Friday Fun Facts About Money

WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 1: Miriam Bauerlin holds a sign pleading for debt cancelation during a protest near the US Treasury Department October 1, 2004 in Washington, DC. Activists, organized by the Jubilee USA Network, protested for 100% debt cancellation for impoverished nations which the G-7 Finance Ministers who where discussing. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

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Money, money, and money. If we just had enough all our problems would be solved. Fast cars, big homes, lavish vacations. Yep, money buys it all. Here are a few fun facts about those little green backs we all chase so hard to get.

Ninety percent of all US currency carries traces of cocaine.
Ever forget your wallet? The first credit card was created because a man who had to pay for dinner but forgot his wallet.
The United States debt is ten times larger than all the coin and currency in circulation.
All the bills and coin in the United States today are worth about $1.2 trillion.
Where is 66% of all US cash held? Why overseas of course.
If you want to blame someone for our money problems blame China. They created the world’s first paper money over 1,400 years ago.
If we dumped paper money in favor of coins it would save $4.4 billion dollars over 30 years. Not sure that’s worth it.
There is more “Monopoly” money printed each year than real money.
Feeling poor? If you have $10 in your pocket and no debt you are wealthier than 25 percent of all Americans. Feel better now?
What’s wrong with this picture? It costs taxpayers 2.4 cents to make a penny.
According to recent studies, the key to happiness is spending money on experiences rather than possessions.
If the $75 trillion dollars currently in the world were distributed equally amongst all the people on earth, each person would have less than $11,000.
Blood donations are sold on the open market. It’s a $4.5 billion dollar per year industry.
What’s the most expensive object ever built? That would be the $150 billion dollar International Space Station.
Planning on a “Big Mac” for lunch? McDonald’s makes about $75 million each day.
There is definitely money in iPhones. Apple earns $300,000 each minute.
We love our Levi’s. We bought more than $15 billion in jeans in 2005.
We love our pets too. American’s spend $61.4 on their doggies and kitties in 2011.
The late drug lord Pablo Escobar had so much cash that rats ate about a billion dollars each year. You’d think he could afford Orkin.

Some Final Thoughts

Money has its limits. Can’t buy love, can’t buy happiness, and can’t buy good health. Money can’t necessarily make your life better; it just makes life easier. What will money provide for you today?