The Game of Life

Name ______________________________

The Game of Life

You are going to embark on the Journey of Life. Each of us has to make a living and pay
our bills. In this exercise you will get a taste of what real life is like as an independent
adult.
You will learn how to keep track of your money, coming in and going out. Each day
you will record how much money you made, then at the end of the week you will pay
your bills: rent, Health, cell phone, car, gas, various events, and more. You will be
responsible for such events as going to weddings, car maintenance, holidays, visits to
the dentist and the like. Your bank account will be in constant flux as you add to your
account with your base salary of $500/wk, and any other money you add by doing
your weekly tasks (each Douglas Dollar = $50 in The Game of Life). You will also have
to keep track of all your expenditures. Your goal is to not go broke and have a decent
quality of life.
Each element will be explained in the pages to come. You need to keep this handbook to
guide you through this activity. This mark will work towards your Health and Career
grade. The Game will run for 8 weeks; until Spring Break.
The following sections will explain all you need to know about how the Game of Life
will work.

Income
Your income will be based on your hard work, and a little luck.
You will receive a base salary of $500/week. On top of that, for each Douglas Dollar
you earn, you earn $50 in your bank account. So, for attendance, you could make
$100/day, homework would be worth $250, PE strip would be work $250, etc.
You could earn $1500/week for just showing up on time and bringing your PE strip for
both PE classes. Homework is one of the Lucky factors as is depends on what is due on
which days. Some weeks you could earn $500 or more, just for doing your homework.
Got it? $500 base salary + $50/Douglas Dollar. This will be recorded on your Bank
Account sheets.
Weekly Expenses

Gasoline
Health
Life Event die roll
Insurance

Taxes
Cell Phone bill
Insurance payment
Rent
Car payment
1

The Game of Life

Name ______________________________

Rent
You need a place to live, so you will have to rent an apartment. You will have choices,
but those choices will have consequences, both positive and negative (potentially).
You will get to choose from the following:

Studio apartment 500 sq ft. - $250/week 4 events possible in 8 weeks

One bedroom 800 sq ft. - $400/week 2 events possible in 8 weeks
Two bedroom 1,200 sq ft. - $650/week 1 event possible in 8 weeks

Studio Apartment
If you rent the studio apartment, you will be renting in a lesser quality part of town, so
the following possibilities may occur once in the 8 week period:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Fleas - $200 cleaning fee

Break in - Deductible depends on your insurance (see insurance page)
Water Damage - Deductible depends on your insurance (see insurance page)
Car broken in to - Deductible depends on your insurance (see insurance page)
Vandalism - $400 cleaning fee

One Bedroom
If you rent a one bedroom, you will be renting in a better part of town, but the following
possibilities may occur:
1. Bed bugs - $200 cleaning fee
2. Vandalism - $400 cleaning fee
3. Break in - Deductible depends on your insurance (see insurance page)
Two Bedroom
If you rent a two bedroom, you will be renting in a decent part of town, but the
following possibilities may occur:
1. Vandalism - $400 cleaning fee
2. Break in - Deductible depends on your insurance (see insurance page)
At some point in the game, you will have to Roll the Dice of Life and take chance.
Depending on the place you choose, you will roll a die, and if you land on the
corresponding number (as indicated above) you may face that consequence. Example: if
you live in a one bedroom apartment and an event happens, you will roll a die. If you
roll a 2, you had a break in, and you have to pay your insurance deductible. If you roll a
4, 5, or 6, nothing happens.
2

The Game of Life

Name ______________________________

*If you rent a 2 bedroom apartment, you can have a roommate, but it means that your
chances of events happening double. This means that you will have one more event
than others who do not have roommates. Also, insurance premiums increase to 1.50
times the base rate.
For example: if you have the Silver Insurance Plan, your premium of $100 would rise to
$150, but you can split that with your roommate, and your deductible of $300 would be
able to be shared with your roommate, so each of you would only have to pay $150.

Car
You will have a choice of what car you want to buy. Choose wisely because all cars
come with pros and cons. You can choose from the following:

15 year old Toyota Corolla - $20 car payment up to 3 events in the 8 weeks
o Gas = $10/die roll/week
6 year old Nissan Altima - $50 car payment up to 2 events in the 8 weeks
o Gas = $8/die roll/week
New VW GTI - $100 car payment no events in the 8 weeks
o Gas = $5/die roll /week

Car Events
1.
2.
3.
4.

