Can You Have a Monopoly Without Cash?

When I first saw this image, I was sure that these would be Monopoly Credit cards.  I mean, isn’t that the way things are going?  I was trying to figure out how you could have Monopoly with credit– since the whole point was not to go bankrupt.

Instead, it is a new concept that Hasboro is looking at– Monopoly Debit cards.  A game with these cards would give up the cash money for the cards with the different colors and the creditor in the middle.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the game pieces matched the card colors.

On the plus side, you wouldn’t have to worry about losing the cash or crinkling it, but I can see these things showing up in stores or having interesting ways of cheating– oops, I typed one too many zeros!

If they were smart, this thing could hook up to the internet for multiple family play– two at my house, two at yours, etc.  You could walk into competitions with your own Monoply card.  Purchase designer cards on ebay– as well as Monopoly credits.  The list goes on and on.

But, before we chuck the cash and start using the cards, let’s go back to exactly when this game was invented, and it’s rules.  You see, today, you don’t have the constraints that Monopoly had on it.  Sure, you could mortgage your properties to get cash from the banks, but when you were out of money you were done.  In real life, we’ve been given fast credit– the ability to spend without having something to back it up other than the promise that we’re good for it.

We as American’s don’t have the property, the cash reserve, or the nest egg that our parents and grandparents playing this game had– we’re banking on a promise.  A promise of Social Security, pensions, and that we’ll always have an income– something we’re not guaranteed to have.

How are you spending your money?  Are you spending it to win or are you spending it paying back interest to some other people?  If you’re in the habit to carrying a balance on a credit card, don’t look back to how much you’ve paid in interest– because it might be enough to buy a new car or house!  Instead, get out of that debt, pay things in cash, and get rid of the worry that comes with credit.