Personal finance game: budgeting, interest, inflation and debt
A financial education game with real sums. You split a salary with the 50/30/20 rule, sort expenses into needs, wants and savings, and work out how much money there is at the end with simple and with compound interest. On the higher levels you predict what something will cost with inflation, order savings plans by how much they pay and find out how many payments it takes to clear a credit card that charges interest every month. Everything is calculated on the spot, so no two rounds are the same.
Economics · Secondary, Sixth Form
€1,000 at 5% for ten years is not €1,500 but €1,629: the interest earns interest too. Typing the answer and seeing it next to simple interest is the clearest way to understand why starting to save early matters.
The 50/30/20 rule and the difference between a need and a want are the basis of any budget. The game only uses expenses that are not up for debate (rent, electricity, cinema, an emergency fund), so what you practise is the reasoning.
Credit card debt with monthly interest lasts far longer than it seems when the payment is small. Working out the payments and the total interest teaches you to be wary of the minimum payment.
"The round says “you put €2,000 in at 4% a year for 5 years, with compound interest”. The student multiplies 2,000 by 1.04 five times and types €2,433. The explanation shows that simple interest would have given €2,400: the €33 difference is interest on the interest."
Prefer to learn without screens? Try this analogue version:
For a week, write down everything you spend, even small amounts.
Mark each expense as a need, a want or savings.
Compare your percentages with the 50/30/20 rule and decide what you would cut.
Work out by hand how much you would have in 5 years by saving what is left each month at 3% compound interest.
If you like Money Matters, these activities work similar skills:
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Practise discount and VAT percentages, the basis of all these sums.
More practice on · Economics
Personal finance
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