Flat tire - $30

Tune up - $50
Transmission - $200
Windshield - $100

Health
You need to eat, so you will get to shop each week at the store of your choice. Choose
wisely, because your nutrition choices affect your health events. You will choose from
the following:

No Name Market - $100/week Up to 3 health events

GoodWay Grocery Store - $150/week Up to one health event
Wholesome Healths Store - $225/week No health events

Health Events
1. Food poisoning 2 days off work (pay deducted and cannot be collected for
those two days)
2. Cold 1 day off work (pay deducted and cannot be collected for those two days)
3. Stomach cramps Doctor visit - $100

The Game of Life

Name ______________________________

4. Lack of nutrition Doctor visit - $100 and roll again (#1 excluded from Roll
Again. Only 2,3,4 in play)

Cell Phone
You will have the choice to have a cell phone. You will have to pay your bill each week.
Your choices include:

Bronze - $30/week - Used 3 year old phone (free) w/ free local calling, no data,
no text
Silver - $60/week Phone (pay out $50 for phone) w/ 500MB data, 200 Text &
500 minutes
Gold - $100/week Phone ($200 pay out for phone) w/ 1 GB data and unlimited
everything else

Cell Phone Events

If you have the Bronze or Silver package, there will be two cell phone events. You will
roll the die (Bronze: that number x 30 Silver: that number x 100) and pay out on:

Data usage - $1/extra 10 MB (Max. $30)

Minutes - $1/extra 10 minutes (Max. $30)
Example You have the Bronze package.
o For Data: you roll 5, so 5 x 10 MB = 50 MB over usage, so you pay $5 for
Data Usage that week.
o For Minutes: you roll 3, so 3 x 10 = 30 minutes over usage, so you pay $3
Minute Usage that week.

Life Events
Each of these events will take place at least once in the 8 week period. Each week you
will roll two dice and the corresponding event will occur in your Game of Life. If you
You must pay the corresponding fee.
2. Wedding - $100
3. Vacation - $ 200, $500 or $1000 (occurs only once. If you get it a second time, it
does not count. No Life Event that week)
4. Car Accident Depends on deductible
5. Car Maintenance
6. Dentist
7. Phone (Lost)
8. Birthday Party
9. Doctor Visit
4

The Game of Life

Name ______________________________

Taxes
You will pay taxes, weekly. Depending on your income, you will be taxed accordingly.

Less than $1000 5%

$1000 1199 7%
$1200 - $1499 12%
$1500 - $1999 15%
+ $2000 20%

These will be deducted BEFORE you pay your bills.

Insurance
You need insurance to cover your car and health. You will have the option to purchase
various plans. Choose carefully as they all have pros and cons.

No insurance if you choose this option, you run the risk of losing everything. If
you role an event that includes insurance, you are automatically broke. You lose
it all.
Bronze - $10/week Premium is 200 times a die roll.
Silver - $30/week Premium is 100 times a die roll.
Gold - $75/week Premium is 10 times a die roll.

Quality of Life
Your Quality of Life is affected by your decisions on how you spend your money. As
you have noticed in the Health, Car and Rent categories, you will face more or fewer
events based on you choices. On top of those, you will have an ultimate measure in
your Retirement. At the end, you will calculate the average of your monthly
expenditures. You will be graded on:
1. Your book keeping skills
2. Your final portfolio
3. Your Retirement Savings.
Retirement Savings Goals:

Less than 1 months savings Meeting

1 - 3 months savings Fully Meeting
+ 3 months savings Exceeding

The Game of Life

Name ______________________________

Choices
During the game you can make choices to go up or down in a category, but you can
only do so once per/month (a month is a 4 week period beginning from when you
made the choice).
For example: You decide you are doing better than you thought, so you want to rent a
nicer apartment. You move from a studio at $250/week, to a one bedroom at
$400/week. You are obligated to stay in that apartment for a minimum of 4 weeks. You
will make the choice on a Friday, then you move in on the Monday. That is the day
that your 4 weeks begins.

Weekly Schedule
Weekly Expenses

Life Events

Circle and indicate

result (Die #)

Roll the die for a Life Event

Roll the die for Car Event

This result will be

recorded here and
on your tracking
sheet.

Week 2

Roll the die for a Life Event

Roll die for Rent Event
Roll die for Cell Phone Event

_____________
_____________
_____________

Week 3

Roll the die for a Life Event

Roll the die for Car Event

_____________
_____________

Week 4

Roll the die for Health Event

_____________

Week 5

Roll die for Rent Event

Roll the die for Health Event

_____________
_____________

Week 6

Roll the die for a Life Event

Roll die for Rent Event

_____________
_____________

Week 7

Roll the die for Health Event

_____________

Week 8

Week 1

Rent
Health
Gas
Insurance
Cell Phone
Car Payment
Taxes

Roll the die for a Life Event

Roll die for Rent Event
Roll die for Cell Phone Event
Roll the die for Car Event

_____________
_____________
_____________
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