What can you do with money?
Money makes it easy for people to buy and sell things. It is seen as a reliable medium of exchange between buyer and seller.
But money has other uses, too. It helps you to store value. For instance, if you were given an ice cream worth £2, you could enjoy it right now, but if you didn’t it would melt – and that ‘value’ would disappear. But if you were given £2 instead, you could spend it any time you liked.
Businesses use money when they price things. If you get your car fixed by a mechanic, you’ll be charged in pounds and pence. The price could be listed in other units (bags of rice, pints of milk, etc) but money offers a shared standard that everyone can use, making it easy to compare prices.
What has money been like in the past?
Throughout history, people have used all sorts of things as money such as gold, feathers and cowrie shells.