I think those things were only included in order to create themes and drama that the viewers needed. I don't recall the episodes you are talking about, although I enjoyed the show I never did see them all and haven't watched it in ages.
The point is that the creators and writers of that show, although perhaps they saw that such a system without money could work, did not fully understand how. Also being from the current system and trying to come up with new and unique story lines, obviously they had to fall back on some themes that the general public could relate to.