Welcome to a new era in Canadian currency folks.
Our Royal Canadian Mint stopped issuing the penny on February 4th mainly because it costs more money to produce the penny than the currency it represents. Sure, we can continue to keep using pennies going forward but there is no requirement for stores to accept them. Eventually, the circulation of these things will dry up over time.
What about penny phrases and idioms? Can we use those still?
With the penny on the way out let’s a look at some phrases we might have to say goodbye to as well.
Bob is one bad penny. Every time he comes around he wants to borrow cash.
Tom’s SUV is sweet. That must have cost a pretty penny.
Did you hear about Michael? He cut off his kid’s allowance without a penny after his kid quit school!
Preet, I would give you a penny for your thoughts!
A penny saved is a penny earned.
Jim is penny-wise and pound-foolish.
Sadly, Chris doesn’t have two pennies to rub together.
Oh, now I get it…the penny dropped!
Despite his great success, Neil is fairly frugal. He must be a penny pincher.
My brother-in-law wouldn’t like playing poker with me. I like penny ante poker games.
Ah, I’ll miss the penny saver ads. Guess I’ll have to get used to nickel saver ads.
See a penny, pick it up; all day long you’ll have good luck; give it to a faithful friend, then your luck will never end.
When I’m in for a penny, I’m in for a pound guys!
Dave counts his pennies because he has a daughter to send to University.
In my 20s, I bought a few penny stocks. What was I thinking?
What do you mean, I don’t own Ram a penny!
You guessed it My Own Advisor watches his pennies but not as much as his friend Scott!
Any common penny phrases I missed? What are your favourites?
Every time it rains it rains pennies from heaven
Nice one Jack!
watch your pennies the the dollars will take care of themselves.
Good one!
Going to go spend a penny.
I’ve heard of that one!
Penny Loafers
A penny for your thouights.
First proof that we will all become pennyless
I am sad to see the penny go, especially now that I can’t say any of those idioms now!
Ha. For sure! Thanks for stopping by.
I’ve been saving up as many pennies as I can! 😉
Hey, bring your penny jar to Ottawa. We can play Rummoli with my close friends.
@Eddie
That will depend on the business. The City of Mississauga community centres are rounding up and down to the nearest 5 cents. So a $3.71 transaction would cost $3.70. That’s if you are paying cash. They say that debit, credit and cheque payments will be made to the exact cent.
I agree, though that some businesses will use it as an excuse to raise prices.
Cute collection of penny sayings.
Even though the penny is gone, it’s going to become more expensive for the consumers. So now a $3.71 purchase will cost $3.75 for example. The government saves, businesses don’t lose out (nor should they) and the consumer gets hammered.
Thanks for the comment Eddie. I believe retailers will round down most purchases, in your example, items that come to $3.71. Anything that is $3.77, they will round up to $3.80.
It will all even out.
What a great collection of sayings for pennies! This is going in my weekly roundup. I keep wondering when they are going to discontinue the penny here in the US. My wife found a great pic on Pinterest where someone tile their whole basement floor in pennies. It was probably cheaper than really buying ceramic tiles!
That’s kind of interesting that they are discontinuing the penny in Canada but what do they plan to do when you can’t give someone exact change back?
On top of that I don’t mind pennies, I know a lot of people who just throw them on the ground and I’m the guy picking them back up and saving them. In fact last year I cashed in an entire milk jar of pennies and got nearly a hundred dollars for it.
I wish the US mint would do the same. They are a waste. I like all of your phrases and I think they are still useful.