8 quick questions on UK coins and notes — what each one is worth, sorting by value, and easy addition. Designed for Year 1 and 2.
Audience
KS4-KS5 students (Y10-Y13)
Key Stage
KS4-KS5
Weeks
4 (x4 scenarios)
Time
10-15 min
Topic
Budgeting and trade-offs
Last reviewed
2026-07-22
How to play
One month. A Saturday job paying £30 a week, £60 already in your account, and life incoming. Every choice moves two meters: money and wellbeing — because a budget that makes you miserable never lasts. Survive to payday with cash to spare and a life. Then replay: four scenarios, from the classic month to learner-driver costs and the festive squeeze, each with its own trap.
For teachers: use this in class
Learning objectives: prioritise needs over wants under a constraint; understand emergency buffers; evaluate risk (repair now vs pay more later); recognise wellbeing as a budgeting variable.
20-minute activity: split the class across the four scenarios; compare end states and vote on the single best decision of the month. Then re-run with everyone deliberately "hoarding" — discuss why max-cash minus all wellbeing scores badly.
Differentiation: support — play as a whole class with a projected screen; stretch — students design a week 5 with one need, one want and one trap, and swap.
Discussion: Which real monthly costs behave like the bus pass (pay once vs drip)? What is YOUR £60 phone-dies equivalent? Why do budgets that ban all fun fail?
Cite this quiz
UK Tax Drag (2026). Budget Month: survive four weeks. Game. Available at: https://kids.uktaxdrag.co.uk/game-budget-month.html
CC BY 4.0. Free to use as exit tickets, retrieval practice, homework or self-assessment.
Game tips. Number keys or Tab + Enter work for every choice. Play all four scenarios — the debrief compares your habits, not your luck. Print the paper version runs the same month as a worksheet with a debrief guide.