How to play the game of Life!

You are very lucky, because in this game you have ‘starting-out-in-life money’ and there are no taxes!  That means you begin with $5,000 and you get to keep all the money that you make. Hooray!

In this game, there are only 3 things that you absolutely have to do. 1. You need to get a job. 2. You need to eat. 3. You need to find place to live. However, you have lots of choices for each of these things! There are also some other optional things that you may want to do.

Getting a job: You have a choice. Do you want to start work right away, go to college, or even go to graduate school? Start work right away Going to college Going to graduate school Good: Good: Good:  You don’t have to pay for school  You might be able to get a scholarship!  You might be able to get a scholarship!  You get paid right away (on day one)  You will receive a salary of $50,000 a year  You will receive a salary of $100,000 a year (That is $10,000 a day in the game!) (That is $20,000 a day in the game!)

Bad: Bad: Bad:  You will only receive a salary of $25,000 a  You can’t start work right away because  You can’t start work right away because you’re year. you’re in school. (You get paid on day two) in school (You get paid on day three) (That is $5,000 a day in the game!)  If you didn’t get a scholarship, you have to  If you didn’t get a scholarship, you have to pay pay for school, and it costs $20,000. for school, and it costs $40,000. (That is your whole salary for two days!) (That is your whole salary for two days!)

Eating: Look at the list of food choices! Figure out at least 21 healthy meals that you would enjoy eating. Add up the total for all that food. That’s your weekly food budget!

Finding a place to live: You have a choice. Do you want to rent an apartment, or buy a house? Rent an apartment Buy a house Good: It doesn’t cost as much as a house Good: Once you have paid for it, you are done spending money! Bad: You have to keep paying for it Bad: It is VERY expensive! Extra stuff!

Buying a car: You have a choice. Do you want to buy a car or not? Buying a car No car Good: if you buy a car, you get a $5,000 increase in salary Good: You won’t have to pay for the car or for gas Bad: You have to pay for the car, and for gas each day. Bad: You are stuck with your regular salary

Buying clothes and furniture: You have a choice. Do you want to spend your money or save it? Spending money Saving money Good: New clothes and furniture might make you happy Good: You never know when you might need money! Bad: You have to pay for them! Bad: Clothes and furniture make you and your house look nice.

Buying luxuries: You have a choice. Do you want to spend your money or save it? Spending money Saving money Good: Luxuries might make you happy Good: You never know when you might need money! Bad: You have to pay for them, and they’re not cheap! Bad: You may have to live without something you want.

Getting married: You have a choice. Do you want to get married or stay single? Getting Married Staying single Good: Having a husband or wife means that you can double your income! Good: You don’t have to pay for rent or food for another person (For the game, you will assume that your husband/wife makes exactly the same amount of money as you do.) Bad: Your husband/wife will need somewhere to live, and food to eat, so you Bad: You won’t get another income to help you with expenses have to pay twice as much for rent and food each day.

Having children: You have a choice. Do you want to have children or not? Having children No kids! Good: They can be pretty cute! Good: You don’t have to pay for rent or food for another person Bad: Children need somewhere to live and food to eat, so you will have to Bad: Kids are pretty fun, you might wish you had one! pay for another person’s food

Daily Drawing: Every day, I will draw a Chance-Card for each one of you. It may be something great, it might be something awful, it might be something boring. You never know! But…if you save your money carefully you should be able to handle most of the bad things and will be able to enjoy the good ones!