Saving doesn’t come naturally to most of us – unless you are one of the lucky few. Being young has its advantages, but knowing the real value of money simply isn’t one of them. It is difficult to watch your friends blow lots of cash on new clothes and toys, or living beyond their means with credit, and not feel like you want to do the same. When you are young and feeling invincible, you probably feel little reason to save, because all of your needs are met, and you still have years and years, right?
Saving money is critically important in today’s society. Unfortunately, a majority of young adults are still struggling with high levels of debt and lack of a personal budget to help save for the future. Those years and years that you thought you had, slowly creep up on you and leave you stuck with no savings and a lot of stress. For the past decade, Ad Council and AICPA’s Feed the Pig campaign has been working to improve financial literacy among Americans by encouraging them to make savings part of their daily lives.
I was taught from a very young age how important it was to save money. My parents were adamant about savings and how critical it would be to my daily life as an adult. Financial literacy may seem like an overwhelming or taboo topic but it is nonetheless an important one!
Thankfully FeedThePig.org has great resources to help me and my friends save more and spend wisely, including a new game called Yesterday’s Tomorrow. The game is like a “choose-your-own-adventure” in the form of a digital photo album! You get to develop a relationship with a future version of yourself, jumping through key life stages and instantly seeing the outcomes of those choices from teenage years through retirement. As you think through some life decisions like school, job, and awesome vacations, you’ll see how your choices may save, or lose money. No one wants to blow their money needlessly, right?
We love education games in our household. With kids and young adults today being so involved in gaming, what better way to teach them important life skills than with a game, something they can really relate to. The new Yesterday’s Tomorrow game lets you not only have a little fun but also see that financial literacy is important. I love that you can virtually see how adopting healthy financial habits can pay off!
Although my parents told me to pay cash for my everyday fun things I wanted to buy and to set aside a set percentage of my paycheck into long-term savings, once I got into the “real world” those tips went out the window. I am sure that many of you can relate. After using Feed the Pig’s resources, I realized that just by switching up how I spent my money, I could really begin to save. It felt impossible before, but playing through Yesterday’s Tomorrow helped me to focus more on my future self and realize the different ways to reach those goals for where I want to be financially. The game and FeedThePig.org helped us a lot. A majority of millennials (65%) attributed their lack of saving to impulse buying and not establishing a personal budget (62%), so I’m not the only one who has done this (and immediately regretted it!).
Yesterday’s Tomorrow helps young adults realize the importance of making positive financial decisions early in life, and shows the long-term benefits of being financially savvy. This unconventional approach to financial literacy is a win/win in my book – no matter what your age.
What are your financial goals? Make sure to play Feed the Pig’s Yesterday’s Tomorrow and figure out how you can make them happen!
For more information and to play the game, visit FeedthePig.org!
