· Adventure · Money
First Paycheck: free budgeting game for your first salary
Your first job, your first salary. Split it between rent, food, fun and savings, then survive your first emergency.
What is First Paycheck?
Six months in a first job, $2,000 a month and no savings yet. Split each paycheck into Rent, Food, Transport, Fun and Savings, then face the month's surprise: a broken phone, a friend's wedding, a bonus, a rent rise.
First Paycheck is a free budgeting game about your first job. For six months you get $2,000 a month and split it into five envelopes: Rent, Food, Transport, Fun and Savings. Then the month happens: food costs a little more than planned, your phone screen shatters, a friend gets married, a bonus lands, the rent goes up.
Short envelopes and surprises are paid from your emergency fund first. Without one, your account goes into the red and pays an overdraft fee, and the next paycheck starts by paying it back. A stress meter rises with no fun money, short envelopes and debt, and calms down once you have a cushion.
At a glance
- Category
- Adventure
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Play time
- 6–10 min
- Price
- Free, in your browser, sign-up optional
How to play
- Split the paycheck
- Give every dollar a job across five envelopes, with the sliders or the − / + buttons.
- Pay the bills
- Money left in an envelope goes to savings. A short envelope is paid from your emergency fund.
- Face the surprise
- No fund to cover it? The account goes into the red and pays an overdraft fee.
- Score
- Your savings, plus points for low stress, plus 500 if you never go into the red.
Scoring
Your savings after six months (minus any debt), plus 15 points for each point of stress under 100, plus 500 if your account never went into the red.
Short envelopes and surprises come out of your emergency fund first; without one, the account goes negative and pays a $30 example overdraft fee each month it ends in the red. Your best score is kept in this browser.
What it trains
- Budgeting
- Giving every dollar of a salary a job across rent, food, transport, fun and savings.
- Emergency funds
- Seeing how a cushion turns a broken phone into a small problem instead of an overdraft.
- Balance
- Keeping some fun money so stress doesn't wreck the plan.
Strategy and tips
- Pay yourself first
- Put money in Savings on payday, before the month gets a chance to spend it.
- Plan for the high end
- Food and transport vary. Budget the top of the range; the leftover goes to savings anyway.
- Keep some fun
- A tiny Fun envelope keeps stress climbing. A modest one is cheaper than burning out.
- Build a cushion early
- The first emergency comes fast. Even a few hundred dollars keeps you out of the red.
- Update fixed costs
- When the rent goes up, raise the Rent envelope the next month.
Why play First Paycheck?
A first salary feels big until the first surprise. Six months in a few minutes shows how an emergency fund turns a broken phone into a small problem instead of an overdraft.
Frequently asked questions
Is First Paycheck free?
Yes. It is free and runs in your browser, with no download. Signing up is optional.
What is an emergency fund?
Money set aside for surprises like repairs or medical bills, so you don't need debt when they happen.
What's an overdraft fee?
An extra charge some banks take when your account goes below zero. The game uses an example fee of $30 a month.
How is the score counted?
Your savings at the end (minus any debt), plus 15 points for each point of stress under 100, plus 500 if you never went into the red.