Money, money, money...

I was quite concerned to hear about potential plans to scrap one and two pence pieces.

There was a discussion on BBC Breakfast about it, and I joined Louise Minchin's abject horror when she was told that some people just throw copper coins in the bin. 

She, like me, was aghast that people would literally throw money away.  It also made me cross, because I thought to myself why don't they just put it in charity boxes if they don't want the small change themselves?  Such a waste of resources.

I appear to be becoming more of a Luddite the older I get; I still use cash, I still carry cash - not large amounts, it's not worth mugging me before anyone thinks that - and I'd hate to imagine a world with no cash, just solemnly tapping your card or phone against a gadget to gift away sums of your hard-earned money.

The problem with not seeing how much you're spending is that you have a tendency to spend more.  If you've got money in your wallet, and you have to hand it over each time you make a purchase, it makes you think a lot more about how much you are spending.

In fact, I've heard advice given by various financial gurus to people who are trying to cut back on their shopping habits to pay with cash to focus the mind on what they're actually doing.

But also, without two pence pieces, what are we going to use in those seaside arcade games where you pop the coin in and hope to win more, along with a prize that you didn't really want or need in the first place?

I've spent many a rainy morning or afternoon in North Norfolk with my daughter feeding the two pence machine, and winning some then losing some more.  And no, I'm not rich enough (or daft enough) to upgrade to the ten or twenty pence machines. 

Please, Bank of England, don't take away our traditional wet-weather seaside pleasures!