Today in the new budget they announced that they will be fazing out our penny. Apparently it was costing tax payers 11 million dollars a year to produce since it cost 1.5 pennies to make each one.
Do agree with this decision? Will you miss the penny?
Click here for the article at the National Post online.
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Well we’ll be losing money when buying items 🙁
From a government perspective, it makes total sense to get rid of it. My concern as a consumer though is that everything will now be rounded to the nearest 5. For one or two items, that isn’t a big deal, but across the board, it will really add up.
good riddance!
now prices will be rounded and we don’t have to deal with those pesky pennies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5UT04p5f7U
FYI to those people concerned.
I’m going to assume that everything we buy as well as sales tax will be rounded up, not down to accommodate the loss of the penny. But it doesn’t really make logical sense to continue making something that costs more than its worth.
FINALLY! get with the times Canada, even as extream couponers, what is a penny worth?
no, won’t miss it.
Yeah what the heck are we going to do now? They will obviously mark everything up in price which will end up costing us more. I am not sure how this will work.
They said they’ll round up or down so if something is 1.86 they’ll charge 1.85.. but what about 1.87! We all know that will be rounded up!
I won’t miss it so much though I’m not really happy about the whole rounding up that businesses will have to do. Every small amount adds up! Win-lose situation, win as in no more millions of pennies in my wallet, lose as in now we will pay more for items that to end up as a perfect .05 increment.
Could they not just find a way to make the penny cheaper, or use cheaper materials to produce them??
its because alot of people have realized that you make more money selling pennies at the scrap yards than you do rolling them and bringing them to the bank.
I think it’ll actually make the prices go down. Stores would rather mark something $7.95 than $8. I think it is the right choice, but I’m going to have to work harder on finishing of my penny collection. I try to collect a penny every year.
I will miss the penny…..every cent counts!
Not gonna miss it. I hate pennies.
Remember if you use your credit or debit card you’ll still get charged to the penny. It’s only if you pay cash you’ll face the “round up / round down” scenario.
Save your 2012 pennies and leave them to your grandchildren. Should be worth quite a bit to collectors in 50 years or so!
Great. Now wallet will be lighter. 🙂
as long as only cash payments get rounded up/down i guess its ok, but there are far bigger wastes of government spending. But as a coin collector i will miss it.
They’ll round up … who are they kidding?
Aww now I can’t mix it in solvents to make nice gold pennies 🙁
“Blonde Comment Deleted”
When you go into a store and your bill comes to $4.97 they will either have to either bump you down to $4.95 or up to $5.00 flat and I’m sure we all know which one the stores will pick. Sorry, but I don’t want to be essentially forced to pay more for something because the Government feels the need to take the penny away. It will make more people move to plastic and what is that going to do for the banks in the long run?
That is too bad. I love finding old and unusual pennies. I’m sure anything the government does will result in people paying more
Why does it seem like people are forgetting that it COSTS 1.5cents to make one penny…Perhaps in terms you will understand, it’s like companies offering a $10 coupon but you have to pay $15 to use it. It’s the tax dollars that are paying for something which is essentially useless so the issue of ’rounding up/down’ isn’t that big of a deal compared to how much money it costs to maintain the penny. Penny should’ve been abolished long ago as soon as it started costing more than its worth.
I know they say it costs 1.5 cents to make a penny, but once you make one it can be used so often. You don’t have to create a penny every time one is used. I don’t like that argument….maybe someone can make sense of it for me?
Will they spend even more $$ collecting, storing, transporting and ??? melting?? the old pennies once out of circulation?
@abbasgirl, how it is gonna add up for lots of purchases, its just the same price. At most, you are just gonna lose 4cents since its taken after tax.
Its funny how many are complaining about 5 cents is a big deal. You can’t get nothing for 5 cents these days, except those mini candies.
By the time this rule goes into effect, places like Timmy’s will take advantage of “rising cost” and round of cost such that the total price with tax will end in 0 or 5.
Remember, its rounded after taxes so at most you will lose 1 to 4 cents. If you are going to complain, you got to make 25 to 100 purchases to save only $1. Is it still worth the time and effort to keep track ( If you answered yes, get back to work!)
@TaraF, you either pay cash or switch to unlimted banking account. What then, cry about high prices of the bank account? There is nothing you can do now. You all big box shoppers haved ruined the economy already by buying at cheap discount places like Walmart. If you think Walmart is going to round down, think again. Protest, go pay for it somewhere else where its more expensive. What are you going to get out of that?
NEXT UP: Using cards as money for everyone.
