The Game of Budgeting

I made this game for my Activity Day girls (8-11 year olds) and it was a lot of fun! We had a lesson about tithing and budgeting and followed it up with this game. We had 14 girls that night and split them into two equal teams. Here is how the lesson was broken down:

Theme: Tithing and budgeting
Source: For the Strength of Youth booklet pgs 38-39
Faith in God goal: Developing Talents #1
Lesson: We talked about the who, what, when, where, why, and how of paying tithing. We talked about where tithing goes, why we pay tithing, how to fill out a tithing sheet, and we read a story about tithing blessing people's temporal needs because that concept was confusing to them. We talked about the blessings that come through tithing and I shared a personal experience about how I have been blessed and I bore my testimony about the blessings of paying our tithing.
Game:

The Game of Budgeting!

So there are three sets of cards- blue is jobs, yellow is pay, and red is earn. We had the two teams make up a family name (i.e. Smiths). The first person took a turn and drew a blue card to find their job and salary. Then they had a choice to pay their tithing. The tithing road had fewer spots. We then would take away 10% of what they had and kept going. Each person would roll the dice and either take a red or yellow card depending on where they landed.

If they landed on an "e" space then would draw a earn card and if they landed on a "p" they would draw a pay card. They had to stop at each corner and pay or earn for that spot. The first spot was $30 for groceries, the second was $150 for bills, and the third was the bank. The bank was where you would roll again and if you got an even you would get $50 out of the bank and if you rolled an odd it would be $50 into the bank. When they got back to pay day they drew a new job/salary.

Afterward we talked about how even if you pay your tithing you will still have unexpected expenses and stress of not having enough money but you burdens will be lightened through the blessings of paying tithing.

The jobs were:
Teacher- $300
Mailman- $275
Daycare Worker- $250
Chef- $275
Hairstylist- $225
Scientist- $400
Clothing Store Cashier- $225
Secretary- $250
Photographer- $250
Firefighter- $300
Computer Engineer- $350
Doctor- $350

The Earns:
Babysit for nieces and nephews- $20
Make some jewelry for friends- $30
Return some clothes you got as a present- $15
Find money on the sidewalk. After trying to find the owner you get to keep #10
Dogsit for neighbor- $20
Lemonade stand on hot day- $15
Babysit for friend's 2 kids- $30
Happy Birthday! It's your birthday. Your grandma sends you $20
Have a yard sale. Sell your used junk! $40
Sell cookies at bake sale- $15
Find money in wallet $10
Sell some old books on eBay. Goodbye, Good Night Moon, Hello, $5.

The pays:
Cell phone bills $30
Forgot to bring lunch to work $15
Out to ice cream $10
Sick! Go to the doctor $30
Need new shirts $20
Out to eat $10
Fill up car with gas $40
Need milk at grocery store $5
Girls Scout cookies. Yum! $10
Stay up law watching infomercials. Decide to buy $20
Throw party for friend $40
Amusement park fun with your family $30