When Money Talks

DO YOU know me? You should, for I am the most sought-after commodity on the face of the earth. I can be recognized in most any part of the world, no matter what the language. Few in any land would think of going anywhere without me. Wars and the length of them are often predicated on the abundance and the availability of me.

Children are snatched away from parents for the ransom I will pay. I am taken at gunpoint or freely handed over to men making false promises. Some women marry because of me, others divorce because of me. I can split families asunder and bring on a legion of woes to those who have love for me. Once I saw a man betray the best friend he could ever have for 30 pieces of me.

It is probable that people have done more injury and lasting harm to one another in the name of me than for any other reason. Love of me is truly “a root of all sorts of injurious things.”​—1 Timothy 6:10.

My name is Money! The American writer, Washington Irving, once described me as “the almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land.” But in your land I may be called the peso, the pound, the franc, or the forint. Whatever I may be called, there is that mad and almost obscene quest for me.

I am different things to different people. I am bribe money, hush money, and kickback money. I am stolen money, blood money, and alimony. I am drug money, drinking money, and tobacco money. These are but a few uses by some that can result in a heavy toll to life and limb. To others, I am the necessary but ever-elusive day-to-day living-expense money​—some accuse me of having wings by which I fly away. Those who have undying love for me titillate themselves with glowing visions of wealth and happiness. But alas, even after some have amassed a great store of me they find, sadly, that I have not brought the real happiness they had imagined, so the suicide rate among them is staggering. Reams have been written to show that I am not the panacea that people have expected me to be.

I am not what I used to be. Physically my looks may be changed. Already in the United States of America, the Treasury Department is toying with the idea of making cosmetic changes in my appearance, such as printing me on different colors of paper to combat counterfeiting. With the latest technology in printing, I can now be copied so expertly that even the trained eye cannot tell me and my look-alike apart without difficulty. Whatever the color, however, I will not be any easier to come by than the old me.

But the real dramatic changes that you have seen have to do with my value. It has to do with deflation and inflation. When I am the one inflated, my value is deflated. What has inflated is not only your worries and concerns but the cost of the items you are swapping me for. So, what some years ago you could buy with one or a few of me, today takes many of me.

A good many of you will not remember as far back as the year 1908, but to me it seems as though it were yesterday. In your fantasy you will have to comparison shop. Do you like rice? In that year (in U.S. money) ten pounds would cost you 65 cents. A five-pound canister of coffee could be purchased for a mere 95 cents. Do you enjoy a breakfast of pancakes and syrup? Imagine how far a five-gallon can of syrup would go​—all at the amazing low price of $1.89. Are you among those whose palate is pleased with smoked herring? Then your purse would have been equally as pleased to part with only 87 cents for a five-pound pail, or 69 cents for six cans of salmon. Six cans of soup​—you could have your choice of various kinds, including turtle soup, for only 45 cents; or sugar corns, six cans for 41 cents; or six large cans of tomatoes for 60 cents. Can you imagine a pound-and-a-half can of salted peanuts for a mere 21 cents? This is to mention a few.

Perhaps milady is in the mood for boudoir furniture. Perhaps something in a brass bed? How does $16.45 sound to your budget? If you are not into brass this year, how about this handsome three-piece suite​—four drawer, mirrored dresser, matching washstand, and solid oak bed, all for the low, low price of $14.95? A mere pittance of today’s prices. Do you, or any member of your family, play the piano? Then here is a beautifully carved mahogany or French burled walnut model that you can have for just $68.00. Ah, yes, all of this and much, much more is what I would have bought in the year 1908.

By the year 1930, however, drastic changes could be seen in my purchasing power. My value had eroded to exactly half of what it was in 1908. As a one-dollar bill, I was now worth 50 cents. The inflation that concerned me and the deflation of my value that worried you was by now on an unstoppable course. By the year 1960, I had deflated to 28 cents. By 1982, nine cents. And by the year 2000, I am expected to shrivel to a mere four pennies.

As this was happening in America, Germany was not without its money problems. Before World War I, the value of the German mark was flying high. But by the year 1923, I, as a German mark, had so deflated in value that a wheelbarrow full of me would not even buy a newspaper.11 People were cashing in 20-year paid-up insurance policies for a single loaf of bread. What one American dollar would buy, it took a trillion of my German counterparts. When the one-thousand-billion-mark note came out to make it more convenient for the spender, it was so worthless that few bothered to wait for their change. It finally took a whole new monetary system to bring the nation to some kind of stability.

The world over, people put their trust in me. To gain me, they thought, would be the cure-all for their problems. In the end I proved to be nothing of the kind. I am but a piece of paper or a few metal coins. I am only worth what I can buy. When my buying power is gone, then I am worthless. I am reminded of what a wise king, Solomon by name, once said: “Your money can be gone in a flash, as if it had grown wings and flown away like an eagle.” (Proverbs 23:5, Today’s English Version) How ironic it is that the eagle, with wings outstretched ready for flight, is printed on me, the American dollar. Could it be saying, in its own mute way, ‘Beware, you who chase after me! I will fly away.’

Since I am the elusive one, a commodity for many hard to come by, it would seem that great care should be taken as to how I am spent. If you are budget-minded as you push your cart through the aisles of the supermarket but disappointed when you compare your sales receipt with your budget, then take heart. A food bill is not the same as a supermarket bill. How many nonedibles did you buy​—paper supplies, soaps and detergents, toilet and beauty aids, to mention a few?

Since I have spent a lifetime in the hands and pockets of all kinds of shoppers, the wise and the foolish, the budget-minded experts and the laymen, I have gleaned tips aplenty for saving me. A few might help you. Here is what the experts say.

Make out a list of what you need to buy before shopping and stick to this list. Never shop for food when you are hungry. Your stomach can prove to be bigger than your pocketbook. Do not take your children shopping with you, unless you are prepared to cope with the scene that might develop at the checkout counter when you refuse to add those items your children put in the cart when you were not looking. And it may be better not to take along your husband​—in most cases husbands are notorious impulse buyers.

Watch the papers and shop for sale items. Shop with coupons for additional savings. Some stores feature double-coupon day where the face discount value is doubled.

And don’t shop too often. Statistics, experts say, indicate that if you shop only once or twice a week you will probably spend less. Don’t stay too long. Supermarket surveys have indicated that for every minute you stay over 30, you spend 50 cents extra.

Buy the right size, says another expert. The largest cans of peas or beans, tomatoes or fruit, and other items, in most cases are more economical than smaller ones. The same is true with milk by the gallon as opposed to the quart. But be sure your family is large enough to use up the economy size.

Since transportation burns up a lot of me, cut down on your trips to the store and other places. Plan ahead and learn to consolidate your short car jaunts. Driving to different stores to chase down bargains may save pennies while guzzling gasoline dollars.

It is obvious to all, then, that I am in and out of your pockets like a flash. Yet, I am a necessary item in your life. I can bring you some temporary measure of happiness if you will see me for what I am really worth. But if you overestimate my value and make me your chief goal in life, I can be calamitous!

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Some say that I simply fly away!

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A wheelbarrow full of me would not even buy a newspaper

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If you make me your chief goal in life, I can be calamitous!