MoneyBox

This page is for detailing and brainstorming ideas for clever home-made moneyboxen.

First, let us define a money box, and try to discover what makes one usefull.

money box
     n 1: a container (usually with a slot in the top) for keeping
          money at home; "the coin bank was empty" [syn: {savings
          bank}, {coin bank}, {bank}]
     2: a box for holding cash [syn: {cashbox}, {till}]

Now, what properties of a moneybox make is usefull?

• Principle of "out of sight, out of mind".
• Principle of "easy in, hard out".

Now a simple moneybox may implement either or both of these to a varying degree. The normal kids money pig hides the money, but usually is relatively easy to get money out. A "cookie jar" on the shelf may implement neither factor. A more stereotypical money pig will not have an exit hole, fulfilling the second principle, but being rather un-reusable.

Ultimately, a moneybox is an aid to self-control. Afterall, if we had perfect self-control, then an open container would be sufficient. (and indeed, I've seen people with this system - but almost always it's been implemented for small coins only - making it inconvenient to use any significant amount of the available money.

There is also the question of the SIZE of the moneybox. Most commercial moneyboxes seem to be rather toy-sized. A holding capacity of half a litre or so at largest. On the other hand, I think a litre size should be minimum. I'm thinking long-term money storage. The thrill of counting out $20 when you were 7... doesn't exist when you are 27. But counting out $200 (or more) in silver coins... now that's a nice buzz.

Note that in my own estimates, a litre filled with assorted silver coins (australian slang for 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c coins) is likely to be around the $150 mark. Filled with assorted gold coins ($1 and $2), I estimate getting close to $1000.

Some ideas for moneyboxen...

• Mac classic case. Many have been turned into fishtanks, but with a gutted interior and a money-slot behind the handle, this could be a very nice 8+litre box. Turn the display into a picture frame...
  • Out of sight score: 7/10
  • Withdrawal difficulty: 7/10
• (mini)tower computer case: This may take some work - gutting a CDrom (alternative using a builtin floppydrive slot) to provide a coin slot, and an homemade internal coin collection container (maybe a short tube of thick plastic piping), this could easily be a money box of variable size to fit in a computer case. (2-6 litres?).
  • Out of sight score: 8/10 (9.5 if implemented into a working computer)
  • Withdrawal difficulty: 8/10 (9 if in a running computer, 10 if it's an older case lacking seperate side-panels, or other measures requiring the system to be turned off first.
• Office Water cooler bottle: This is a nice 15litre sized behemoth. However, it is transparent and has an easy handle, so loses counts on both "Out of sight" and "difficulty" scores.
  • Out of sight score: 4/10 (higher if covered)
  • Withdrawal difficulty: 5/10 (higher if secured down)

---

So, how the hell do you go about filling a moneybox that big?!

Alot of people I know will try and avoid breaking a note if they can pay for an item with small change. I'll often do the reverse. I'll break an note even if I CAN already pay for the item in change. This is increasingly true for smaller values of coins that I have. Where I woulnd't hesitate to spend a single $1 coin, I'd probably not spend 10x 10c coins for the same item, but break a $5 instead. I picked this up from a friend with a strict personal policy that he didn't actually /own/ any 5c or 10c coins he recieved in change. They belonged to his moneybox, and were NOT for his personal spending. In this way, it's not hard to add a few coins every day... over a year or more, it can REALLY add up. (a measly 30c a day is still over $100 after a year, or, for americans, a quarter a day... is $90 at the end of a year).