

oh there's also a minimum for each gift card you choose, and there's a disclaimer where you may or may not get your money back if it's below.

August 7th, 2025