I have a brilliant win-win idea that will make a big difference in today's world... really I do.

 

Have you ever seen a change belt?

 But first, a riddle (everybody loves a riddle, right?) for you to   solve which gives a hint of how this great idea came about:

Q.  How much change could you have in your pocket (or purse) and still not be able to make change for a dollar?

A.  Answer at the bottom of this post. If you get it right (or wrong), then you, my friend, get your second cup of coffee free at McDonalds.

Now you may ask, what problem (one at a time please) are we going to solve?

About 26 million Americans don't have enough to eat each week according to the latest census data. So many children need food assistance, breakfast and lunch, at school or they go home hungry. Many non-profits, religious groups, food kitchens run by volunteers, food banks and other benevolent actions are working as hard as they can to fill that void but there is much more help needed as the scale is just too great. The enormous effort this Christmas time is evident and more-so is the need.

According to The Washington Post, "We're long past the old debates about welfare and self-reliance. Thousands of Walmart and McDonald's employees count on SNAP food stamps to feed themselves and their families.

"What is the federal government doing about this crisis hitting 1 in 10 U.S. adults? Not nearly enough. The federal government gives food banks just $500 million in a normal year. That's about $20 per hungry American (children included) a year. Now, in this pandemic, Congress is struggling to raise SNAP by 15 percent, which would add just 80 cents to the maximum daily benefit for each member of a family of four. Thats literally less than a can of beans."

Now, to my brilliant idea:

I started this blog post titled, "The Day I Stopped Using Change," before I realized this could turn into something much more meaningful. I literally stopped using change (pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters) early in this pandemic. Seldom do you see a half-dollar. 

So the person at the McDonald's drive-thru window says your order comes to $6.31. You hand in seven dollars. What do you do with your change--4 pennies, 1 dime, 1 nickel and 2 quarters perhaps--because that's what the cash register said you got back. Sadly, many can't make change in their heads easily today. Or, write cursive... but that's another story.

Now you have a bag with sausage biscuits, a blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee. Then you get a receipt and a fist-full (8) of coins. You really need three hands, but you manage. Some change falls on the floor or goes between the seats never to be spent again. Sound familiar?

There must be a better option. And there is. Just say to that eager to please worker on the other side of the plexiglass, "Just round up my order to seven dollars to help feed the hungry please."

McDonalds, or any other server, automatically records the 'round up' change by a keypad touch and 'viola!' the hungry just got 69 cents for food. Now was that too hard?

OK, here's a better explanation: Loose change is often a 'pain in the neck' to us consumers. Moreover, one penny costs the U.S. Mint (us taxpayers) 1.99 cents to make and a nickel costs 7.62 cents. Kind of unbelievable, right? We make millions and millions these little valued coins at a loss! In 2018 we manufactured 7.5 billion pennies and 1.2 billion nickels. That's $280 million dollars more that all those coins are worth. Taxpayers automatically lose that much every year. At this pace, In 10 years we lose $2.8 billion on minting pennies and nickels alone. Is that smart?

Now just imagine if the IRS gave businesses a specific tax credit of 'round up' dollars and cents collected as an incentive to every business that allows customers to 'round up' for this specific purpose, it would be a real 'win-win-win situation.

Would consumers 'buy in' to the idea? The bottom line is that most of us are very benevolent minded. We always have been. And the pennies, nickels and more are little valued by most of us. Most would hardly miss it. The 'round-up' decision is entirely at the option of those tossing pennies, nickels and more back to a great cause as to when if any and how much of a 'round-up' (anything from a few cents to whatever).

It could be promoted by the government who would have to administer the process and agree (if that could ever happen again) to disperse 100 percent of the net dollars (less the modest tax incentive to the collecting businesses) and perhaps even reduce current but modest government expenditures.

As for value of change in America, we throw away $62 million in coins every year according to Bloomberg. "The coins get swept off restaurant tables (what's a restaurant?), mixed in with scraps when people empty their pockets and vacuumed up from carpets or sofa cushions." The average American has $28 of change just laying around, one study showed, with a caution that the belief is, the totals are underestimated by at least twice the amount. And this is just for 'lost change.' We have proven we are far more generous with our 'found' change. 

I have blogged about two trillion in free money for all Americans, somewhat tongue in cheek, somewhat real, but fun. You might enjoy it. 

BUT REALLY, HOW ABOUT MY IDEA? OK, LET'S DO IT. I know this is really simply stated and may have a detail or two yet to work out, but the concept, I believe, has merit and is simple-- something the government would make complex and polarizing in a second. But there should be no person or family in our country that can't put food on the table. And about those pennies and nickels? Come on. Get real 

Now about the riddle answer: You can have as much as $1.19 cents in your pocket or purse and still not be able to make change for a one dollar bill. In that case, you would have one half-dollar, one quarter, four dimes and four pennies-- $1.19. Did you get it?