MONEY
“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.”
—Henry David Thoreau
Stupid School Supplies Teachers Make Kids Buy
Are you one of "those teachers" who makes kids buy a list of specialty school supplies? If you're a parent you know what I'm talking about--that school supply list a mile long. "Mom, I need a pink, purple, blue, cyan, and black seven subject notebook, a set of 33...
Bob Cratchit’s Guide to Budget Holiday Dinner (Save some cash, eat well)
Holiday dinner should be a time of sharing, not going into debt over dinner. There’s a magic day in March or April where the average American pays off Christmas debt. Don’t let holiday dinner be part of it. We host holiday dinner. I’m a vegetarian. I’m happy to give...
How to Survive on $350,000 a Year
I keep seeing versions of this MarketWatch article come across my feed. Take a quick look. It shows how difficult it is for this "middle class" family to live on $350K/year. $350,000 is approximately 4-10 years of the average teacher salary (depending on your job,...
How to Use Amazon Prime Day Properly
Amazon Prime Day is here and it's two days, not one. Teacher sites all over America are curating the best deals for their classes. Amazon's released thousands of Amazon-brand products, and this year, I've noticed school supplies. I've tried their brand, and it's good....
“Help! I can’t stop spending!” These 5 baby steps will help…
The teacher spending struggle is real. Since we've gone turkey with the No-Spend Summer Challenge, that's the number one thing I hear. "I can't." We must defeat the "I can'ts" with this challenge. But, not everyone can go cold turkey. You'd never let a student say "I...
5 Ways to Avoid Hoarding for School
Are you buying or hoarding? Teachers often say we're buying when we're not "buying" so much as "hoarding." Teacher spending is an affliction, but some of us sprint right over that line into hoarding. Here's how to tell if you're in danger of being on a Discovery...
5 Types of Teacher Spending That’ll Make You Broke: What Type Are YOU?
Do you know how much money you spent on your classroom last year, or is school a financial vortex? A black hole that sucks away your paycheck and leaves you scrambling to pay your bills? Teachers don't make a lot but we sure know how to spend. Sometimes, it borders on...
Challenge: Resisting Target’s Back to School Sales
You can--and must--resist the Target back-to-school sale. It's July 1 as I write this. I walk into Target with one mission: dish towels. Mine are clean, but stained with god-knows-what and tons of holes but who cares because they still work, right? Teacher towels....
Movie Food Smuggling
Why would anyone in their right mind pay $20 for a small box of candy and a few kernels fake-butter popcorn after paying a million dollars a ticket to go to a movie--that starts with a half-hour of commercials? That's insane. Theatre food isn't what I want anyway--a...