St. Louis High School Financial Management class recently began its 10-week budget challenge Jan. 16.
According to Financial Management teacher Andrea Biehl, “In the simulation, you will be making the financial decisions for a young adult who just received the exciting news of getting a great new job. This new job pays more than the current part-time jobs that you’ve been working at for a few months. You will need to move to make the new commute manageable. Before the start of the simulation, you will select between similar products/services at the bank, different service providers/vendors, and 401(k) options offered at the new employer. During the 10-week competition, students receive virtual paychecks and bills in real-time and are challenged to build a budget and make financial decisions that help them learn how to pay bills on time, manage a credit card balance, and save money for retirement.”
Biehl further stated, “The budget challenge makes students responsible for handling their checking and savings accounts, paying bills, and investing into their 401k. Students also have to practice budgeting and using a cash flow sheet. It shows students how easy it can be once you have it set up and how much of a difference it can make compared to just guessing what you can afford.”
Financial Management student Landon Pestrue shared his thoughts on the challenge, stating, “When I heard about the budget challenge, I was pretty excited to see what would come of it and how I would gain experience from going through these 10 weeks of the challenge. I think the budget challenge will for sure change my budgeting habits because I don’t even budget for anything yet, and it’s a great way to get an overall idea of what budgeting is all about for me.” Pestrue further shared, “I really hadn’t heard anything about the budget challenge other than from Mrs. Biehl herself, and I heard from her that unexpected things will happen throughout the 10 weeks. Other than that, I kind of went in blind.” He finalized.
Besides learning, students will also work to out-budget their classmates. In final Biehl shared, “I love a little competition. Budget Challenge creates in-class competition as well as competition between classes.”
