CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – For the fourth year, FreeStar Financial Credit Union is taking to the road to visit high schools throughout Macomb County to share financial literacy lessons with teenage students.
Using CUNA’s Mad City Money budgeting simulation, students experience life after high school learning to budget with a new identity, occupation, and salary along with commitments like dependents and student loan debt.
“The simulation allows students to make purchasing decisions in a real-life atmosphere within the Mad City Money program,” said Laurie Cafagna, marketing specialist and Mad City Money coordinator. “Students are paired up so that they can practice budgeting with a partner. Some will experience the consequences of poor decisions while others will develop good judgment regarding spending and making a budget.”
The goal of the program is for students to understand that budgeting is a necessary step in good money management, and saving early is important.