Budget Boss
This task-based interactive game teaches budgeting skills while working as a team.
Competencies
This game helps learners practice speaking, especially saying dollar amounts out loud. It aids in the development of negotiation skills and group decision-making.
Game Rules for Students
1. Your goal is to start a new life in the United States. To do this you need 3 things: a phone, a car, and a house.
2. Every team will start with a different amount of money. Every round, the teams will take turns buying items.
3. When it is your turn, the teacher will spin a wheel and show you two items you can buy. Your team has to decide which item to buy. Once you choose your item, you will have to pay for it with your money. If you don't want to buy the items, you can choose to skip your turn.
4. At the end of each round, teams will have a chance to win bonus money by answering bonus questions asked by the teacher. The team that gives the correct answer the fastest will win the extra money.
5. The game ends when, at the end of a round, at least one team has all 3 items. If more than one team has all the necessary items, then the team with the most money left over is the winner.
Tips:
Be careful not to run out of money! You will need all 3 items to finish the game.
Use a paper and pencil to keep track of your budget.
How to Play
Copy and paste the inventory list into the Random Result picker and make sure the set number of items to pick is 2. Print out the item cards and display them on the board where everyone can see. Organize students into five teams. Have each team send one representative to the front of the room, then shoot the game money from the money blaster, allowing the students collect as much as possible. The money each representative collects is the amount their team will start the game with.
Now it's time to start the rounds. Click “Draw now” on the Random Result picker to and propose the resulting items to Team 1. To buy an item, they have to speak in a full sentence (e.g., “We would like to buy the phone for $1,000”). Exchange the item card for the proper amount of money and delete the purchased item from the inventory list. If a team doesn't want to buy either item proposed, they can choose to skip their turn for that round. Repeat this until all teams have had a turn.
At the end of the round, give teams an opportunity to win some extra money, by asking a few bonus questions (e.g., “If Mary makes $14.50 an hour and works 20 hours a week, how much does she make in a month?” or “If a sweater is priced at $60.99 and goes on sale for 50% off, how much does it cost now?”). Award the bonus money using the cash you collected during the round.
Start Round 2 by proposing a new choice to Team 1, and continue in the same fashion. The game ends when, at the end of the round, at least one team has acquired all 3 items. In the case where only one team has acquired all 3 items, they're the winners! If more than one team has collected all 3 items, the winner is the team with the most money left over.
Notes: There is another version of this game where the goal is to plan the perfect vacation, where each team needs to purchase plane tickets, a hotel stay, and a group activity. Materials for this alternate version are linked below.
Materials
To play this game, you need:
game rules for students: New Life in the US version or Vacation version
item cards (vacation version here)
inventory list for the Random Result picker (vacation inventory list here)
prizes for the winning team
a list of bonus questions about money and money management
