Count the pennies and the pounds fall into place.

When I was sixteen I went to Disney World, and I got a bank in the shape of Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, my favorite film. When I started working at a grocery store a few months later, I began depositing my coins into Belle at the end of each day. I didn't use plastic money back then, so I usually had a fair amount of change after buying lunch and then buying a snack on my break. There were two times in high school where I found myself completely broke and in need of cash. Both times I emptied Belle, rolled the coins, and to my amazement, I had about $40. Belle served me well in high school, so naturally I brought her with me to college.

In college, I rarely needed Belle anymore. Since I used my credit and debit cards for all of my purchases and rarely even had cash on hand, Belle filled very slowly. I rarely took the time to empty her and count her contents. When I needed quarters to do laundry, I would reluctantly turn to her for help, and because she is so faithful, she would always help me.

Then I married Eric. He uses cash more than I do, and I informed him that he needed to deposit coins into Belle at the end of each day; he obeyed. Soon I found that Belle was rapidly gaining weight, but because I didn't have the need to empty her, I continued to allow her to fill. Sometimes, out of boredom, we would empty Belle and count the change we had accumulated.

Last night I decided it was time to roll some coins and deposit them in a more secure bank, one which is FDIC insured. We emptied Belle, sorted coins and began rolling. Sadly, we had too many nickel and dime rolls and not enough quarter and penny rolls. Nonetheless, I took $59.50 to the bank today. It had been nearly four years since I had thoroughly utilized Belle's resources. We probably would have had about $25 more if we had adequate rolls. We could get more rolls, but I think we'll wait for another big cash-in.