Spent!

[HipChick]

This is a game called "Spent", where you work as an unemployed single parent trying to make it through the month with just $1,000.

My car was repo'd, I had no dental insurance and I lost my job. I was out of money by day 10

How do you fare?

http://playspent.org/

[femmocrat]

1. Unrec. Seems insensitive to make a game out of others' hardship.

I suppose it could have educational value though.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. It's not really a game.

It was pretty eye opening, IMO.

[HipChick]

7. The creator was on NPR...he said

he started this as a way to show others how those on minimum wage are forced to make choices.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Ruby Payne has developed training for teachers

I highly recommend it.

[HipChick]

5. Actually if you read..it's made by a church trying to bring light to the 6,000 people they help

[femmocrat]

8. OK, thanks..... the OP said "game".

I didn't click on the link (fear of viruses!).

[AndyTiedye]

17. I rec'ed it back for you

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Missy Vixen]

22. I rec'd it

I posted the link on my blog a few months ago.

For those of us who've endured a significant period of unemployment, SPENT is one of the few tools we have to explain to others who've never had the experience how things are for those who are at the end of their rope.

It's unfortunate that anyone would pass judgment on the site without visiting it themselves.

[yourout]

2. Can I buy a gun and knock off a convenience store with the $1,000?

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. We did something similar in a workshop one time

It's amazing how little most of us understand about living in poverty.

[Motown_Johnny]

6. I had $59.00 dollars left, all the bills paid (except the student loan) and

didn't deny the child anything.


Not that this is a real test, they could have told me the $70.00 I spent on food wasn't enough to last. Also the deal where your landlord raises the rent illegally and your boss fires you illegally in the same month is a bit much.


Edit to add

The second time I had $252.00 left and had gone to the doctor as well as buying medicine for my mother, even though I took a 25% pay cut. (I did have to put the family pet to sleep though)



This is not as hard as it should be. I think a rich person programmed this.

[supernova]

9. Made it through w/ $87 to spare

whew!

But I had to have a roomie, fix the faucet myself and turn down the kid for $100 sneakers and ice cream and mom's meds (for now) Oh and skip the Doc for the chest pains. Eek.

[Angry Dragon]

11. I made it through the month but only had $188 to pay rent

[janet118]

13. It's like Nickel and Dimed . . . only a game

Actually would be a great tool to teach budgeting if it were designed a bit more realistically. The situations were often strange and the choices limited. I do like the idea though. I'd like to watch a version of Survivor where all the Congress people who want to cut Social Security have to live on average SS checks for six months.

[csziggy]

14. I made it through with $315 to pay the rent

But I did not make the student loan payment and only made the minimum credit card payment. No dental, so I need a root canal. My kid missed the birthday party and has to go through harassment for the free lunch program. And all we had to eat for the month was eggs, beans, cheese, spaghetti and tomatoes - I would rather have had the choice of rice than noodles and I hope those were green beans or we had no vegetables. I left Mom in the lurch because we were already too short for our own necessities.

I lived on $850 a month for a decade or so but that was over twenty years ago and I had no rent or mortgage payment. That was tough then. $1000 a month is not enough, especially for a family with a child.

:cry:

[SheilaT]

15. It felt like it was front-loaded with stuff to make sure

that you'd run out of money. It also doesn't tell me how many kids I have, how old they are, and other such things.

It was probably about 20 years ago I was listening to a piece on NPR in which, if I recall correctly, the reporter had kind of followed around someone who was a lot like the hypothetical person playing this game. What I recall most vividly from that report was the reporter saying that this person's problem was a lack of sufficient money, pure and simple. When you can't afford simple upkeep on your car, or you can't afford to buy a decent, reliable one in the first place, and then something goes wrong and Wham! You now have a huge repair bill you simply can't pay.

And that's just one small thing of the many that happen to all of us, but hit the poor much harder.

[tomm2thumbs]

16. very smartly done project

making you think while getting you to realize what's out there

** some short other projects (video) for the same group
http://mckinney.com/work/clients/urban-ministries-of-durham/family

[Forkboy]

18. $171 to spare.

I'm already living on less than $1,000/month ($704 to be exact), so I'm pretty good with my funds.

This is an excellent little "game" though. Thanks for posting it.

[hfojvt]

23. I had $133 but my gas was shut off

plus they said "rent is due tomorrow" which is $800 that I do not have. And I only spent $30 on groceries which might not last two weeks. (although in the real world I could get a 20 pound bag of rice for less than $12 which would probably last two weeks.

[Forkboy]

25. Yeah, the next month would have wiped me out for sure.

I do buy about 10 dollars worth of spaghetti and sauce every week though. :)

[kickysnana]

19. No thanks, I played for real in the 80 * 90's. Still angry. n/t

[Hannah Bell]

20. it's a bit rigged. the day after i move in, the landlord raises my rent?

um, i don't think so.

i have to pay $900 to live near my work so i don't need a car?

in real life, i'd find a closet to live in before i'd pay $900. that's more than my mortgage.

i supposedly have so much stuff i need to rent a storage space but my yard sale only nets $150? what, is all my stuff crap? then maybe i should just take it to the dump or leave it in the street for the junkies.

i just quit playing because i didn't find it realistic.

[Forkboy]

21. It's not to be a hardcore simulation like Microsoft Flight Simulator or anything.

It's a simple program that merely illustrates some of the problems people face living on a meager amount of money.

[Hannah Bell]

24. as i chose to live close to work to avoid use of a car but still got dinged immediately

with three car issues, i call it unrealistic.

[Forkboy]

26. Jeez.

You must be so much fun at parties.

[1monster]

27. I made it to the end of the month with $294.00 left... But that was unrealistic.

I didn't have to pay the electric bill. I went without phone service for a few days. I kept looking for the rice and dried beans in the grocery store, but they didn't have them. I settled for peanutbutter, bread, ramen, hot dogs and canned beans along with some other necessities. I had to forego the funeral and the wedding, but let my kid take the gifted class and buy a prezzie for the birthday party. I chipped in for the sick co-worker because someday it might be me. Lived close to work even though the rent was higher. The gas money saved made up for the higher rent.

The $294.00 would have gone toward the next month's rent.

[libodem]

28. uninsured

Unemployed, disabled, living off my savings, my home just depreciated ANOTHER 20K. I'm fucked thank you very much.

[Tiggeroshii]

30. Is this real life, or the game?

Pretty much no difference, I feel, for a lot of us.

[Tiggeroshii]

29. This is like, my life.

...except for the parent part. (edit to add): Literally. I even had the money dilemma. Found someone's wallet on the ground with enough money to break me even for rent. AND I RETURNED IT TO LOST AND FOUND NEAR MY SCHOOL!!! ><

[Buns_of_Fire]

31. Good thing I kept the car running, since I'll be sleeping in it next month.

The $28 I had left isn't quite enough to pay the rent, get the gas turned back on, or fix my tooth, but at least ramen noodles are easy to gum down. (And even when I was still somewhat coordinated, I never ever hit anything near 55 WPM!)

[wickerwoman]

32. Made it through with $428

but only by being completely antisocial and blowing off the funeral.