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Look!: Demijohn as Change Jar

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Have you been eyeing our recent post on demijohns? We thought we would share what we've done with the large glass jar in our own home. Not the most original idea, but one that works well for us, our vintage demijohn (which we found at the Melrose Trading Post during a trip to LA last year) acts as a sort of retro savings account - collecting all of our loose change and sometimes a bill or two, all while being pretty enough that it fits nicely into our dining room decor.

 
 

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We're not exactly sure what we're saving for - sometimes it's a new couch, sometimes a vacation. But we've gotten into the habit of cleaning out our wallet and pockets when we walk in the door and dumping their contents in, which hopefully means when we figure out what exactly we want to spend the money on there'll be a fair amount there. Then we'll have to figure out how to lift the thing - we're suspecting it's going to be mighty heavy once full.

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Comments (11)

How do you get the change out without breaking it?

posted by jackcheng on February 25th 2008 at 8:53am
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I dunno. It kinda looks like you're taking up a collection.

posted by Lisa Hunter on February 25th 2008 at 8:55am
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I didn't know that's what these were called. We had one when I was growing up, we collected pennies in it.

posted by greer on February 25th 2008 at 8:57am
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I don't like it from an aesthetic or functional standpoint. See previous comments about "taking up a collection" and "how do you get the change out".

posted by jyw on February 25th 2008 at 9:17am
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You pick it up and dump the contents into say-- a pillowcase or one of the reusable store sacks or some other sturdy item; not plastic bags, not a wicker basket. I have a glass bottle from a water bottle company and I keep my mostly pennies in that. After I sort through it and take out the old wheat pennies I'll probably cash it in at a coinstar machine or somethng like that. I'd hate to have to roll them

posted by VickyA on February 25th 2008 at 9:29am
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No more pennies for the wishing well?

J/K

pretty jar, though.

posted by callbob on February 25th 2008 at 9:33am
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I'd imagine if you can fit it IN, it must be able to come OUT. I'd stick to coins myself but all you'd have to do is flip this over and shake it a bit.

I think its cute.

posted by suziegoombs on February 25th 2008 at 9:48am
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It's definitely better than the old peanut butter jars I use to store change, but I hope it can handle the weight of all those coins once it starts to fill up more! You could use chopsticks or tongs to get the bills back out--it shouldn't be too hard.

posted by OneWallKitchen on February 25th 2008 at 10:41am
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Just a warning I thought that I'd pass along.

A friend of mine filled a large glass bottle (similar to the one you're using) with coins. When it got about half full the weight of the coins was so great that it started to crack the glass.

So, if you're going to do this make sure to empty it fairly regularly!

posted by ncdoty on February 25th 2008 at 10:44am
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My grandfather has about 8 of these around his house filled with money. They've been there since I was a little girl. I guess he's saving all that money for a rainy day!

posted by IdRatherBeDesigning on February 25th 2008 at 10:48am
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I have a small decorative metal box that collects change. Once a week the quarters get moved to their own decorative box for laundry purposes. About every-other-month the rest of the change gets divided by my niece and nephew or taken to the bank.
The longer you leave it sit, the more you lose out on that fraction of a penny of interest you could make!

posted by bramasoleiowa on February 26th 2008 at 6:51am
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