📚 The LifeBus Scenario Library

Real-world financial
decisions students actually face

A library of free, standards-aligned simulators covering every domain of personal finance. Drop a scenario into any class — no prep, no setup, no student accounts.

5 scenarios and growing
Free for Ohio classrooms
Ohio HB 96 aligned
Works on any device
View All Scenarios → For Educators
📋 Aligned to Ohio HB 96 personal finance mandate
🎓 Covers Jump$tart Coalition core standards
💻 Zero setup. Works on Chromebooks, phones, tablets
🔒 No accounts. No student data collected

Practical skills students actually need

Each scenario is a 15–20 minute interactive simulation. Students make real decisions and see the financial consequences play out — immediately.

💰

Your First Paycheck

Students input a starting salary, navigate taxes, choose health insurance plans, and set up their 401(k) — then see exactly where every dollar went before it hits their account.

Learning outcomes
✓
Gross vs. net pay, federal & state tax brackets
✓
Health insurance plan comparison (Bronze/Silver/Gold)
✓
401(k) employer match & 30-year compound growth
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🏠

Your First Budget

Students build a real monthly budget from their simulated paycheck — rent, groceries, transportation, subscriptions — and see whether they can make ends meet.

Learning outcomes
✓
Fixed vs. variable expenses with real-time feedback
✓
50/30/20 rule benchmarking and visual analysis
✓
Compound growth on consistent savings habits
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📊

Credit Score 101

An animated credit score meter, interactive factor sliders, a card simulator with 6-month tracking, and a decision consequence engine that shows what each choice costs — for years.

Learning outcomes
✓
5 credit factors with weighted impact sliders (300–850)
✓
Credit card simulator: spending, payments, balances
✓
Real consequences: missed payments, maxing out, disputes
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🔑

Lease vs. Buy Your First Apartment

Students weigh the trade-offs of leasing versus buying their first place — security deposits, monthly rent vs. mortgage, hidden fees, and the long-term math of each choice.

Learning outcomes
✓
Up-front vs. recurring cost trade-offs
✓
Flexibility, equity, and risk in housing decisions
✓
Long-term wealth impact of each path
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💳

Choosing Your First Credit Card

Students pick the card type that fits their history — secured, student, or unsecured — then map utilization, on-time payment, and rewards-vs-low-APR trade-offs to a projected first credit score.

Learning outcomes
✓
Secured vs. unsecured vs. student — qualification and scoring impact
✓
Utilization under 30% as the second-biggest FICO factor
✓
On-time payment is 35% of the score — autopay vs. missed due date
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📌

Aligned to the Ohio HB 96 Personal Finance Mandate

Each scenario in this library addresses a core domain of Ohio's financial literacy graduation requirement — earning, saving, spending, credit, and major financial decisions. Teachers can use any scenario standalone or combine them across a unit.