A teacher who launched a GoFundMe to help him afford a place to live has put a spotlight on teacher salaries as the new school year begins.
Bill Atkinson, a fourth grade teacher in Austin, Texas, said he began living in his car this summer when his previous living situation fell through and he could not afford rent on his $54,000 annual salary.
“No matter how much I borrowed or scraped, there was no catching up, because I just did not make enough to cover rent – because I was so used to living paycheck to paycheck, I didn’t have anything in savings to try to cover rent for a couple months,” he told “Good Morning America.” “So I tried to get a place, [but I] was having a hard time finding a place I could afford on my own.”
As a teacher, I couldn’t give a toss about whether I’m seen as a member of a profession or not. I support people who do important work in a place - cleaning, maintaining, driving public transport, delivering food and other items - to be able to live reasonably near their place of work.
Everyone should have a decent life, no matter what their job, and no matter whether they are deemed to be professional or not.
It’s hard for all Americans to budget when so many are forced to live paycheck to paycheck in an economic system which profits off the exploitation caused by forced inequality. A quick check gives me results of 65-78% of Americans reporting that they live like this. And yes, you could tell me about some people you know who successfully manage to live in X city on Y income. That’s great. But that isn’t an answer, because other people are doing it.
Some people have survived being shot in the head. When I come across people who have been shot in the head, I don’t say “be more like those people who survived”. I call an ambulance.
I’m trying to understand your point about not being able to budget when living paycheck to paycheck. This is when a budget is most important.
I’m sorry that I called teachers professionals. I didn’t know it touched a nerve.
because when every bit of your monthly income is already taken up by necessities, any unexpected expense and this budget means nothing. so a surprise expense and you end up falling behind on rent, but there’s no available money next month to catch up unless you don’t eat, and unfortunately next month will have some other unexpected expense - maybe your car breaks down because it’s a piece of junk, but it was all you could afford. and so it spirals. the budget only matters if you have some discretion in how you spend.
Yes, now imagine the same scenario where you don’t have any control over your spending and don’t have any savings.
I always thought being smart with money was a good thing. Have I been wrong this entire time?
If you have the ability, a tool like YNAB (You Need A Budget) might help.
Here’s a link to the setup video showing the app and its contents. It’s an hour long, but I think it does a really great job of covering the concepts and hitting on what you’re talking about here.
https://youtu.be/wdGhrEKkxsM
I have no affiliation with them except having been a customer for ~10 years now, but it’s done wonders for us. Check it out!
budgeting is planning and planning is smart!
You’re right: budgeting is good. For example, I can budget my time by not talking to people who are overwhelmingly obtuse.
Lighten up, stranger. Why are you being so defensive towards someone who’s trying to help?