Every day we deal with money. You need it to pay the bills and buy food, and you want more of it for luxuries and to save up for a rainy day. There is an interesting story told about how people first came into contact with money:
There was a time when there was no money; in fact in Mesopotamia in ancient times there were no coins or paper notes used as currency. People bartered products to each other over mutual wants and needs, like two chickens in exchange for one cow. But this system had its limitations because if the person who wants what you have doesn’t want what you have then you are stuck without anything at all! The ancient Babylonians got around this problem by using cereal grains (the ancient equivalent of money) as a common denominator. In other words, one chicken was worth 60 wheat seeds and so the chicken farmer could go to the cow owner and barter for a cow using his cereal grains.
The Babylonians made their cereal grains from barley or emmer wheat which were available in abundance at the time. They would harvest these crops, dry them out and store them in big sacks. Then they would make markings on a few handfuls of seeds from each sack, representing how many cows it represented. They would then put these marked handfuls into several more sacks which were not marked or cut up at all (which people call stock). When someone wanted to buy something he would simply reach into a sack and pick out some cereal grains, and when he wanted to sell something he would simply pour out the cereal grains from the sack in front of him.
This worked well for several centuries until one man came up with an idea – why not just use a cut-up version of the marked handfuls instead of putting them into sacks? He would take his handful and cut it in half and then in half again and so forth until it was small enough for people to carry around easily. Thus, was born modern currency; gold coins were soon invented after that because they were easier to transport than ceramic or bronze disks (which could be broken). Today we still call our money ‘coins’ (gold, silver) even though they are made from alloys these days!
Many ancient cultures used barter systems to trade with one another, but some civilizations decided to use pieces of metal as currency. These were our ancestors the Babylonians. This article will explore how these pieces of metal came into existence and why they were chosen over other materials for use in ancient times.
This worked well for several centuries until one man came up with an idea – why not just use a cut-up version of the marked handfuls instead of putting them into sacks? He would take his handful and cut it in half and then in half again and so forth until it was small enough for people to carry around easily. Thus, was born modern currency; gold coins were soon invented after that because they were easier to transport than ceramic or bronze disks (which could be broken). Today we still call our money ‘coins’ (gold, silver) even though they are made from alloys these days!
Many ancient cultures used barter systems to trade with one another, but some civilizations decided to use pieces of metal as currency. These were our ancestors the Babylonians. This article will explore how these pieces of metal came into existence and why they were chosen over other materials for use in ancient times.
So today we use money and we buy things with it or sell something to get money. We spend our time earning this money and we work hard for it because we know that we can live more comfortably if we have a lot of it – but the one thing is, everyone has different ideas about how much money is good. Some people say that having more than US$20 (about RM75) in their wallet at any given time means they are rich; these people will never be rich since they think like this. Others think differently; saying that owning a house, a car and a balance in your bank account with six figures makes you financially wealthy.
This difference in thinking demonstrates a lack of financial education amongst the population – especially those who do not even have a bank account. Our financial education is too focused on what we can buy with our money instead of how to get the most out of it. Most people do not think of how they can use their wealth as a tool for creating more wealth, so herein lies the purpose of this article – to teach you about some things that your parents probably never taught you.
This first step towards being financially wealthy is respecting money and understanding its power. Money represents freedom and security; it is like oxygen. It provides the means for us to live and thrive in this world and we must appreciate that fact. Ask yourself these questions: Are my purses or pockets bulging with coins or notes? Do I carry around cash? Who does not respect money? We all do; we enjoy using it as much as we can, as often as we can.
The idolization of having a lot of wealth is so common that people will kill and murder for it throughout time and space because they think that money makes them more powerful than others.
The past teaches us that the root cause for most wars has been greed, followed by religion or land. Today’s economy may appear infallible, we must be more prudent with our cash. Do not let money control your life.