Although Fudge is the character who most explicitly talks about money throughout the novel, he is not the only one preoccupied with money. Peter, Mr. and Mrs. Hatcher, and the Fargos all have money on their mind, and as Blume demonstrates in the novel, money might solve a multitude of problems, but it won’t solve everything.

In the first chapter, Peter tries to tell his parents that there is a real problem brewing with Fudge’s fascination with money. When Peter says that “Fudge is obsessed with money” (7), his parents wave off his concerns until Fudge’s behavior becomes difficult to ignore. Fudge brags that he will “never share [his] money” (6), and he talks and writes about money so much that his school takes notice and asks if the Hatchers are having money trouble. This question upsets Mrs. Hatcher in particular because she states that she and her husband have “always worked hard,” “spen[t] carefully,” and “never talk[ed] about money in front of the children” (9). She tries to explain to Fudge that the things that really matter in life—love, family, and friendship—don’t cost anything, but Fudge won’t listen. He starts to equate love with possessions and claims that his mother doesn’t love him because she won’t buy him two pairs of shoes.