'Why do teenagers throw pennies in the bin?' blog discussion

oldvicar

Throwing money away is not a new phenomenon, although maybe its more popular now. At University over 30 years ago I recall a friend and some others regularly threw away the smallest coins. In those days that meant 0.5p pieces, maybe the occasional penny although mostly they were worth keeping. Seemed very wasteful to me: about 30p would buy a pint in those days !!!!!!.

Now I hardly dare whisper it, but could it be a Class thing? My chuck-em-away friend came from a poor household (single mum, not working or earning much), but the toffs (public schoolboys) never littered the place with shrapnel.

JamesK10

Stryder wrote: »

Many people do not care about coins to the extent that buskers and charity collectors have be known to scowl at the offering of coppers. Now it would be interesting to know the cost of lost/destroyed money in terms of the economy and inflation ... bloody teenagers!

The last charity collector was grateful he got anything at all a week ago! One former workmate used to throw copper coins away, this was ten years ago now, he lost his job last year, wonder if he regretted it when he was between jobs? I just make sure I have enough copper to total up 10p which can be dumped at supermarkets or at worst there's the "i" newspaper for 20p if you're looking to get rid of some from time to time.

Age is irrelevant, throw money away in times like these and you're crazy. If teens do this a little more often than adults, that's a sign of thinking Bank of Mum and Dad will help them out all the time.

N1AK

Enough with treating "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves" as the wisdom of the gods. The expression originated during the 18th century when a penny would buy you a loaf of bread or a couple of shorts in a bar. A pound wasn't an aweful wage for a sailor.

£0.01 is the equivalent to 5 seconds work at minimum wage. It is not worth making any decisions based on protecting that kind of value. Is throwing money away wise? Probably not, but throwing away a few pennies is not the act of someone who doesn't understand the value of money. It is the action of someone who DOES and decides that value isn't enough to care about.

JezR

AHAR wrote: »

Has been discussed!

Quite. This is in effect part of the same story.

Middy

People throw away pennies - yet use their 1p Sainsburys Brand Match coupon. I am not stooping that low to use a 1p off coupon.

Suarez

I have a 4.5 litre whisky bottle nearly full of coppers and silvers

(I didn't drink it - I used to work in a pub :beer: )

torbrex

I can't understand why, even on this thread people are saying that it is 'not worth their while' to bend down to pick up a penny.

Only 2 things will stop me picking up cash that I see on the ground:
1) if it is on someone else's property and I think they might be watching me.
2) the proximity of dog mess.

rinabean

oldvicar wrote: »

Now I hardly dare whisper it, but could it be a Class thing? My chuck-em-away friend came from a poor household (single mum, not working or earning much), but the toffs (public schoolboys) never littered the place with shrapnel.

Well of course it's a class thing, but not because rich people are so intelligent and never litter or whatever you're insinuating. Picking up pennies makes you look poor. If you don't care about such things, because you need the money more than your pride, because you're a kid with no conception of such things, or because you just don't care what people think about you stooping to pick up a penny then you will. Another reason you might not care is because you are so obviously posh and rich that it doesn't matter if you do poor people things, wear poor people clothes, eat poor people food, because no-one will mistake you for a poor person. Others don't have that luxury, so again, they have to be desperate, naive or shameless to - literally - stoop that low. And this is normally why teenagers won't pick them up, too - they are obsessed with looking wealthy. (Well, that and the price inflation of space raiders and chomps and all the rest! Though things were like this back then, too.)

I belong to the shameless category! Even as a teenager I'd pick up coins. I think being mostly raised by my grandmas gave me a different perception of money to my peers.

I would imagine that teenagers who won't pick up coins tend to grow into adults who won't buy reduced food or use coupons and so on. It's the same thing. I agree with N1AK that pennies are probably not worth it for most working adults, but I do think they are for the average teen.

SINBAD_2

corbyboy wrote: »

So what happens when you pay for something that costs 95p with a £1 couin?

Swedish Rounding, ie the total price of shopping gets rounded up or down to the lowest denomination coin 91p- 95p gets rounded down to 90p; 96p-99p gets rounded up to a full pound. (I may have got the exact figures wrong, but you get the picture.) So over a year, you don't loose out and you save time.

If you pay by card- the amount is not rounded.

lmp0507

I'm a teenager (just..) and every penny goes into a savings jar at the end of my week before I get my wages, I wouldn't dream of putting any money in the bin..!