Act Your Wage! is © 2010 by Lampo Licensing LLC.Original board game design by Randy Working and based on Dave Ramsey’s financial principles.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked “NKJV™” are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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GAME CONTENTS ______________________________________

Game board

Game pieces (4)

Die

Money ($100, $500 and $1,000 bills)

6 card decks (GIVE, SAVE, SPEND, DAVE SAYS, LIFE, DEBT)

OBJECT OF THE GAME______________________________________

Be the first player to pay off all his debts and yell,

“I’m debt free!”

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GETTING STARTED______________________________________

1. The cards labeled GIVE, SAVE, SPEND, and DAVE SAYS should

be shuffled and placed on their matching rectangles around

the center of the board. The LIFE and DEBT cards should be

shuffled and set aside.

2. Each player chooses a token and places it on either PAY DAY corner.

3. Each player draws one LIFE card and three DEBT cards. These

cards are placed face up in front of each player. Players should

order DEBT cards according to amount owed, from smallest to

largest. Each player should consult his LIFE card to learn whether

he is married, has children, and pays rent or a mortgage.

4. Choose a player to serve as the BANKER. (This should be

someone who is good at making change.)

5. The BANKER gives each player $1,000 for his baby Emergency

Fund and his initial Paycheck according to the amount printed

on each player’s LIFE card.

6. Each player chooses one side of the game board and divides all

the money he obtains during the game under the Emergency

Fund, appropriate Envelope and Piggy Bank icons printed on

his side of the game board.

7. Each player must choose how best to distribute his money

between his Envelopes based on the expenses listed on his LIFE

card. It is not unusual for Envelopes to be underfunded at the

beginning of the game.

8. Each player rolls the die to determine who goes first. Highest

number begins. Pieces move clockwise around the board. At the

end of a turn, the player passes the die to the player to his left.

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PLAYING THE GAME______________________________________

Each turn follows these steps.

1. A player rolls the die, moves his game piece and follows the

instructions printed on the space on which he lands.

2. GIVE, SAVE, SPEND or DAVE SAYS

2a. When a player lands on one of these spaces, the player

should draw a card from that stack. Cards should be read

aloud, obeyed and returned, facedown, to the bottom of the

matching deck.

2b. Should a player land on a GIVE space, that player pays the

amount listed on the card to every other player.

2c. Amounts listed on SAVE cards are paid from the bank, NOT

put aside from income. This also applies to save amounts

on DAVE SAYS cards.

3. STUPID TAX

Mixed into two of the card categories are STUPID TAX cards.

3a. If a player draws a STUPID TAX card, he may give the card

to another player immediately or during any future turn.

(The player who draws a STUPID TAX card does NOT pay

the Stupid Tax.)

3b. STUPID TAX cards represent additional debt. Players who

receive a STUPID TAX card should put it face up alongside

their other DEBT cards in debt snowball order from lowest

to highest. STUPID TAX cards must be eliminated like any

other DEBT card.

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4. BILL PAY

When a player lands on or passes over a BILL PAY corner, play

proceeds as follows:

4a. The player pays the bills listed on the BILL PAY corner from

his corresponding Envelopes. If there is not enough money

in an Envelope, that bill must be paid from the player’s

Emergency Fund.

In addition to paying his bills, each player pays the full Food

amount listed on his LIFE card each time he lands on or

passes over a BILL PAY corner.

Where a BILL PAY corner lists credit card debt, the player

pays $100 for each of his DEBT cards that is a credit card

debt. Where a BILL PAY corner lists loan debt, the player pays a

flat $100 no matter how many of his DEBT cards is a loan.

4b. If the player passed over the BILL PAY corner, he now follows

the instructions printed on the space on which he landed.

5. PAY DAY

A player passing over or landing on a PAY DAY corner is paid his

Paycheck by the BANKER according to the amount listed on the

player’s LIFE card. If the player passed over the PAY DAY corner,

he is paid first before following the instructions printed on the space

on which he landed.

6. PAYING OFF DEBT

6a. A player may pay off debts only at the end of his turn.

6b. Debts are paid off from smallest to largest—debt snowball

style! A player may pay off debts only when his Emergency

Fund and Envelopes are fully funded.

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6c. DEBT cards are turned over as they are paid off. If a player does

not have enough money saved to pay off a debt, he should

save his extra money under his Piggybank.

7. When the player’s turn is over, play passes to the left.

The first player to pay off all his debts and yell “I’m debt free!” wins

the game.

EMERGENCY FUND______________________________________

Each player begins the game with an Emergency Fund of $1,000—

just like Dave recommends in Baby Step 1. The BANKER gives each

player this amount at the beginning of the game. Emergency Fund

money is kept under the Safe icon.

