While attempting to tidy our garage last weekend I made many discoveries of things I thought we’d lost long ago, like the weighty orange Sainsbury’s bag that was taped up as if it contained the crown jewels. My son may very well claim that it did, because his eyes bulged out of their sockets and made that comical awooga noise when he saw the ton of coins that were hiding inside.
They were all the 1p and 2p coins I’d put to one side when we used to use coins to buy things. I’d always kept my coppers separate, thinking one day they’ll add up to something significant and we could go out for a meal one day once I’d cashed them in.
That might have been the case had 2005’s values remained the same, but 19 years on things are more expensive and once the Coin Star machine (ironically at Sainsbury’s) had taken its 11.9% cut and a 49p transaction fee, we were left with £23.62.
We’d earlier played the game of Guess How Much Is In The Bag and I’d plumped for £27. And I would’ve won, had it not been for that pesky thieving Coin Star machine. If only I’d have just counted it out myself, bagged it up in the correct denominations and taken it to a bank myself. I’d have had another £4 to play with now! Would’ve paid for my Gregg’s lunch the other day.
The trip to the Coin Star machine was a reward for taking a car full of rubbish to the waste recycling centre (or ‘tip’ as I knew it growing up). It’s always a sobering experience going there because it’s always busy and everyone’s got so much to be throwing away.
We said goodbye to the crib, which served us well — apart from the time our son climbed over the side of it when he was ten months old and knocked one of his front teeth out after landing on his head. That was a fun night in A&E. A year later, almost to the day, he tried knocking his other front tooth out when he tripped while running at nursery, smashing his mouth against the edge of a table (which we saw in a skip a few days later). He’s still here, but where are the cot and table? Exactly.
We also said goodbye to his old blue scooter, on which he’s probably had many more accidents but none of which stick out more than the crib or the table debacle. It’s a bitter sweet moment getting rid of that sort of stuff. When I think of the joy (and tears) many of our old possessions brought, it doesn’t seem fair that it ends with them looking rather sad and pathetic among a load of other people’s broken rubbish in a big skip.
Still, on the plus side, our garage is a little clearer, and lighter, and we’re £23.62 better off. I’m determined to make sure that money isn’t absorbed by the cost of repairing the next thing that breaks in our house.
