Mind Your Own Budget app review: a real-world budget management educational game

Introduction

Mind Your Own Budget is an iPhone and iPad game that will help your adolescent learn real-world financial literacy. It was developed by the University of Oklahoma to be a fun strategy game that will keep your kids coming back to learn more money management skills.

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Learn Real-World Skills

Mind Your Own Budget will help your adolescent through young adult learn real-world skills in financial literacy. Managing a budget is an important part of adult life, and without knowing how to manage money they will find themselves racking up debt left and right, or afraid to spend any money for fear of that possibility. Knowing what money is coming in, where it needs to go, and how much is left at the end to have fun is an important skill.

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The game takes these skills and rather than making them a lesson, turns it into a digital game that they can take in their pocket. Whether you are using it for education, or as a parent, you will find that the K20 Center has conducted in-depth research in more than 500 schools over the past 12 years to develop its programs including this game-like budgeting app.

What it Teaches

Mind Your Own Budget will help your adolescent or young adult learn to work his or her way through school with a part-time job. This is a valuable lesson in time management that will come in handy through college, university, and when they become a parent. There is more to life than working, but you need to find balance so you can afford the necessities too.

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The next lesson is in paying off student loans which are a necessity in this day and age to complete college or university. Also included are ways to reduce credit card bills, pay for emergency expenses by saving, experience the life of a busy doctor, get rich and live in style, and then finally at the end of the game if you’ve completed the tasks well enough, you can enjoy your retirement.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Over 12 years of research compiled into the activities in the game
• Tested in over 500 schools for feedback
• Seven skills are taught through game play rather than tedious lessons

Cons

• None found

Final Thoughts

Mind Your Own Budget is an iPhone and iPad game that takes 12 years of research through over 500 schools to create a unique budget-learning tool for adolescents and young adults. They can learn to work through school, pay off students loan debt, reduce credit card bills, pay for emergency expenses, experience the life of a busy doctor, get rich and live in style, and finally enjoy their retirement if they have mastered all of these phases.

The game is a great real-world portrayal of how life plays out, although not everyone becomes a doctor. The need for saving for emergencies, retirement, and paying off debts is a common thread in everyone’s lives. Overall, it is well-designed, and I enjoyed testing it out.