New Game by Bookmonkey

After going through the book Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal back in April, I decided to create my own game, to help me find a fun way to deal with my unfortunate habit of overspending on work days (I work Downtown, so unchecked I can easily spend $20 or even $30 a day while at work, on lunches, coffees and snacks)

Bookmonkey's Money Saving Game

Basic Rule - Give yourself $10 each day – savings go in envelope and once they add up to a prize level, claim your prize!

Prize Level 1 – Game/Book/Movie ($15 total)

Prize Level 2 - Fancy lunch out ($25)

Prize Level 3 – Lunch out with my wife ($50)

Basically, each day I would start with $10 as a baseline, and after getting my snacks, coffee and/or lunch, I would put however much change I had into an envelope I kept in my desk.  If I didn’t spend anything, I’d put the whole $10 in the envelope and on Friday I would count up my change and put it towards one of my “prize levels.”  In this way I would both be giving myself permission to spend cash, but at the same time, I would have a clear and obvious reward for spending more wisely than I had in the past. 

As of last Friday (July 12) I’ve hit level all three levels, and am creating new ones for the summer (i.e. Movie Night with my family ($80)) which will be pretty cool, considering i feel like I’m paying for it all with change, and at the same time, I’m trying very hard each day to ensure I spend less than $10 so I have something to add to the pot.  In my own mind, for it’s target audience (me), this has been a pretty successful game and a great way I could apply the knowledge I had learned in the book to a real world situation.