Coins into coffee?

At the end of the day, my dad always empties his pockets of coins into a bucket that he keeps in his closet. As a child, I used to love the weekend or summer day when dad would bring out the bucket, dump it out, and let me sort and count it. It somehow always felt like "free" money. One year when I was a little bit older, I talked him into taking all the change down the street to the grocery store where they had a Coinstar machine, not knowing that the machine would take 9% of the change as a service fee.

Fast-forward to today. Like my dad, I empty my pockets (and the bottom of my purse) of change frequently. I don't have a bucket, but I do have two cups that serve this purpose well. Jaded by the Coinstar machine experience of my past, I was surprised to see a billboard recently advertising turning your coins into coffee. Apparently you can now use the Coinstar machines to count your change and turn it into gift cards -- with no fee! I tried it for the first time on Sunday and walked away with $$ in the form of both iTunes and Starbucks gift cards and an appreciation for how much change a Jeff cup really can hold. Coins into coffee -- who knew?