Exciting news! I cashed in my coins this morning. Okay, so maybe it was just exciting for me. I dumped out my checkbook box and a little tupperware into the machine at Commerce Bank on my way to work. You've probably seen their commercials about this free service, even to non customers. Anyway, wowzers! The machine spit out a receipt telling me I had 1 quarter, 211 dimes, 181 nickels, and 638 pennies. It's always more than you expect. I was hoping for $25, but would have been happy with anything over 20 bucks. The machine said I would get a prize if I guessed with $1.99 of the actual amount. So I guessed $30. When it said I didn't win, I figured I had overestimated. But nope, I was getting more cash than I dared dream: $36.78

I wish paychecks were like that.