We use so many colour terms in our day-to-day speech … in English at least.

• He was Yellow Bellied – an old sailor term for – he was fearful
• He is Red with rage – he is so angry his face has turned red.
• In the Pink – happy as.
• She has the Blues – she is sad.
• Green with envy/ green eyed monster.
• Show me the colour of your money - if you have the cash you can have the goods.

I am sure you can think of more.

So when Tim Wilson from TVNZ Seven Sharp called me a few weeks back asking if they could interview me about the colour of the New 2015 NZ bank notes, I said YES, as long as the article could be fun!

We talked about: how long each note would be happy to stay in your wallet or piggy bank, depending on its colours.

We are exposed to money often in our day to day lives, what messages does it send to us, what if we don’t like a colour – or are we immune to it having handled the notes so often – maybe not so much now with the plastic fantastic cards.

The new bank notes are similar to our current ones, however they are much brighter – they say this is to stop counterfeiting. I feel the new colours send quite a different message to the old ones. Those that have seen them – via media – they are not available yet, have been divided about liking them or not, some seem to hate them while others just love the vibrancy, which is a typical response to their vibrancy.

So lets look at the ‘Colour of your money’

The $5 note is still Orangey but the new ones are just that much more punchy and bright. Orange – it’s a fast moving colour – its not going to want to stay in wallet long, let alone the piggy bank – set it free and let it run about I say. If it was an animal it would be a Gazelle – likes to jump about and have fun kicking up its heals and when need be can run away rather fast ….mmm that sounds like a $5.

The $10 note is more Turquoise – Oh so social – don’t expect it to stay home, it will be in and out of your wallet all day long, and you wont mind a bit as you know it will always come back.

The $20 note has more Olive Green in it and so offers a more feminine aspect – leading by example. Been green it likes space, but is also comfortable within its own space – so it won’t mind sitting in the piggy bank for a while.

The $50 note is very purple – the most spiritual of colour – let it sit and meditate in the piggy bank for a while – it will be happy there.

The $100 – hot red – hot diggity dog – this isn’t going to stay around long – it will be itching to climb out of your wallet and don’t even try and lock it down in a piggy bank. If the Orange $5 is the Gazelle, the Red $100 is the hungry Cheetah chasing it… run little $5 run….

So when the new money arrives you now have an idea about it, whether you think it looks like monopoly money, or if it’s a conspiracy to get us used to joining our currency to Australia…mmm – they now look more similar than ever! If you love it or hate it, you now know which notes to save and which notes to set free.

You can see our TV interview – very short – and a bit of fun …