Can you believe I never played Pay Day as a kid? It’s true. So I was delighted to find it at the thrift store and to realize it made a perfect addition to our games to learn about money.

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Pay Day is one of those iconic, classic games that everyone has heard of. But it’s great for learning about money, investing, debt, and interest.

There are two main types of cards in Pay Day. Deal! cards allow you the opportunity to buy a company, and then there are cards you get in the “mail”. These are Bills, Charity, Monster Charges, Mad Money, Pay a Neighbor, and Move Ahead (to the next Deal or Buyer space). You always have the choice of whether to accept new Deals, but all “Mail” cards are always mandatory.

Move Ahead cards are always mandatory, but once on your new space, you have the option of whether to accept the new deal or sell a company (though there’s no reason not to sell a company; they don’t make you any money except when you sell them).

Bills are paid at the end of the month to the bank. Monster Charges can either be paid in full (plus the 10% interest) at the end of the month, or just the interest paid at the end of the month (but then you have to pay them back later, with more interest).

Charity cards are paid immediately to the “jackpot” space on the board. Pay a Neighbor cards are paid immediately to another player, and Mad Money cards are collected immediately from another player. Both times, you get to choose who you pay or who pays you.

Loans can be taken out at any time, but are paid back with 10% interest. So, it’s worth it to minimize your loans.

One of the interesting aspects of Pay Day is that the amounts are oddly skewed. For example, one of the Bills is tuition to “Know-It-All University” for $5,000. In today’s world, that’s a bargain for even a year’s tuition, let alone the whole degree. But then there’s a bill for the “Boom Box Music Club” for $800, or a “Health Club Family Membership” for $1,500.