North Central recently held an activity called Real Money Real World for the freshmen and seniors. This activity, coordinated with Kim Herman at the Ohio State Extension Office, was an interactive, hands-on experience that provided the North Central students the opportunity to make simulated lifestyle and budget choices similar to those adults face on a daily basis.
The activity began in the classroom, with the students choosing a career, salary, withholdings and payroll deductions, and checking and savings accounts. The actual day of the simulation, with the help of many adult volunteers, the students spent their family’s net salary on needs and wants related to: housing, transportation, insurance, utilities, food, clothing, entertainment, child care, communications, contributions, credit and chance.
Throughout the activity, students kept track of their finances in a checkbook register, deducting each expense from the checkbook balance. For most students, this experience was an eye-opener into their future as adults!
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