Feeling Spent? Can you make it until the end of the month?

You are unemployed.  Lost your house.  A single parent..and only have $1000 in the bank.  Can you make it to the end of the month?

Several years ago, I got involved with a family who struggling at every turn. After a death in their family and another serious health condition, I found myself shopping for the family of 2.  It was then that I became overwhelmingly aware of the extreme financial struggles of some of my friends and neighbors and the difficult choices that have to be made every day.  In addition…these were decisions my parents also had to make as they were raising 4 children. And some decisions that I had to make early in my career.

Decisions like….Pay the light bill or put food on the table or rack up credit card debt? Go to court to contest a speeding ticket (requires taking off work) or pay the $200 ticket? Pay for health insurance or the car repair bills?

I was recently thinking about what it might look like to put together a decision tree for these types of decisions….when I stumbled on Play Spent.  Go ahead…click the link.  I dare you.  After trying several times, I couldn’t make it to the end of the month with enough money to pay rent at the first of the next month. Imagine…if this weren’t just a game…imagine this was your life..every day.  Or maybe it is.

Check it out…see how well you do.  www.playspent.org

Just a few stats from the Sources Link…

• Many children who qualify for free or reduced lunch choose to go hungry rather than face the stigma of being identified as poor.
• Many low-income workers would rather keep quiet than push for better working conditions because they don’t want to risk losing their jobs.
• More than 44% of people living below the poverty line visit the public library to get online.
• For more than 50 percent of American households, access to public transit is too limited to go completely carless.
• Almost 15 percent of American households had a hard time getting enough to eat at some point during 2009.

So…how did you do?