“A penny saved is a penny earned” is an English idiom that means: money that you save is more valuable than money that you spend right away.

This idiom comes from the idea that every little bit of money helps, but a lot of people don’t think a penny is really worth saving because it is such a small amount of money.  A penny is worth only 1/100 of a dollar.  You can’t buy anything with a penny in the US nowadays.  In the past pennies could buy small things, like a piece of candy, but that isn’t true anymore. Now you will need at least a quarter (1/4 of a dollar) to get a piece of candy in most places in the US.  Even the next piece of money up from a penny, the nickel, which is worth 5 pennies and is 1/20 of a dollar, won’t buy you much in the US.

The idiom, a penny saved is a penny earned, is an idiom that is from another time in history, it has become antiquated*, even though it is still used in modern everyday English.  It may not be used any more in Canada though, because Canada no longer is using pennies as money!  Back in May 2012 the Canadian government stopped making pennies and just a last week (February 4, 2013) they stopped being distributed as money.  What this means is that starting last week vendors and shop owners have been encouraged to round all prices of goods to the nearest nickel and they no longer have to give change to customers in pennies.  So if you buy something in Canada that used to cost $1.28 cents it now will cost $1.30. Pennies will still exists and people will still use them for some time, but no banks or store owners will give them out to customers when making change.  So, what will Canadians do with all the old pennies they have? Take a look at this article from the Huffington Post that offers some ideas, including art projects and turning them into screws and nails.

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/04/canada-penny-elimination_n_2613216.html

The United States still uses its pennies as money, but Americans have been calling for the end of the US penny as well.  After all it costs more than 1 penny to make 1 penny!  It costs approximately 1.6 pennies to make 1 US penny.  If you want a real English listening challenge take a look at this You Tube video entitled I Hate Pennies!!! To hear about why one man thinks the US should get rid of its penny just like the Canadians got rid of theirs.  I have to warn you, the man in this video talks FAST and this is not the easiest video to understand. If you are up to the challenge take a listen and good luck!

What is your opinion should the US get rid of its penny just like the Canadians?  Leave a comment below to share your thoughts.

*antiquated = old-fashioned or outdated