Please reflect upon the simulation we did in class today called spent. What were some of the challenges of trying to succeed for a month as a person in your situation? What economic opportunity costs did you have to make regarding your decisions in the simulation? What did you learn about poverty and personal finance from this simulation? (1 paragraph 4-5 sentences minimum).
25 Comments
Ana Sperling
9/10/2014 01:46:02 am
A challenge was being able to pay, letting down your kid, and major stress from decisions. I had to let down my child by not going to their plays, embarrassing them at schools by getting food stamps and buying them bad shoes and not letting them go to field trips. I also had to play things safe like not go on strikes because I didn't want to lose my job, even though I wanted more money. I had let my pet die because I couldn't afford to care for it. I learned the welfare is important and that people do use it. I learned more about sacrifice and making more risky decisions where in my family that isn't as much a problem. We are able to plan ahead and save, but poverty leads you living paycheck to paycheck.
Reply
Andy Lira
9/10/2014 01:46:45 am
I learned that its hard make enough to barely make it. Living on $1000 is harder than what most people think. You have to make compromises and rash decisions.
Reply
Maddie Albracht
9/10/2014 01:47:20 am
Some of the challenges I faced were choosing whether to make financial decisions to benefit my child socially or save money, to risk my health to benefit my family, and risk later financial debt in order to save money now. I learned many of the challenges that people in poverty face such as social living sacrifices, taking risks, and sacrificing for family.
Reply
Amy Schellenberg
9/10/2014 01:47:20 am
Many challenges were faced throughout this simulation. This simulation does a very good job of showing you the unexpected costs that come up that most people take for granted. Things like having your parents pay for you to go on a field or for you to get a physical to participate in a sport may seem very minor to you, but this is actually a big challenge for low income parents. Other challenges faced include; choosing which bills to pay when you can't afford to pay all of them and the penalty fee you have to pay to reactivate your cellphone, etc. Many opportunity costs were taken in to account in this simulation, things like getting to see your child perform in his play at school but having to miss several hours pay at work. In this simulation i learned how hard it would be to balance a budget if i were only making a small amount of money.
Reply
Kyle Ray
9/10/2014 01:48:03 am
Trying to succeed for a month involved having to make decisions about how I would spend my money, and if I could afford opportunities for my child. Opportunity costs included having to avoid going out because i couldn't afford a sitter, and having to skip a school event to make some side money. People below the poverty line don't really have financial planning and will do what is necessary now and not what could be necessary in the close or far future.
Reply
Kainan Cooper
9/10/2014 01:49:31 am
Some of the economic challenges for a low-income family I had were keeping a budget for food, paying bills, and having to say no to my child's wants. I was sick and I had to decide to go to work or to just stay home, and I decided to go to work because I needed the money. I learned that it is very stressful living with low-income salaries and sometimes you have to make hard decisions to not go broke. I also learned that it is essential to get a good education so you can find a good job for your future.
Reply
Alex Schmertmann
9/10/2014 01:50:20 am
I faced many problems of not letting my kids do certain things and letting my pet die. I survived on little food. I did not let my kids do certain things but also let him do other stuff so that he does not hate me. I can now see how many things we take for granite and I can see how hard it is to live with a low income.
Reply
Elliott Evans
9/10/2014 01:51:37 am
Some of the challenges were having to make decisions over whether to get more money or to care for my child. Ultimately i chose to make more money. I was faced with a decision between being morally correct and making more money, so i chose the second option and made some quick cash. I learned that a lot of economic problems are out of peoples control a lot of the time.
Reply
Tyler Simpson
9/10/2014 01:52:08 am
the challenges i faced was the bills and problems that cost me alot of money. Also the childs need were a big problem because of the things they wanted. i choose the cheapest options to get by.
Reply
Glenn Taylor
9/10/2014 01:52:26 am
Play spent is amazing it shows the struggles some have with living like making choices on weather or not to bare through the pain of a back problem or fix it. Some things i learned was that even when you think that your good and living a good life there is always a problem going on. what i learned about personal finance is that everything you need to survive without being in a struggle. To conclude some of my decisions were right some were wrong i made the best choice possible for me and my family to survive.
Reply
Claire Cook
9/10/2014 01:53:09 am
The Spent game we played in class was helpful to visualize other people's situations. Some of the challenges I faced while playing the game were moral dilemmas. For example, I was hit a car and had the option to either pay for the damage or drive away, I chose to drive away because I couldn't afford the damage. In real life, whether I was poor or not, I would pay for the damage because the same thing could've just as easily happened to my car and I know that I wouldn't have been able to pay for it, and in this situation the person I hit may not have been able either. So, the responsibility of paying for the car falls on whosever fault the accident was.
Reply
connor folkman
9/10/2014 01:53:17 am
I learned that some things in life when you dont make alot of money can really throw off your daily routine. Some people including me take for granted the things that i have and dont realize that some people bust their butts to get some things that I have already. This economic experiment really contrasts the differnce between the classes and how no one is truely equal. If you work hard than there is a much greater chance that you will be sucessful in life.
