Lancaster High School’s Academy of Finance seniors participated in a real-world budgeting simulation for juniors called “Mad City Money,” a program put on with supervision from the Lancaster Depew Federal Credit Union staff.
The purpose was to teach students how to build a budget in the real world after high school.
“Mad City Money” created a context for the creation of a budget with an interactive experience. Junior and sophomore students from the Academy of Finance were given an “about me” sheet with information about their profession, income, spouse’s income and bills, including student loan payments, child care cost and credit card bills.
Participants then built a monthly budget based on their incomes. Then they visited the nine “merchants” in Mad City. These merchants sold them their homes, cars, food and more.
Seniors in the Academy of Finance did their best to “sell” students on the most lucrative options. The objective was to sell them the best items, not what fit into their budgets.
The junior and sophomore students had to use their budgeting skills to figure out if they could afford to purchase these items and stay on budget.
Two students also acted as the “Fickle Finger of Fate,” which consists of two separate games of chance that participants played to see if they would receive a windfall check or an unwanted bill.
“This is a great simulation to put on for students. It really gives them perspective on budgeting in the real world, as opposed to the traditional lectures,” said Sarah Struzik, marketing director at Lancaster Depew FCU. “Students in the Academy are already well versed in personal finance, and this allows them the opportunity to utilize skills they’ve learned in the classroom. The seniors have been a great help, and they were really excited to be putting on this event for the underclassmen.”