When you are young and carefree, the last thing on your mind is saving money for your future. You can’t wait to get that $20 from grandpa for mowing the yard because you have been dreaming about what you will get to spend it on. But as you grow older, you realize that it takes a little more than a $20 bill to get what you want. That is when the realization of savings comes into play.
Before moving out on my own, I had plenty of spending money. Having always been frugal minded, I knew that savings were an important part of my future. Although I knew it was important, I also knew that I wanted to save more, but my habits and daily routine needed updating. I think it is equally important that we are teaching our children the importance of saving vs spending.
Thankfully FeedThePig.org has great resources to help me and even help me teach my kids how to spend wisely, including a new game called Yesterday’s Tomorrow (www.game.feedthepig.org). The game is like a “choose-your-own-adventure” in the form of a digital photo album! You get to develop a relationship with a future version of yourself, jumping through key life stages and instantly seeing the outcomes of those choices from teenage years through retirement.
As you think through some life decisions like school, job, and awesome vacations, you’ll see how your choices may save, or lose money. No one wants to blow their money needlessly, right?
I love how this game makes you really think about how you are spending your money and how you can turn around and use that in real world situations. While they did not have games like this when I was younger, I think this is a fantastic way to teach our younger generation what an impact saving money and spending money the right way can have.
Most millennials (65%) attributed their lack of saving to impulse buying and not establishing a personal budget (62%). Yesterday’s Tomorrow (www.game.feedthepig.org) teaches players to consider how financial decisions they make now might impact them later in life, and encourages them to develop a relationship with a future version of themselves. Research shows a majority of millennials see clear benefits from playing digital games. Two in three (67%) say that games are important in helping them to learn how to create winning strategies and seven in ten (70%) feel it aids them in learning how to solve problems. With Yesterday’s Tomorrow, Ad Council and AICPA are tapping into the positive impact games can have to help millennials develop healthy financial habits.
After using Feed the Pig’s resources, I realized that showing my kids that switching up how money is spent could lead to better savings. Playing through Yesterday’s Tomorrow will help the younger generation to focus more on their future self and realize the different ways to reach those goals for where they want to be financially. The game and FeedThePig.org helped us a lot.
For more information and to play the game, visit FeedthePig.org!
