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.”
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!