How we understand money is complex, and there are lots of ways to think and talk about it with the people around you.

Money itself is a tool. In a barter system, we would trade something we have for something we need. This could look like taking a carton of eggs to a neighbour who trades you milk. Bartering works well if you have something someone else wants and if you can trade directly with that person.

Money makes trade easier with a wider variety of people and businesses. Money is counted in dollars and cents. One dollar is divided into parts called cents. A quarter is 25 cents of a dollar or 1/4 of a dollar.

Money comes in different forms. Canadian bills come in $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and higher denominations. Coins are used for smaller amounts. In Canada, we have the toonie worth 2 dollars, the loonie worth 1 dollar, the quarter worth 25 cents, the dime worth 10 cents, and the nickel worth 5 cents. To show that you have a certain amount in dollars and cents, you write it like this: 10.35. The numbers before the dot are dollars, and the numbers after the dot are cents.

When you buy something, you trade a certain amount of money for the item or service. The amount a person or business charges is based on what people will pay. If you think the price is too high, you can decide whether you want to pay it or walk away. It becomes harder when you need something and do not have many options or lower prices available.

When I was young, my sister and brother cut grass for a family friend. I was much younger and could not cut grass yet, so my dad had me pick weeds. I had to count how many weeds I picked because I was paid per weed. My dad helped me make piles of ten weeds to make counting easier. My sister, who I adored and still do, took me to the store, and I could not decide what to buy. She helped me understand the value of each candy by calculating how many weeds I would have to pick to buy it. If a candy costs 50 cents, that means 50 weeds. Would I spend my time and energy picking 50 weeds for that jawbreaker? Sometimes I still use this trick when shopping with my sister.

People who are working are paid based on an hourly rate. The minimum wage in Ontario is $17.60 per hour. If you work 10 hours, you earn 17.60 x 10 = 176. Income tax is then deducted before the money reaches you, but for this exercise, we will use the minimum wage amount without deductions.

For larger estimates, we can round the minimum wage to 17 per hour. That means 17/60 minutes equals about 0.28 per minute. If you want to use a simple number, you can use 0.30 per minute which works out to 4.50 for 15 minutes of work. This is close enough for basic comparisons.

Would you work the number of hours to have the item or service?

Item	Price	How long you would have to work
Bag of chips	$2.77	$2.77 ÷ $0.30 ≈ 9 minutes
Lunch	$15	$15 ÷ $0.30 = 50 minutes
Sneakers	$100	$100 ÷ $17 ≈ 6 hours
New smartphone	$800	$800 ÷ $17 ≈ 47 hours, about 1 week and 7 hours of work at 40 hours per week
Vacation	$2,000	$2000 ÷ $17 ≈ 118 hours, about 3 weeks of work at 40 hours per week

You can use this approach to decide whether the tradeoff feels worth it. You can also use it to appreciate the value of the things you already own and the work it took to pay for them.

What other tricks and tips do you use when you decide whether to buy something?