The only way to get what you wanted back then was either to trade, find it, or make it. The Aztec however traded most of the time. The Aztec were very harsh about trading. They would sometimes act as spies when they were trading with enemies. They would sometimes force trade and tax out of others even though they did not have any money. Sometimes cocoa bens were used as money and were very valuable. Only very important people in the civilization would be able to eat cocoa beans. If you ate coca beans and you were not noble or a king, then you would be sacraficed. When you would eat them, it would be just like throwing away 10 dollars each time you ate one. "Pocheteca" were traders. They lived in their own section of the city. They traveled as far South as Honduras, and as North as Texas. This was the only way to get what you needed or wanted without making it or finding it. Being an Aztec must have been hard.