We stopped making the half penny around a hundred years ago, since then the cost of living has doubled several times. Tell belly aching bureaucrats to just do it. Stop printing and start minting one and five dollar coins. Paper money wears out quickly, usually in ten years or less. Coins on the other hand tend to last 50-100 years or more.
Dollar bills account for most of the printing.
Bring common sense into government. I was doing some work for a gentleman who owns a small convenience store, when I discovered how many inspections they go through in a year to protect us. Now this is the kind of store that has four or five apples and a dozen bananas at a time. This puts them on the inspection list of the Department of Agriculture. So each year the Department of Ag sends an inspector to check out the fruit and vegetables.