Financial Literacy Made Fun

A Day at Dollar General Program Guide Now Available

National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) has released a new online tool to recreate the experience of shopping in a real store and encourage children to learn while shopping. Created in partnership with the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, "A Day at Dollar General: Learn While Shopping" makes learning financial responsibility and budgeting fun and engaging.

By expanding the definition of literacy to include smart financial habits, NCFL and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation are teaching children to make informed spending decisions that will help them reach their goals.

"A Day at Dollar General: Learn While Shopping" is tailored to families and children, providing them with a fun and interactive game that teaches good spending habits. The game has four sections that are quick and easy to complete. The subjects covered by the game are:

1.     Budgeting - teaches children to identify the difference between wants and needs and manage expenses within a certain income.
2.     Planning a shopping trip - encourages families to get in the habit of reading store advertisements, collecting coupons and making shopping lists to avoid impulse buys.
3.     Spending wisely - shares smart shopping strategies such as taking advantage of store specials and comparison shopping.
4.     Managing money - stresses the importance of factoring price into purchasing decisions and offers tips to make and reach long-term savings goals.

Families can complete the game in their homes or as part of a family-focused learning program, giving parents a forum to develop a deeper understanding of their own finances and share the lesson of smart money management with their kids in an engaging way. NCFL and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation expect to update the game on an ongoing basis to encourage sustained learning as children grow and face new and more difficult financial decisions.