Budget Game

Open To 6-12 Grade Students

FALL 2024
August 5 - December 27

SPRING 2025
January 10 - May 30

An engaging learning experience that teaches financial literacy skills with real-life scenarios and consequences. Students play twelve virtual months to sharpen their skills.

The Budget Game provides a real-life experience for individual students with flexible time commitments to fit every class schedule. Users learn to manage a checking account, savings account and credit card as they try to live on a monthly budget and deal with life’s unexpected events.  Students come to recognize the advantages of long-term planning and preparation by making individual life choices.

Your students’ goals are to build their net worth by transferring money from their checking account to savings and build up their credit score by responsibly covering cash flow shortfalls and paying off their balance on time.  Outcomes are game experiences that can translate to successful real-world applications.

Students progress through 18 “months” of the game, with each month taking about 20 minutes to complete. “Life Events” pop up every couple of days, with unplanned expenses (and occasionally income) putting pressure on their budget – requiring careful planning!  Students become better at prioritizing their tasks and anticipating the obstacles.

Class rankings tie everything together, with students able to compare their net worth, credit score, and overall score with their classmates!  Teachers can monitor the pace, accomplishments and success students achieve in this highly captivating simulation.

BudgetGame_Med.jpg

Watch A Full Tutorial on How To Play The Budget Game:

Foremost I want to thank you for the amazing free resources provided by FCEE. I absolutely love the budget game and the students do as well. I have tried various ways to teach budgeting as real life as possible but nothing has came close to the game developed and provided by FCEE. The students love it and learn so much as they play and encounter life with its ups and downs.
— Wendy Bauer, Sebring High School

Real Life Scenarios

Your students take on the role of college student with part-time job who is about to graduate. They are now living on their own, paying all their bills, and managing their variable income, expenses, and lots of unexpected life events!

Impactful Decisions

Students need to constantly make financial decisions – work extra hours or spend time studying in school? Buy renter’s insurance this month, or take the risk?

Game score builds as students reach their savings goals, improve their credit score, and build their Quality of Life.

Easy to Use; Full Reporting

Teachers have a clear picture of the actions of their students throughout the game, and students have full bank statements, credit card statements, and pay stubs!


Teacher Packet

The teacher packet includes details to logging in and useful links to help you get started with the curriculum and how to use the Budget Game. At the bottom of the page are a series of videos that teachers can show students in their class to introduce topics related to personal budgeting. Click below to learn more.


Getting Started Tutorials

Budget Game Introduction

Using The Budget Game In Your Classes

Thank You To Our Sponsors

ROBIN K. WARREN