Should a player land on the “Add $1,000 to Your Emergency Fund”

space, his Emergency Fund level goes up $1,000. The bank does

not pay this amount. Instead, the player must put aside enough

money during the course of the game to bring his Emergency Fund

amount up to the new level. He must maintain it at this new level for

the remainder of the game. Remember, debts cannot be paid unless

a player’s Emergency Fund level and his Envelopes are fully funded.

PIGGYBANK______________________________________

Money earned above and beyond a player’s Emergency Fund level

and expense Envelopes is saved under the Piggybank icon on his

side of the board. Save as much as you can and pay off those debts!

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GIVE cards______________________________________

Real wealth is about giving. As Dave says, “If you live like no one

else, later you can give like no one else.” Therefore, players pay the

amount listed on a GIVE card to every other player on the board. Not

to worry! As in life, players will find themselves on both the giving

and receiving sides during the course of the game. (This money will

usually be paid from Savings, though in real-life, giving should have a

line-item in your budget so that every dollar has a name.)

SPEND, SAVE and DAVE SAYS cards______________________________________

Money has a life of its own. It comes in. It goes out. And it pays

to use a little wisdom here and there. That’s where these cards

come in. Players draw these cards when they land on these spaces.

Cards should be read aloud, obeyed and returned, facedown, to

the bottom of the matching deck. Finally, for purposes of game

play, SAVE card amounts are paid to players by the bank, NOT put

aside from income. This also applies to save amounts on DAVE

SAYS cards.

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STUPID TAX cards______________________________________

Stupid Tax is what we call any expense caused by pure stupidity. There

are dozens of stupid tax stories on our website, DaveRamsey.com. When

a player draws a STUPID TAX card, they get the fun of handing

out Stupid Tax by giving that debt to someone else. A player who

receives a STUPID TAX card should put it face up alongside their

other DEBT cards in debt snowball order from lowest to highest. He

will have to pay off that amount, just as with his other DEBT cards.

OUT OF MONEY______________________________________

Should a player run out of money, he is out of the game. Please

note, however, that in real-life, we have seen people in the worst

of financial circumstances take stock of their situation, commit to

Dave’s Baby Steps, get gazelle intense, start working their debt

snowball and come out on the other side screaming, “I’m debt free!”

for real! Listen to the radio show every Friday and hear them do it.

Their stories are amazing!

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS________________________________________________________________________________

What age range is the game suitable for?Act Your Wage! is designed for kids ages 10 to 110.

What is the goal of the game?The goal of Act Your Wage! is to live within your means, pay off

debt and be the first player to scream, “I’m debt free!”

How many people can play the game?Act Your Wage! can be played by 2–4 players.

Is there anything I can do to shorten game play?During setup, have each player draw two (or even one) DEBT

cards instead of three.

In real life, why would someone put more than $1,000 in their baby emergency fund?Baby Step 1 of Dave’s program says to put $1,000 in an

Emergency Fund. Nevertheless, there are circumstances, such

as a pregnancy or possible layoffs at your company, that merit

putting aside a larger amount.

Why does food appear on each bill Pay space? We designed each cycle around the board to resemble a month.

And, since most of us buy groceries intermittently, we devoted

both spaces to it.

Which of dave’s principles are reflected in the game?Act Your Wage! is built around Baby Step 2—getting out of debt

by paying off everything but the mortgage. But there are other

principles in play as well, such as habitually saving, avoiding

credit, setting financial goals, budgeting, and of course, acting

your wage.

Why do I have to fully fund my emergency fund and my expense envelopes before I can pay off any of my debts?Because that’s what Grandma would do.

How do I pay off debt if I can’t keep money in my envelopes or emergency fund?You should call The Dave Ramsey Show at (888) 825-5225.

What if I deplete my emergency fund? Can I borrow from another player?The Bible says “the borrower is the slave of the lender” (Prov. 22:7).

So, no, you may not borrow from another player.

What should I do if I draw a GIVe card?No game can ever replicate the deep satisfaction that comes when

you’ve lived like no one else and can give like no one else. Nevertheless,

we tried to make the point as best we could by turning GIVE cards

into opportunities for players to give and receive.

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______________________________________

When I draw a SAVe card and it tells me to save an amount of money, where does that money come from?It comes from the bank. For example, if you draw a card that reads,

“You sell your collection of 1980s-era baseball cards. Save $200.”

You will receive $200 from the bank. Think of it this way: Amounts

obtained from SAVE cards represent an additional source of

income. Regular income is paid out by the bank, so, for purposes of

game play, secondary income is paid from the bank as well.

Is it okay to make up house rules?As long as Grandma would approve. We’d love to hear what you’ve

come up with. So tell us about it. Send an email to actyourwage@

daveramsey.com.

this game would be so much better if . . . I love this game because . . .Finish your sentence in an email and send it to:

actyourwage@daveramsey.com.

Dave Ramsey’s Act Your Wage! is © 2010 by Lampo Licensing LLC.