How to Pinch Pennies When Pennies Are No Longer a Thing
There was a day in the recent past when the United States Mint minted its last penny. While you are more likely to find people who know that date in Philadelphia than you are elsewhere, the disappearance of the humble copper penny from daily life has been a gradual process. The days of penny candies and penny arcades are in the distant past, longer ago than most people alive today can remember. It has probably been years since you spent a penny. Millennials tend to regard pennies as coins that pile up in your wallet until there are enough of them to load into the Coinstar machine and trade in for something easier to spend; pennies might as well be Chuck E. Cheese tickets that you eventually, and after much more effort than it should take, redeem for paltry prizes. Even though pennies are a thing of the past, “one cent” is still a meaningful concept, although its meaning has changed over time. For help adjusting to today’s economy, which has moved past the era of the penny, contact a Philadelphia debt relief lawyer.
How Do Businesses Deal With Prices That Are Not Divisible by Five?
People who visit Canada from the United States often marvel at how our northern neighbors are so much like us, but so different. They sound like us except on certain vowels, and the cookies in 7-Eleven are just like ours, except that there are also digestive biscuits. Likewise, Canadians seem used to life without pennies. Vendors simply round purchase prices up or down to the nearest five cents when you pay cash, which you usually don’t.
Since we phased out the penny in the U.S., federal law has yet to pronounce on what to do about price rounding. Some states have passed laws on the matter, but more often, merchants make their own rules. Many vendors have started adding surcharges to credit card transactions to make up for all the cents they lose by rounding down the prices of their cash transactions.
Stuff Is Too Expensive, Pennies or No Pennies
Those credit card surcharges are just a drop in the bucket compared to all the other things placing a strain on your finances. The reason the U.S. stopped producing pennies is because producing them was too expensive. In other words, if you are suffering because of the high price of everything, it is not just you. Unfortunately, the days of high prices and stagnant wages seem to be staying here for the foreseeable future. If you have not been able to make much of a dent in your mountain of debt through frugality and the constant search for gigs, then you might need a bigger solution, such as consolidating your debt or settling with creditors for an amount less than the face value of the debt.
Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com About Getting Out of Your Penniless Situation
A Philadelphia consumer law attorney can help you if you need a new way to increase your purchasing power besides looking for pennies between the couch cushions. Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com to set up a free, confidential consultation.
Source:
cnbc.com/2026/08/26/cash-rounding-credit-card-surcharges-penny-production-ends.html
