No Cash? Print Your Own Money!
There is no doubt that times are getting increasingly harder at present. People are struggling to make ends meet. The cost of food and various other bills are going up. Jobs are becoming harder to hang onto, and even if you still have a job of your own it is difficult to remain optimistic in case you are the next one to go.
But it seems as if people are becoming ever more resourceful in their battle to keep their families afloat in America. Keeping the money going round is a tough call at the moment. Families where one or more people have lost their jobs have less to get by on. Logically therefore, they are hanging onto as much of it as they can. And that in turn is slowing down the economy. After all why would you want to spend lots of money if you aren’t sure when the next pay check is coming in?
Perhaps this is why more and more states in America are effectively shunning the genuine US dollar in favor of printing their own money.
Now I know you are probably thinking that this must be illegal in some way. Well you might be surprised to discover that it isn’t – and news stories are beginning to find their way around the web telling everyone how it works and why people are using it.
The basic idea is to get more for your money. We’ve all heard of the idea of stretching those pennies as far as they will reasonably go, and printing your own money is just one more way of keeping communities going in every way they can.
So what happens? How does this work – and what is it that makes it legal?
This form of money is known as scrip. It is basically a substitute for real money. For it to work however, a group has to be formed where everyone agrees on the basic premise for the scrip. The name comes from a similar scheme that was first created during the Depression, back in the 1930s. The name was thought to be around and in use long before then, although it was the Great Depression that really brought it to the forefront of common use.
There are two main rules that have to be followed for the scrip to be legal. The first rule is that it should not resemble legal tender in any way, shape or form. It would be illegal to come up with a scrip that vastly resembled the US banknotes, for example, or any other banknote in existence.
The second rule is that it should not actually be used as legal tender. Rather, it is used as a form of exchange, in much the same way as a coupon would be. This article in USA Today describes more about how scrip is currently being used to ease the pressure of the recession. Read more about it here.
The basic idea is that everyone who uses the scrip gets more for their money. So for example they might get a 5% discount because in return for ninety five dollars they get a hundred notes of the created currency.
One of the best things about the financial advantage you get with these currencies though is not the increased value for money. It is the fact that the money stays local. Let’s say you live in a small town with twenty different businesses in it. Each business would have to decide whether it wanted to accept the scrip currency or not. But if it did it would certainly be more likely to make better sales – thus boosting the local economy. The currency is unique to a certain town or state, and that is why people use it. It cannot be used outside a certain range which is pre-determined by those accepting it, and because of that it boosts that economy.
This is because people know they will get better value for money if they use the scrip in their local region, rather than normal cash elsewhere. It is a resourceful way of doing things, and those in the US that are doing so should be proud of the positive effects they are having on things.
And perhaps the biggest effect of all is the fact that a bigger sense of community is being created as a result. Now if that isn’t a good thing to have in the current climate, what else is? You won’t find these on any currency converter, but they still represent an excellent exchange rate.
