Frugal and Energy Efficient Living

I was more than willing to go for an Amazon.com or Starbucks card on the two occasions I hauled a bunch of change after my recent move. But I used coinstar at two different grocery stores and that feature, though listed, was ultimately not available and I had to get the cash minus a 10% service charge. The other option was to purchase a special pre-paid "Green Dot" visa card (which cost $5 or $6, just for the card and you are required to put, I think, $25 on it to activate it)....

So, while it sounds good, in practice, I haven't found it to necessarily be the case. I'm told my credit union will let you come in with un-rolled coins, but I haven't tried it. Coinstar is convenient, I'll give them that.