Reply
Alex Vanausdeln
9/10/2014 01:53:52 am
The major challenge I had was trying to provide for your kid what the other kids get. It was a challenge telling your kid they cant go to the party or they cant go on the class field trip. I had to make decision such as repair things my self, not participate in unions and refrain from going to the doctor. I learned the difficulty's those in poverty must face. They encounter many opportunity costs but are forced to make a decision that probably wont be good for them.
Reply
Tucker Schoenfelder
9/10/2014 01:54:46 am
Spent is a fun and educational game. Everyday there was a new challenge that caused me to think and make decisions. For example, have a friend stay with you in your apartment for $200 or tell him no. For opportunity cost I usually took the better option for me economically, I would say no to paying and yes to earning money. I learned most of all that it would be terrible to live in poverty because of all of those tough decisions that you have to make to survive and make money.
Reply
9/10/2014 01:55:07 am
I learned that all in all, one bad decision or accident results in a downhill spiral of correlating events.
Reply
GregTennant
9/10/2014 01:55:17 am
Playing spent shows the everyday struggles from someone with a low income. Trying to make the right decisions would still not help your income. In order to survive on low income you have to sacrifice your wants and some of your needs. I had my child go without payed lunch and thrift shop shoes so I could have more money for bills but was still low on money. I learned that life is not easy and that you have to make great decisions and sacrifices to survive
Reply
Carson Wade
9/10/2014 01:55:23 am
This particular simulation was quite intriguing in numerous ways, mainly through the decisions that the participant will make throughout it. The simulation constantly throws seemingly random and outlandish situations for the player to solve, yet it does highlight the random nature of life itself, and how one must always be prepared for the events ahead. Examples of these opportunity costs include deciding whether to stay with your diseased child for the day, as opposed to continuing to work. If you decide to stay home from work, a strike will be issued, noting your absence from work. It accurately depicts opportunity costs that those with economic adversity encounter on a daily basis, and even delivers statistical data to showcase these problems. I found that there was a solid amount of morality-based decisions involved within this simulation, and that the kinder you were to others and your reputation, the larger amount of money you spent on a consistent basis. However, if you remained selfish and assertive in certain instances, you would prevent vast losses and gain a formidable amount. I was able to gauge how those with monetary difficulties undergo day-to-day life, with the numerous decisions showcased, and I can certainly empathize with these individuals, although I haven't experienced these events, first-hand.
Reply
Austin Dreher
9/10/2014 01:56:21 am
This simulation put me in the position of a single parent with a very low income, and I had to face many of the same challenges that these type of people face. One particularly tough choice was choosing to euthanize my pet because I could not care for them, since I had no money to pay for medical care. I also remember having to buy very cheap, unhealthy food because I could not afford to buy anything else. Thankfully I was eligible for food stamps, but they did not start until the next month. Throughout this simulation, I realized how terrible the quality of living is for low income citizens, and the challenges that they face on a day to day basis.
Reply
Dustin King
9/10/2014 02:15:22 am
the struggles I was forced to deal with is being a low income parent with a high rent, low credit score, and car payments over the roof. the only way i made it through the game i was forced to smash my childs piggy bank, donate plasma, and get a loan. I was forced to let my pet suffer and die, not give my mom her important meds, i was unable to go to my grandfathers funeral. then lastly ending at the end of the month with $25 but not having enough money to pay rent at the end of the day. I learned the troubles of being a low wage citizens, and their economic troubles between having a good relationship with their child, and keeping up with weekly payments
Reply
Tanner Johnson
9/10/2014 11:53:59 am
I learned that money can become really tight especially with unexpected expenses like medical bills, family troubles, wants, and needs. Money becomes hard to budget when there are many important payments that need to be made. There are consequences behind every budget decision made which makes budgeting stressful and risky, you never know what you might need whether that be extra food, insurance, or emergency cash.
Reply
Gabe Cook
9/11/2014 12:54:23 am
What I learned is that in life, sacrifices have to be made. Wether is sacrificing your child's social status, or your mother'is medicine. A lot of challenges were which bills I needed to pay but couldn't pay them all. Heart and dental issues and a friend camping out in your living room. I learned that living off $1000 is a lot tougher than people think and that the wages people get paid is not enough to live
Reply
Jake airgood
9/11/2014 01:09:35 am
It was challenging to save money. You have a kid that need help with school. Car can blow up and you need to fix it. Also they rase money on your rent. So it's hard to save money. And once you loose one thing it just all goes down hill
Reply
Josh McLaughlin
9/11/2014 02:03:37 am
Some of the challenges faces while playing SPENT are like making house payments, car payments, child payments. Some of the economic oppurtunities that I faced during the Sim we're letting a friend stay over for $200 or finding ten bucks getting a free coat joining a union. In this sim I learned about poverty is that some times you can't always do what you truly want when it comes to a tight budget. Some things like that are helping kids out or going to the doctor,or going to the movies.
Reply
Jackie Willers
9/11/2014 02:39:05 am
This game taught me a lot. It was very realistic and I was faced with some very difficult decisions to make. I had to chose between my kid and my job.
Reply
Colin Burwinkel
9/11/2014 12:41:58 pm
When I played I struggled because when the game told me I could either help my animal or go poor I chose help and I went broke and I also had a lot of IOU's and or bills to pay that were ganna make me go broke anyways, it was hard.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
October 2016
Categories |
Mr. Eizyk's Social Studies |
|