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Originally Posted by msjd123  I had thought of doing something like this, but got sort of bogged down in the details. Do I assign them professions (and therefore monthly incomes) or let them pick? Or, do they draw them randomly out of a hat? It's as if there are actual philosophical implications to that one small aspect of lesson design. Yes, I tend to overanalyze things, LOL! 
One other crazy idea: Make them pay rent on their chairs in class. Every student gets, say, $500 per month. Chair rental is $75/week. Buying a chair costs $350. That leaves them just enough money to make things interesting. It would only be a matter of time before one of the kids realizes they can buy other kids' chairs and charge *them* rent...  |
That is a fabulous idea about their chairs! What a great way to introduce the concept.
For a larger project, I think you could allow them to look for jobs in the newspaper (as an added bonus they might learn some of the scam language posted in the classified section about "work from home" opportunities), then figure out a salary for that. Since you'd see the paper ahead of time, you could cut out some options and set up a salary ahead of time without telling them.
Then you could come up with say a basic amount of 4 or 5 living options based on your area prices to see how much of their income would actually go to rent/mortgage (after taxes, insurance, and retirement come out). I'd be interested to see how many of the students choose to live in a space similar to what they currently have or if they'd all choose to live in the most expensive option.
You could also make a rough figure on utilities for each unit (i.e., the gas/elec/water for a 1 bedroom apt is $75 a month, a 2 bedroom apt is $120 a month, a 2 bedroom house is $175 a month, a 3 bedroom house is $250 a month).
So really, you'd have a limited list of things for them to choose from. Perhaps have them choose their rental/mortgage option before introducing the concept of utilities, phone, cable, etc. It would mean a little set up for you at the beginning, but a lot less variability in the end. Then students could compare to each other how their money is spent since there will be a few kids picking the same options and then contrasting with the other students that chose less expensive options.
I think once they see how little is left at the end of the month, they might understand why iPods, Wii, etc. are not everyday gifts.
ETA: Thank you so much for taking this on. I work with graduate students that don't know a lot of these concepts. I'm always surprised that so many of them have no idea how expensive their bills will be once they have to start paying back student loans after graduation and are still paying off those pizzas they put on the credit card freshman year.
-- when all I was saying was that they should look at both sides and then figure out whether or not it made sense for them. I had fun with all the white collar parents who called after that.... 
but really, it's something many of them have never thought of as an option. The blue-collar kids frequenty shrug and assume it's not for them, and the white-collar kids don't realize that there's no rule that says they have to go right after high school.