So sad, I actually liked using my change but I do notice so many people like to use bills & put their change where ever
I read on a news site that if the item ends in 1, 2, 6, or 7 they will actually be rounding down…and 3, 4, 8, and 9 they will round up. Only for cash purchases…debit and credit will be exact. I think I will miss the penny, but I think it’s great they are doing this to cut production costs and hassle. I will definitely be stashing away some pennies for my kids though!
I say make it a legality to round 87 cents to 85, 88 to 90 etc., since 87.5 is smack dabb in the middle. (Same 2.5 is in the middle so 82 to 80, 83 to 85) Else inflation will run rampant if stores can choose to round upwards in all cases.
I think it’s more funny than anything. I *think* we have enough pennies to go around for a while… unless people start to throw away their pennies or banks start to collect them? I think we’ll be okay for a whlie… I really hope things wouldn’t be rounded to the closest 5 though!!
A nickel for your thoughts?
Pound wise, nickel foolish?
Can anybody think of some other alterations to our language that might be necessary? 🙂
Oh, I guess I will become a “nickel pincher”. 🙂
i must be the only one who wants the penny. i don’t like the idea of things being rounded up!! IT will probably mean more money out of your pocket (even if you think it is only a few cents,it adds up)and believe it or not those pennies can really add up to something!! Especially considering how many you can find laying around. I have read a lot of neat brags about others collecting all year and how they added up to so much.
JMO but to those that are really frugal it should be a let down. It is just another way for everyone to take more money from us.
It was also a great way to start teaching kids about money at a young age,my dd collects pennies,people give them to her(or she finds them or whatever), she plays store with them or we roll them when she wants to save for something.
Australia and New Zealand have been rounding up AND down the penny for years. you’ll get used to it, and it pretty much works out even in the end.
Getting rid of the penny is bad idea.It all adds up 100 pennies is $1.00
I think it is a wise decision, and I’m surprised it has taken this long. Any retailer would tell you that it is financial suicide to put the value of something at less than what it cost to produce it. The government is saving taxpayer’s money by doing this. The rounding will all come out in the wash as well, so there’s no need to panic about rounding up. Rounding down will happen equally as often. The decision whether to round up or down will not be at the retailer’s discretion.
That being said, it’s hard to let things go, but it needs to be done. We’ve had to say goodbye to the paper one and two dollar bills, and although this will have a greater impact on cash transactions, we’ll get used to it quickly. Personally, I won’t notice it much as I put everything on credit card (to get the rewards! I pay off the balance every month so it doesn’t cost me a PENNY extra 😉 ). Embrace the (reducing amount of) change!
See a penny pick it up
All the day you’ll have good luck
See a pin let it lay
Bad luck you’ll have all day.
I use my cards mostly so I don’t think I notice it except for “found money”.
So I guess it will also affect the price of gas! Gas will now go up a nickel each time instead of moving by a penny.
Here is a novel idea. Why don’t we have all stores include tax in the prices. They they can set prices to rounded 5cent intervals and not worry about rounding the totals. That would make me happy. It will also help the generation today who can’t understand what the heck percent means!
Then the onership is on the retailer to work backwards and pull the tax out of their sales. It is much more efficient.
I know some countries in Europe do just that – list total price. Much easier for the consumer – especially those that can’t do the math.
I was done with the penny when it cost me $1.13 to buy those easy plastic rolls from the dollar store for 10 rolls, therefore 11.3c per roll, only to roll up my 50cents worth of pennies! hahaha stupid! Now I just makes sure to spend them all (I cant figure out those free from the bank roll ups)
the big problem is that people are collecting big jars of penny through the year and roll it , let say, once or twice a year…..
that means Government have to make more and more penny …..that’S costy
I think whether you like the penny or not–the big issue seems LACK of information. The government wants to STOP making the penny in Sept 2012–but it has not released any info to the public or banks or retail businesses on how to handle this change–I can just imagine the hassle of trying to balance a cash at the end of the day if electronic cash registars do not have their software altered to handle the rounding up or down! And more importantly, when will the penny no longer be consider legal tender? I believe a $2.00 BILL is still legal tender!
I grew up with the saying – those that don’t honor the penny are not worthy of the dollar.
goodness, everyone, calm down. It’s going to be a very minimal impact on you. You’ll save a few cents if your bill ends in 1, 2, 6 or 7. If it ends in 3, 4, 8 or 9 you’ll pay the extra. It’s all going to even out! And it’s only if you pay cash. Please don’t worry about gas jumping by 5 cents because it now jumps by 0.1 cents and we don’t have that coin! I say good riddance … watch the video that Michelle mentions up above, and you’ll see that other countries have done this and I think it’s a smart move.
@mcminsen, no more “that’s just my 2 cents worth”.
Soooo SmartCanucks, how can we benefit from this? I know some clever SC has already thought about it.
