By: Victoria Araj

Is it possible to have a 3-bedroom home, a sports car and a 10-day vacation planned on a $3000 monthly budget? 

Questions like this gave 40 students from the Boys & Girls Club of Flint a few hours to scratch their heads and come up with an answer.  With all of the financial news in the media, local kids are learning about money a lot earlier in life thanks to the Rock Financial Junior Achievement Park in Detroit.   Kids are like sponges, they soak up all kinds of information by learning from their environment and from example.  They can learn first-hand how to manage money, balance a budget, and ultimately be a savvy financial consumer with the right tools and resources.  On Saturday, volunteers from Quicken Loans/Rock did just that by helping the students plan a simulated monthly budget.

Finance Park has a really cool set up for the students with stations that recreate offices and storefronts that reflect real-life choices.  The students were given a life scenario, which indicated whether they were single, married, with or without children and the monthly income they had to pay their bills and save.  From obtaining a mortgage, to securing insurance to buying monthly groceries, the students had to make decisions about their expenses and not be in the red at completion.  This was quite a task for the students as they picked out a house, furniture and even cell phone plans that seemed perfect on paper but when matched with their monthly income…not so realistic.  Some of the students had to make changes by buying a cheaper car or sacrificing high-speed internet in order to balance their budgets.  It sure was an eye opener as several of the students commented that they did not realize how many decisions their parents face and how they will appreciate being a kid for a while longer!

This was a great experience because it gave the students a glimpse of the responsibilities that come along with adulthood long before they are faced with them in reality.  The kids walked away with an understanding of needs versus wants and the value of planning ahead instead of spending frivolously.  All of the volunteers had a great time helping the students and are looking forward to the next opportunity to do it again!  Quicken Loans team member Sherry Wong said, “It allowed us to take everyday expenses and inspire children to think of how to manage their financial future. It was such a fun morning, and you could tell the kids learned a lot from it.”