Budget Challenge

The Bill-Pay Companion App is free and works with the Paid version of Budget Challenge ($25/student) found on www.budgetchallenge.com

This app will allow users to view invoices from vendors and write checks to schedule payments. Pay bills on the go with the Budget Challenge Companion App.

Budget Challenge Overview:
Budget Challenge® is an award-winning and patented program that actually SHOWS young people how to manage money in a real-life setting. We use a Learning-By-Doing approach to put students in the driver’s seat in our Road Test for Personal Finance®. Our simulations are 10 weeks in duration and students receive paychecks and bills in real time and are challenged to pay their bills and save money for retirement in a 401k. Unlike other simulations, Budget Challenge is also a competition that scores and ranks students based on how well they manage their financial responsibilities and achieve financial goals. Students can compete with other students in their class and classes can compete with other classes based on class average to make learning engaging and fun.

The simulation does not use real money, but is extremely realistic including features such as online bill pay, direct deposit, email bill alerts, 401k paycheck deductions and more. Budget Challenge also includes many of the complicated banking and credit card fees that plague young people in the real world, so students can learn the ropes and make their costly ‘rookie’ mistakes in the safety of the classroom.

Our program aligns with NCEE and Jump$tart national standards and goes well beyond teaching vocabulary and financial concepts by putting these topics into action with real consequences. This patented product delivers unparalleled results that really matter for students entering the real world. The statistics below were from a study of over 25,000 students and were published on Time.com:
• 92% said learning about money management was very important and 80% wanted to learn more
• 92% said they were more likely to check their account balance before writing a check
• 89% said they were more confident and 91% said they were more aware of money pitfalls and mistakes
• 87% said they were better able to avoid bank and credit card fees
• 84% said they were better able to understand fine-print and 79% said they were better able to compare financial products
• 78% said they learned money management methods that worked best for them
• 53% said they were rethinking their college major or career choice with an eye toward higher pay

Achievements:
2015 EIFLE Award Winner: Education Program of the Year - Money Management
Patent Nos. 8,444,418 and 8,740,617
Presenter at National Conferences: NCEE (National Council for Economic Education) and NCSS (National Council for Social Studies)