Share?!
For grocery stores, a penny here and there is’t big, however I caution all of us at the pumps, so when gas goes up it will be by a nickle!! this will be a big deal, cause a simple 20ltr purchase will cost us $1.00 more!! and it’s bad enough gas is pricey now!
See yah later Penny! Now if they could just take Bob Rae out of circulation.
@Greg, you got it! And for those that say, “well the store will round down” they may, BUT you don’t think the overall cost is going to go up beforehand? Stores are NOT going to lose money over this change. And to those that say, “it won’t really affect you so calm down” I will NOT calm down because it’s the principle of the fact. Whether it’s a penny at the till or $2 at the till I do NOT like being FORCED to pay more for something because the Government wants to change the denomination. They claim it will save 11 million a yr to rid us of the penny. You don’t think that many pennys will be added to ALL of our bills throughout the course of a yr? The Government may be corrupt but they are not stupid.
I’m sad about it…. and things will be rounded up, no doubt about that.
Who will lose a LOT are charities – lots of schools through the country have penny drives – and, YES, sometimes every penny counts!
I think problems started with people hoarding pennies – not thinking they were worth anything, so not rolling them, spending them, or donating them – and so many were out of circulation, the mint kept having to make more – thus, the rising costs.
Gosh, we’ve had to count pennies LOTS of times to buy milk and bread… I just never saw how people didn’t see them as ‘money’!!!
Not happy the penny is being phased out!
As Maureen said every penny counts!
I’m just wondering why they can’t reproduce the penny in another material that will cost less??
IT’S ABOUT TIME! So long, penny. I hate carrying a ton of them around in my purse, I hate my husband and son leaving them lying around the house because they make holes in their pockets, I hate the ton of them in my little ginger jar, leaving me wondering how to get rid of the darned things…yeah, roll them. Who the heck has the time! I’m too busy couponning!! :>)
“A penny save is a penny earn.” “See a penny, pick it up. All day long, you’ll have good luck.”
It make sense since it cost more to make a penny than it’s worth. As long as all the prices at the stores are adjusted fairly to reflect this change (no more prices ending in .99 or .97), then the taxes are rounded at the end, i think we’ll be fine.
On another note, my sons will miss their penny collection. It really adds up. They have traded in many dollars worth of pennies at the bank over the years. It’s amazing how many dollars you can accummulate just from gathering all the pennies you receive from you change and pennies found on the ground.
Other countries have been without the penny for years. It’s about time that Canada get with the times. I was in Australia years ago and they had no penny. It wasn’t a big deal and I never ended up with 99 cents in change(after my bill came to $20.01). I hate that.
How often do most of us use cash anymore anyway? I would say I use debit or credit most of the time, so the few transactions of rounding really won’t be too much of an impact. I think this is a great marketing tool for retailers to jump on the bandwagon. “Come shop at our store, we only round down!” My only concern about the discontinuation of the penny is where will I find my luck from now on lol….
@michelle, great video link!
low income earners cant aford to throw away the penny, it might cost more to make it but the only one gaining from it being gone is the government…. will they stop the taxes so people dont lose money they cant aford to throw away, if you dont want your pennies there are plenty of people out there relying on every one they can get. maby some of the ones willing to throw the penny away should be donating them to the needy instead. so in the end the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and those who are already begging for food will go hungry. they pennies add up, i give mine to the homeless, but i cant aford to give them nickles… removeing the penny might save a little pocket weight but it certainly isnt gonna help the poor….isnt it about time people stopped thinking of themselves?
For cash transactions it will be rounded either up or down, but for debit and credit payments, there WILL BE NO ROUNDING… You will pay to the 1 cent (it is not called a penny!), if you choose to pay with your card.
If this is correct,
“I read on a news site that if the item ends in 1, 2, 6, or 7 they will actually be rounding down…and 3, 4, 8, and 9 they will round up. Only for cash purchases…debit and credit will be exact. I think I will miss the penny, but I think it’s great they are doing this to cut production costs and hassle. I will definitely be stashing away some pennies for my kids though!”
Pay cash for anything that ends in 1,2 6 or 7 since it will be rounded down. Anything ending in 3,4,8,and 9 use a debit or credit card. The amount won’t be rounded up in this case. Just a couple cents for each transaction but if every body did it then…
Actually this is how it will be rounded
so $1.02 is rounded to $1 and $1.03 will be rounded to $1.05.
Oh and FYI the ROUNDING only happens when youre paying cash.
Prices can still be whatever you want, it’s just when you pay the total it will round up or down. And, they can’t set prices to ‘make sure’ it will round up, because it will depend on multiples. if i buy 1 thing and it ends up being $1.13, it will round up. If i buy two of them it will end up being $2.26 and it will round down. Stores don’t know what combination of things you will buy. Australia already works this way and i works just fine.
