Does The Penny Need To Go? 2017 Edition [POLL]

While certainly not the first time it's been brought up, the debate seems to be unresolved (and won't be here either). Should we do away with the penny?

While the idea of a cashless society has been floated for decades, we're still here. Even with Apple Pay, or Smart Pay, nothing has officially changed. I still find myself getting slightly agitated when a total of "___.51" shows up on the register. This happened as recently as this morning during a visit to a convenience store, and inspired this post.

Now I have 4 pennies which will likely end up in the washing machine. After that, they'll take up residence on the dryer until further notice. Sure, I've gone the "leave a penny," and other pay it forward routes, but not every time. Saving??? You'll see me COLLECTING rare coins before stuffing randoms into a ceramic pig.

Maybe it's only a problem to us knuckle dragging cash-carrying folk. Yes, whipping out cash paper can be a proverbial giant neon sign reading "get this outdated relic...now!" (Plus, blogging about it on the station website doesn't scream "you're a genius.")

However, I call it a draw. Paying cash doesn't open you up to the increasing number of data breaches. Yeah, that's what I am going with. Rolling the dice on who I trust with debit card info.

Anyway, back to the penny. I don't think it's going to happen any time soon, if ever. There are far too many factors which keep us from rounding to the .05 or .10. Various taxes, and Corporate America's obsession with the number nine luring us into supposedly saving money. For example, a car listed for $9,999.99 IS "under 10 grand," but c'mon...is anyone falling for that?