Teacher who lived in a car puts spotlight on teachers' low pay
Teacher who lived in a car puts spotlight on teachers' low pay
Bill Atkinson was sleeping in his car after falling behind on rent.
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."
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Austin is an expensive place. The town I live in has a similar problem, where in order to live here the teachers need a spouse who can afford it. Otherwise they need to live in a neighboring town. Fortunately you don't have to go too far to find something more affordable, but ideally they'd be able to live in the community where they teach.
I always support professionals making more money. $4500/month before taxes is not a lot for a HCOL area.
That being said, if you know your salary you should be making a budget. There are people who make $25,000/yr. with financial problems, and there are people who make $300,000/yr. with financial problems.
This gentleman says he has bad credit which is a big factor into why he can't get an apartment, so saying he can't afford it is a bit misleading. He even said he has applied for apartments that he can afford. To me the question is how did he get into this situation? Taking on too much debt might be a cause, or just a snowball effect of too many bad financial decisions. Having to repay a grant sounds like it might have been avoidable, but I really don't know how the grant system works.
Either way, if you're in this situation, please make a budget before it gets to this point.
Now getting back on topic, lets pay teachers more!
I always support professionals making more money.
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.
Either way, if you're in this situation, please make a budget before it gets to this point.
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.
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!
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?
budgeting is planning and planning is smart!
A lot of people don't realize HOW expensive the Austin area is. It is up there with New York and L.A.. His salary would barely cover a mediocre apartment, vehicle and the basics. Throw in an unexpected medical bill or repair bill for the car and your screwed. You end up exactly like this guy. His salary is essentially minimum wage for the area. He is essentially forced to find a roommate or get in a relationship to make up the gap.
For those saying, just move farther away, the prices for apartments 30 minutes outside Austin are still incredibly high priced, and a lot of times the offset in rent is made up in gas and wear and tear on the vehicle.
For those saying, just move farther away
I don't think anyone suggested that's the solution. I just said it's unfortunately the same way where I live, but fortunately here you don't have to go too far. Austin is much bigger, like you said.
You got the facts straight and came to the logical conclusion but is it necessary to armchair quarterback his hypothetical financial situation?
The guy in the article is very open to sharing his financial struggles and asking for help, so I'm confident that his feelings wouldn't be hurt if he reads what I wrote.
My goal was for someone else to read my comment and have it kick them into gear to get their finances straight. Maybe someone out there is researching how to budget right now after reading it, and that's a good thing.
So yes, it's valuable to speculate and discuss hypothetical financial struggles so that we can learn ways to avoid getting into a similar situation.
I know the point of the article is "teachers didn't make enough money" which is true, but the point of my comment is "people don't become unhoused while holding a steady job unless some mistakes were made along the way".
I'm sure that'll happen. Keep on preaching the good word of if you're houseless it's your own fault. Thanks bud!
Did I touch some sort of nerve? Why is taking about budgeting getting such a harsh reaction? Lemmy is really disappointing, sometimes.
A person can experience homelessness for a variety of reasons. This teacher is without a place to live because he is being turned down for having bad credit. Don't get mad at me for there being credit bureaus in the US, I can't change that.
Atkinson, who is currently teaching at NYOS Charter School, said even after applying for places that he could afford, his application was denied due to bad credit.
You didn't touch a nerve you took a very complicated situation and boiled it down to this man must not be budgeting properly. The real issue at play was the last thing you mentioned. You addressed it but it was one sentence. I'm not saying budgeting isn't important I'm saying you're not focusing on the issue. Sorry I was a dick but you're missing the point entirely.
I understand the point of the article 100%. Teachers don't get paid enough. Student loans. Medical debt. Predatory lending. The list goes on. It's the system that we live in (in the US and a lot of other places, I'm sure).
This person's story has a "shock" factor so it makes for a good way to spread the word about low teacher salaries. I just disagree with the low pay being one of the only reasons for him to him live in a car. There were many events and decisions made that lead to that result. People end up living in cars for a variety of reasons, no matter if they make $25k/yr. or $300k/yr. It all has to do with staying ahead and making good decisions. Shit happens, be ready.
It can hard to communicate tone with text, so I understand if I came across cold or harsh towards the guy. It's just a story as old as time, and I'm a huge fan of budgeting so I mention it whenever I can.
No bud I get the tone you're bringing to the conversation and the lack of empathy for the situation.
I know we're going back and forth here, but that's ok. I'm very empathetic to his situation, and it's a situation shared by many. A lot of people don't want to hear solutions or preventative measures, they just want to go "awww" and wait for things to hopefully get better. That's a different type of empathy vs. my desire to affect change on the mans life. I want him to have a much better QOL. Pay is only a small piece of the puzzle.
You'll get it eventually.
Just wanted to chime in and say that you aren’t wrong despite comments to the contrary. People haven’t been taught budgeting, let alone sticking to one.
I work with professionals that make 6 figures and even some of them can’t afford the place they’re renting, when I make less and own my own home. I finally got one to start a budget and it’s already started changing the way he thinks about planning for vacations and such. I’ve been thanked already about being positive about it and not making him feel like he’s stupid.
The public school system flat out failed to teach this in this country. I’ve been saying this since I was in high school, where the only place a budget was taught was in the remedial math class of all places.
I’m not surprised many people are pissed that they “can’t afford to live” in this day and age. Prices are higher than ever (welcome to accelerated inflation) and now it’s harder to start one. However, it is 100% possible for most people. Not all, but most.
I’m not burning money going out to eat daily for lunch or even buying freaking coffee. People don’t realize how much they spend on little things every day/month/year. That’s how I got my peer to budget. Break things down to the ridiculous like daily coffee and extract it to the year level. That’s a SHIT LOAD of money we’re literally pissing down the toilet. Figure out how to make great coffee at home, and even with expensive beans, it’s cheaper by a mile.
Now, that’s just 1 example. If you can’t live without your double frappe latte or whatever then look at reducing cost in other things you don’t need or can do cheaper yourself.
Thanks. I feel like the people responding negatively might be immature and maybe frustrated with their own personal finances. Budgeting changed my life and allowed me to take a career risk that really paid off, so there's no scenario where I can see budgeting as a bad thing.
Everyone should have a budget, it's like tracking anything else in your life. I always say to look for extra money, so you can get some sort of emergency fund saved up, because life is gonna life. I sold a few things online, did pet sitting and some phase 4 clinical trials. I have to be vaccinated for COVID, so I made over $1,000 taking part in the flu and COVID combo shot study. This allowed me to buy my usual stuff in bulk, furthering my money. Budgeting is super important and super helpful in getting out of the paycheck to paycheck loop. It's like dieting and exercise for your finances to get them in shape.
That's great to hear!
I have bad credit because I've never borrowed money. I have lots of savings and (had) a great income, but I always had trouble renting apartments because of my credit score. Now I have a house that I bought for cash, but the very nature of renting via credit scores draws people inexorably into the debt cycle.
That's cool. This guy has a car payment and other loans, so his credit score is influenced by other factors.
Whether a persons credit score should be used for housing is an argument for another day.