Sporebuck

The Sporebuck is the currency of the Civilization stage and Space stage. The currency symbol in game is similar to the "section" symbol (§). It also resembles the "Simoleon," the currency used in Maxis's other games, SimCity and The Sims, in the shape of a spiral galaxy. The maximum attainable amount is §99,999,999 (one less than 100 million). Sporebucks received in excess of this limit are discarded.

Sporebucks can be used to buy everything from tools and weapons to buildings and eventually entire star systems (what depends from the T-Score of the planets).

Precursor to the Sporebuck
Cell Stage: DNA can be collected by eating red meat chunks and seaweed/plankton. Can be used in the Cell Editor to buy new parts.

Creature Stage: DNA is also harvested for money in the creature stage. Collect it by befriending or killing creatures, selling old parts in the [[creature editor]. Can be used in the Creature Editor to buy new parts, upgrade parts.

Tribal Stage: Food (Seen as chicken, apple, or chicken+apple in the toolbar), can be harvested by gathering fish, eggs, meat, or fruit with gathering methods. Can be used in the Tribal Planner for buying new huts and making new outfits.

Civilization stage
In the civilization stage, Sporebucks are made from trade routes with other nations, from refining mined spice, and from city income (made by pairing factories, houses, and city halls).

Civilization Stage Money Management and a Trader's tutorial
When you start out, claim a spice node on-land, ignore the tutorial, claim several more nodes before another city rises. When you have 2-3 nodes, go to your city, give it a factory, house, and entertainment center. Connect the factory to the house and city hall, and the entertainment center to the house (but not the bloody factory). This will not only jump your economy to a higher foothold, but will decrease chances of revolt, and religious takeover.

Later in-game, when more cities appear, conquer them using military or religious means (the quickest thing to do). Take control of your continent (with spice, remember money is everything), and get a port city rolling to claim off-shore spice nodes. (More Spice, more Sporebucks)

Nearing the end of the game, get an air force or navy and start hitting some cities hard. When they surrender, get converted, or get bought out, claim their spice nodes, and spend a pinch of money to give them a factory, house, and entertainment block. Increased productivity in spice will lead to thousands of Sporebucks per minute. Then, use Fanatical Uprising, ICBMs, or Global Buyout (costs alot, thank the Spode for economy). Then, take every city and MAXIMIZE spice production, because later in-game, spice means money, also.

In short, Spice is your Sporebuck.

Space stage
In the space stage, Sporebucks are mainly earned by...


 * ...selling Spice or Artifacts to colonies or to other empires (Although you can not trade with The Grox)
 * ...completing missions for other species (with rewards from §5,000 to over §1,200,000 Sporebucks, even for The Grox.)
 * ...collecting loot from destroyed UFOs and Cities.
 * ...allied empires' gifts (starting from § 10,000 Sporebucks).

Space Stage Money Management and Spice Collection
Tip 1: If an empire demands "unbeliever tribute", or a war threat you should not pay up if you have a military force.

Tip 2: If you see something that looks way too expensive, like 150,000 Sporebucks for a Colony Pack, turn down the offer. There is always a cheaper price.

Tip 3: If you have a colony that has a low spice capacity, buy Spice Storage and plant it on the colony. It helps spice capacity, so you don't have to go on a tax collecting run every two minutes.

Tip 4: If you see an Empire offering you Sporebucks, take the offer. Free money. Don't rely on these people, either.

Tip 5: Don't "buy" achievements like Jack Of All Trades just for the badge points. Only buy a tool when you need it.

Tip 6: You can't run around the galaxy, taking mission offers and delivering species without visiting your empire! Your colonies have spice up for sale.

Tip 7: Don't go off selling Spice for the minimum price. You can sell red spice at a red spice-producing colony for 281 Spucks, sure. But some places have it up for maybe 15x that amount, sometimes even one parsec away.

Tip 8: If you're near your homeworld (within one flight away) and low on energy, don't stop at a nearby empire. Just go to your world.

Tip 9: If you want quick money, go on "tax collecting runs" on your colonies to collect spice.

Tip 10: Maximize all colony production power. More spice production=More Sporebuck Production

Tip 11: Try to get your hands on planet that has purple spice (It can be sold for much more than most spices)

Trivia

 * Sporebucks can also be attained by the "MoreMoney" cheat (2,000 in the Civilization stage and 1,000,000 in the Space stage).
 * Occasionally, Space stage empires refer to Sporebucks simply as "Spucks", which is referencing a common slang term for US Dollars, "Bucks" to be exact.