Have any spare change?

Do you still use cash and coins?

The US Treasury Department and US Mint announced that it will stop making pennies after it runs out of the blank templates used to make the coins, saving the government $56 million a year in materials costs. There is no indication that pennies will be taken out of circulation, only that new pennies will not be produced.

This move should have no impact on electronic purchases - ACH, Wire, Debit, Credit, etc.

A few news articles on the subject:

• https://www.axios.com/2025/05/22/penny-coins-end-production-2026
• https://www.axios.com/2025/05/24/treasury-penny-production-trump-shopping-change

This issue is not unique to the United States. Canada, Australia and New Zealand stopped producing their penny-equivalents years ago.

The cost to produce $0.01 is now approximately $0.0369 per penny, causing a loss to the US Mint of approximately $85.3 million. And our other coins are similarly expensive to produce:

• $0.05 nickel costs $0.1378 per coin
• $0.10 dime costs $0.0576 per coin
• $0.25 quarter costs $0.1468 per coin

It may be time to start using all those pennies we're currently saving in jars and piggybanks.

What do you think? How will stopping the production of the penny impact you?

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

Everything on the Internet is true, right?

What can Tik Tok (and social media) teach us about getting out of debt? How much of the advice is legitimate and how much is, shall we say, a bit "out there"?

On this week's episode of the Crushing Debt Podccast, Shawn & George watch (or listen to) Tik Tok videos from influencers who are trying to help people get out of debt. We'll then comment on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the advice given. As with any social media platform, you have to do your own due diligence and utilize strategies that will work for you.

You can listen to similar former episodes of the show like

• Episode 413 - Tik Tok Money Hacks
• Episode 388 - Money Lessons from Tik Tok (our Girl Math Episode)

The Tik Toks on this weeks episode cover topics such as:

• What is a normal amount of savings?
• Bankruptcy
• Frugal Hacks
• How to turn $60 into $1,000
• Girl Math
• Why NOT to save money

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com. And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders (the link will be live until June 2025): http://support.pancan.org/goto/MYLegacy8

Why are garage sales the perfect sales and negotiation training ground?

What is the golden rule of negotiating?

What are some negotiation tactics that work, and some that don't?

Each year, in October and May, Shawn's neighborhood hosts a community-wide garage sale. Shawn has tested and practiced different sales techniques at these bi-annual events in a low-risk, low-pressure environment!

Please go back and listen to these previous garage sale episodes, which have covered lessons such as:

• 68 - negotiations
• 86 - preparation
• 118 - patience
• 168 - preparation
• 241 - approach
• 270 - target market
• 373 - delegate
• 393 - sales presentation

In this week's episode, Shawn & George talk about the benefits of practicing negotiation skills at a garage sale, some negotiation tactics that have worked for them and some that have not worked for them, and getting the younger generations involved early in selling and negotiation (lessons taught to Shawn's kids).

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MYLegacy8 This link will be live until June 1, 2025, and then we start on the 2026 team and fundraiser.