Helping an Underpaid Teacher with Their Finances

This week in money 6/30-7/6

This week in my money journey I was finally able to close out the month of June. Unfortunately, I missed my savings goal of $700 saved by a pretty wide margin due to an emergency and a vacation payment. I was still able to stay on top by barely under $100 saved. Still there was progress progress and my investments made terrific progress. An oil change, brake replacement, and a cruise typically doesn’t ALL land on the same month which accounted for $1000 all added up in my expenses. Not great but at least my head is still above water. 

This new month began with Financial Freedom Day on July 1. A terrific day to reset and a good place to show gratitude. I am completely out of debt. I am fully taking the employer match. This year is the first year I can fully max my Roth IRA. It was a huge goal for my financial journey, and I hit it. 

I can fix my vehicle’s brakes with no problems and not miss the money. It felt great when I did not have to dip into my emergency fund. 

I was able to start a 529 for my unborn child. 

My income has zoomed past my expenses leaving me with a savings rate above 25% GROSS income thanks in part to a combination of discipline and low income. 

Built up my emergency fund, even though I could get by with less cash it has felt great mentally to have 6 months of expenses in the bank. I have since decreased that a bit. 

I have been able to cash flow my college education and it has been a bumpy journey but one that I have seemed to come out on the other side of. My financial future foundation is established. Now I must build.

I have also recently taken up the task of helping a person with their finances, they aren’t quite as good as me. Bad money habits, bad math skills, a pile of debt, and not a great income. Tens of thousands of dollars in debt with less than $1500 in a bank account. A vehicle loan length of 84 months of $450 car payments and won’t be paid off until 37 years old. Also buying a vacation. Quitting a job. No progress was made. I enjoy this work so much, but it weighs on me when they don’t help themselves. I do feel like this is what I want to do with my life because I love the basic math used and the BEHAVIOR money deals with. 

I got access to view their records more and they are in an unsustainable situation. They were falling behind already but lost $1000 in a month where they received a bonus of $1500 of income they don’t normally receive. When I asked about the money they said that they still had $1000 left of the bonus but when I matched expenses with income the math did not support this claim.

On a normal month, they make $3369 a month and $1719 goes to housing and $866 in debt payments which includes the car. That would be 77% of their income in just those two things. 

Not a sustainable situation. No gas, no insurance, no medical expenses. no food. Just 77% in those two categories. It is not a good place to be. It is an unsustainable situation and the losing end of a math problem. The lease was just signed so housing won’t be going down. So how do you get out? Spoke more and they said typically they had $400 in savings per month but with the payment being $600 more they would be losing $200 a month. To counteract the higher expenses, they said their savings of $1300 can support that instead of a lifestyle change.  

I said to remove Amazon. Shop at Walmart instead of Publix. Hide credit cards. Try to increase income. The housing is such a problem and it’s a one-bedroom so a roommate won’t be coming to save the day…. Very difficult to see. 

I didn’t get the whole picture, didn’t get multiple months but I categorized all of their expenses and showed them where money is bleeding. I will try to help where I can, but you can only help so much. It has weighed on me because I don’t think much change will happen. Especially after talking with them about how bad their situation is, they bought a $10 ice cream the night of telling them to stop.

Money is just so alluring to me. I can’t stop talking about it. Love trying to help, hopefully, they use the advice but it’s not my life so I can’t help if they don’t allow it. It is also a sticky subject to talk about because of the weird view of finances that people see. Maybe it exposes them for not being adequate. Which is okay, it’s time to learn. Not very many people in the U.S. are financially literate. Unfortunately, it isn’t taught in very many schools. I’m trying to help though. Speak about my journey and the journey of others. I want to help people enjoy a brighter future. Also have a retirement investment portfolio which will boost my portfolio as well. The more people able to invest the higher the market goes. :) 

Personal finance is a tough and touchy subject, but I love it. It hurts when people fail. I will be ecstatic if they succeed but you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. Now I know how my parents felt.