High school students at a Texas school have found out just how hard it is to live within a budget thanks to a real-world simulation.
It's called "Dose of Reality," and students were assigned jobs with a certain income, based on national averages. From their monthly pay, they had to figure out how to pay for rent, car payments and credit cards along with food and any other expenses, KAUZ reported.
One student was a physical therapist with a monthly salary of $5,000. Another was a member of the armed forces, earning $1,399 a month. By the end of the simulation, he had only $100 left, KAUZ reported.
Garret Box told KAUZ, "It makes you want to know what you need and what you want. I didn't have a pet or anything. I was riding a bike around. I was riding a bus and I didn't have a vehicle."
A junior who was given the job of a food-service manager, and a single mother, earned $2,400 a month. She said she had no idea what it cost to raise a child, paying for a child’s clothes, groceries and child care.
Avery Iles told KAUZ she now has a new appreciation for what her parents did for her family.
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