Proud penny pincher to cash in 55,000 coins

In 1989, Vicki Armstrong started saving every single penny she had. Literally. Every little copper-colored coin she came across, she kept, even if a bill came to just 26 cents. "I would give them a quarter and a nickel so I would get four pennies back." Today, Armstrong is taking about 55,000 pennies to the bank.
"People always told me how wealthy I was going to be," the Shreveporter said. She knows 550 new dollars won't make her rich, but the symbolism reinforced frugal spending habits. "It helped me be a little bit more conservative in my lifestyle." For almost 19 years, Armstrong has been storing them in vases, bowls and the occasional shoebox. In 1993, The Times reported she had squirreled away 14,000 pennies. Armstrong resisted the temptation of cashing them in and kept saving.

She plans to retire at the end of the year from Christus Schumpert Highland Hospital, where she works as a maternity technician. Her co-workers and friends have chipped in over the years. "They all hand over pennies generously."

Armstrong's husband, Melvin, said he's never interfered with her healthy obsession and confessed that even their bicycle rides have been interrupted by tiny treasure hunts. "She would see a penny in the road and just stop. I would have to do circles just to let her catch up." Vicki Armstrong is unsure what she'll do with the extra money — deposit it or buy a nice bracelet she's always wanted.