Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters… Change. Not the kind you see in the weather or the kind that can be seen over time. But the kind that jingles and jangles at the bottom of my purse.

The bottom of my purse is often lined with copper and silver coins. On occasions, green crunched or folded up bills can also be found at the bottom of the cave. This cave fills up like a wishing well, just begging to be dumped out. Which it won’t.

If I go shopping, I won’t use my change to equal out my total. I always find it such a hassle to count out each individual coin to make up 63 cents. However, when I travel to Walmart or Dillons I usually prefer to use a self-checkout, just to dispose of my coins. I reach into the bottom of the wishing well and grab an overflowing handful of shiny and dull coins to dispose of. Sometimes I put so many in the machine can’t even keep up.

It’s always such a relief the moment I have to put less cash into the machine, since I just spent three dollars using only coins. However, the only thing I don’t like when disposing of my coins is using my quarters. I find it utterly pointless to use three coins to easily get 75 cents. If I’m using a self-checkout I will use seven dimes and five pennies to get that 75 cents. I would rather save my quarters to buy something slightly enjoyable at lunch, such as a dry chocolate chip cookie, than to spend them on whatever I needed so bad from the store.

This year however, I am trying something a bit different. Turning a new leaf. Experiencing a new change. With a new wallet I received over Christmas, I am attempting to contain all coins inside of said wallet, even use the change held inside when using a regular check-out.

Sometimes change is hard and sometimes it is shiny.