By Vanesa Brashier, editor and publisher of Bluebonnet News
I went out to dinner tonight and left the restaurant with less change than I was owed.
The explanation was simple: They didn’t have any pennies. There was an apology, and then I was handed change that came up short.
It wasn’t a fortune. But it got me thinking: How often do we accept a little less than we’re owed because the difference seems too small to question?
And when did that become something we were just supposed to accept?
“Take care of your pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves.”
“Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you’ll have good luck.”
We grew up hearing those sayings. We saved pennies in piggy banks and coffee cans, counted them at kitchen tables and rolled them up when we had enough to turn small change into spending money.
Every penny counted. That was the lesson.
The U.S. Mint ended production of pennies for circulation in November 2025, although existing pennies remain legal tender. The reason was cost: Making the penny had become more expensive than the coin’s face value.
I understand why that deserves attention. Taxpayers have a stake in the cost of making money.
But customers have a stake in getting their money back, too.
Think about a little child who finds 50 cents under the pillow after losing a tooth. That Tooth Fairy money goes into a jar toward a toy or a special treat.
Two cents out of 50 is 4 percent. That can matter considerably to someone whose savings arrive a few coins at a time.
Nobody needs to round 50 cents. The problem comes when that child makes a purchase and the register doesn’t have the pennies needed to return the correct change.
Treasury’s guidance recommends rounding the final cash total, including tax, to the nearest nickel when pennies aren’t available. A $1.02 purchase becomes $1, while $1.03 becomes $1.05. Businesses are advised to apply rounding fairly, consistently and transparently.
Round down, and the customer benefits. Round up, and the customer pays more.
The arithmetic is understandable. What bothers me is being handed less change with an apology serving as the explanation.
And please don’t tell me to just use a card. Some people use cash because it helps them budget. They put grocery money in an envelope and can see exactly how much remains.
Others value being able to make an ordinary purchase without creating an electronic payment record. Wanting some financial privacy shouldn’t require defending yourself.
Then there’s the cash tucked away for a rainy day. A few bills can come in handy when a card reader goes down or an electronic payment won’t go through.
Cash can be lost or stolen, but so can cards. A few years ago, my husband’s card was used to buy pharmaceuticals in Canada, which we had not purchased and to the tune of $2,500. We had to prove it was not our purchase before the money could be put back into our account.
Cards have conveniences, but people should still have a meaningful choice about how they pay.
I also understand that small businesses count their pennies. They shouldn’t be left to figure out a national currency change one checkout transaction at a time.
Clear rounding policies and receipts showing adjustments would help in the meantime.
But I think there should be a push to bring back the penny and investigate whether it can be made more affordably. Could different materials or manufacturing changes reduce the expense? We need honest answers about what is possible and what it would cost.
We taught generations to count their pennies, save their change and watch where their money goes.
We shouldn’t be surprised when they do exactly that.
Bring back the penny. In the meantime, “we don’t have any” shouldn’t end the conversation about the change a customer is owed.