How do the Reserves, Savings, and Future Funds work?

All budgets system need two things: a place to stash savings and a way to track debt. In Banzai budgeting games, budget categories can’t go below zero. There is an exception to this rule: the Reserves budget. In Lemonade Tycoon, it’s called Savings; in Finance Summer Camp, it's called Big Adventure; in Life Scenarios, it’s called Future Fund; and in Advanced Budgeting, it’s called Reserves.

This special budget is where students save for their goal. The balance in this budget changes when students pay for an expense or put money into it when they receive income.

A student has debt if they spend more money than they have. To reflect this debt in their budget, this budget can go negative. If a student is saving more money than they spend, this budget is positive.

In Lemonade Tycoon, students make money from their lemonade stand or allowance then figure out how much to put in their spending jar, pay off IOUs, or save for lemonade supplies. Anything left can be put in Savings.

In Finance Summer Camp, students are saving for a Big Adventure at the end of camp. After they've taken care of other required categories, they set money aside for the Big Adventure of their choice.

In Life Scenarios and Advanced Budgeting, students navigate upcoming bills and take out what's necessary for food, car, rent, utilities, and other expenses. What's remaining goes into a Future Fund in Life Scenarios, or the Reserves fund in Advanced Budgeting.

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