I say good riddance to the penny.
“A penny saved is a penny earned.” “See a penny, pick it up. All day long, you’ll have good luck.”
It does make sense since it cost more to have a penny than its worth. As long as the prices at the stores are adjusted fairly to reflect this change (no more prices ending in .99 or .97), then the taxes are rounded at the end, i think we’ll be fine. As for gas prices and things like that, the rounding doesn’t happen, or shouldn’t happen, until the end, at the total cost.
On another note, my sons will miss their penny collection. It really adds up. They have traded in many dollars worth of pennies at the bank for years. It’s amazing how it can accummulate just from collecting them from the change you get and picking them off the ground.
“A penny saved is a penny earned.” “See a penny, pick it up. All day long, you’ll have good luck.”
It does make sense since it cost more to have a penny than its worth. As long as the prices at the stores are adjusted fairly to reflect this change (no more prices ending in .99 or .97), then the taxes are rounded at the end, i think we’ll be fine. As for gas prices and things like that, the rounding doesn’t happen, or shouldn’t happen, until the end, at the total cost.
On another note, my sons will miss their penny collection. It really adds up. They have traded in many dollars worth of pennies at the bank for years. It’s amazing how it can accummulate just from collecting them from the change you get and picking them off the ground.
That’s just my two cents – or rather my nickel ??? 🙂
The way I see it gas won’t go up 5 cents at a time. If it’s 1.21 a litre then after they add up what you put in we’ll say 23 litres (1.21×23=27.83) then they will round up the 83 cents to 85 and you’ll be paying an extra 2 cents. While I don’t really dislike having pennies I don’t think it’s going to be that bad without them. Things can still be priced at .97 or .99 it’s the total bill that gets rounded up or down not each individual item.
They have not supplied information to stores because the budget has not passed, therefore it is more ‘this is what we want to do’ until the budget has had debate and been voted on.
They did say it would still be legal tender, just not made by the mint
No problem, get rid of the penny, but what do we do with the millions that are in circulation now????????????????????
Stores are not supposed to change their prices as cheque, credit or debit it will be the same amount after taxes….. ie 51.97…. only when you pay with cash will it round up or down. I personally am going to miss the penny… and the banks will be collecting the pennies and turning them into the mink therefore getting them out of circulation ~ probably to get melted down.
LOL Correction… the MINT not the mink…..
I have mixed emotions; I hate having pennies weighing my wallet down, always an excess that you don’t use or want. On the flipside it sucks for people like me who also collect coins. I’m surprised it wasn’t done long ago but I’m kinda sad about it at the same time.
With taxes being 13%, if they phase out the penny . . . how will that effect what we pay? Even if an item is rounded to $1.00, we would still pay $1.13 tax. No penny–what then?
Are my comments posting at all…?
My post didn’t post? 🙁
Neither did mine, Jen… it was from this morning.
Anyway, they shouldn’t take away the penny, they can have Nickelback!!! 🙂
i tend to pay cash almost for everything aside form larger $100+ purchases, the gov doesn’t need to know where i like to shop and how often, but if i find that more often then not it gets rounded up i might do both depending on the total. I might just save every penny i get from now on and spend it in like 50 years when now one know what the heck it is
I will be sad too. I like the penny.
I won’t miss the penny, however I think it was only put in the budget so that people will talk about it and not the real issues like the change in the old age pension, or that they are hardly changing THEIR golden pension plan. Both of these items will cost us WAY more money than rounding up to the next 5 cents.
well im glad but theres other reasons why they did this penny thing . Its so sad people dont know and thats why ourcountry is the way it is dteriating
I can’t believe how many people are concerned about everything costing more. Nothing will cost more unless you buy with cash. If you buy with credit or debit no rounding will occur. So stop worrying about every little penny. Who uses cash anymore anyways. I think like less than 1% of my purchases are with cash and the rest with credit or debit.
I personally don’t care about the penny. If it means I have to fork out an extra couple cents on a round up, I don’t mind, as somethings will be rounded down, and it will even itself out. I DON’T like, that the actual prices of items are not going to change. It’s going to be the cashiers job, to ask if they are paying debit/cash and then having to adjust the price on every single transaction. Depending where you work (walmart for example, where you already have to spam any fundraisers and walmart mastercards to every customer) we’ll have to be dealing with this as well… I can already see the people staring at me like a deer caught in headlights having no clue what I’m talking about. Headaaaache. Would be a lot easier they they just rounded the prices up… not “if you pay debit, its still the same” what if you had an uneven amount of money in your account when you want to withdrawl. The bank just keeps it?