The 'Would You Rather' Campaign Aims To Help All The Millennials That Are Victims Of Their Own Spending Habits

At a time when students in the US are exiting college with alarming amounts of debt, DoSomething.org and H&R Block have teamed up to help educate millennials on how to take charge of their personal finances, in addition to offering the chance to win a $3,000 scholarship.

With graduating seniors leaving their universities with an average amount of debt that tops $26,000, and only 13 states in the US requiring high school students to take personal finance courses, young people are getting caught in the perfect storm of not having enough education to meet the financial challenges that await them in the real world.

"Would You Rather aims to change that through meeting young people where they are with content that resonates with them," DoSomething's Colleen Wormsley said. "We've created an interactive SMS text message experience that asks teens to choose between situations penny pinchers often find themselves in to save money. Once they choose a scenario, they're given real tips to save money so they don't have to go through one of those scenarios."

Over the past decade, student debt has soared above the amount of credit debt in the US, with graduates collectively owing over $1 trillion.

Harnessing the fact that millennials send an average of over 3,300 texts per day, DoSomething and H&R block seek to provide the crucial information they need in a way that fits into their daily routines.

As part of the Would You Rather campaign, which began in late January and will end on April 3, users can have their friends join in on the fun and compare their approaches to the hypothetical situations.

Each person who invites a friend automatically enters for a chance to win the $3,000 scholarship from to help meet the financial demands of the typical, pinched-for-cash college student.

"The combination of being in debt after school, not understanding student loans, credit cards, saving plans, etc. is resulting in an entire generation racking up bad credit and debt that affects the overall economy and dis-empowers millennials at a key time in their life," said Wormsley. "Young people are frustrated because they don't know where to turn and feel overwhelmed by this issue."

And now, both organizations behind Would You Rather are doing their part in helping students avoid financial perils. DoSomething.org is the nation's largest non-profit organization, with over 2.5 million young people addressing issues such as bullying, poverty and now financial responsibility.

H&R Block teamed up with the organization in an effort driven by the company's Dollars and Sense initiative, which was created in 2009 to help improve young people's ability to manage their money.

To play the Would You Rather game and get fun tips on how to handle your finances, click here.

Top Photo Credit: Shutterstock