Teaching is a passion that not everyone possesses. To be a great teacher, you must have a heart for learning and a drive to bring your experience to others in a way they can best understand. The best teachers engage with their students, but that is not all there is to this career choice. There is a lot to remember and consider when it comes to teaching, and here is your guide to finance as a teacher.
Seek Out Teacher Incentive Programs
Teachers are highly valued in our society, yet they rarely get recognition for their valuable efforts. However, a few retailers offer discounts to teachers throughout the year. And some offer these discounts at specific times, so make sure you keep your eye out for them. Discounts of 10% to 20% may not sound like much, but they can add up when it comes to your spending.
Even though most educational institutions fund their teachers with a specific budget. It is often not enough to make it through the entire school year. The estimation is that that up to 94% of teachers in the public school sector spend their own money to fund classroom needs. On average, a teacher might spend up to $479 annually out of pocket for supplies, so a discount can certainly help.
Another tactic to try is utilizing teacher apps such as Classtag that allow you to communicate with your student’s parents and have a section where you can ask for additional supplies, so you do not have to come out of pocket for everything.
Discounts for Personal Vehicles
Discounts for teachers do not merely stem from education supplies but also in other areas. At the pandemic, teachers became true heroes ensuring students stayed current with their educational needs and working with parents to ensure the virtual school was available for them. Their efforts were recognized across many avenues many companies began providing teachers with discounts. These discounts include your vehicle insurance.
Teachers can get excellent discounts on their car insurance. Insurance companies do not always note these discounts, but it does not hurt to ask. Insurance providers such as Geico, Horace Mann, and Liberty Mutual are known for giving educators a great discount on their monthly insurance premiums, so be sure to ask your insurance provider if their company offers educator discounts.
A Summer or Second Job
It is unfortunate that teachers work so diligently to provide educational opportunities to students but receive so little compensation. Where incentive programs are great, they do not always provide adequate income for the teacher. Instead, many teachers resort to second jobs to make ends meet. Often, teachers take on a summer job or find part-time opportunities that work around their schedule. The internet has complete it so much easier for educators to find quality side hustle opportunities with gratitude.
Virtual teaching is no longer just for institutions but for everyone. Online tutor jobs have skyrocketed in recent years. These job opportunities can be built around the teacher’s schedule. Making teaching jobs online among the best options for educators to earn extra money. With sites such as Preply, teachers can find the right tutoring jobs online to fit their individual needs. Many teachers use this to earn extra money, but often, they love it so much it ends up being their sole career choice. Teaching online can help you get the extra money you need and more.
Mortgage Programs for Educators
Homeownership is a vision for many, but in our current economic state, the dream cannot always become a reality. Renting a home year after year is simply throwing money away. The true value is in purchasing your own home, and again, there are incentive and mortgage programs designed specifically for teachers. The Educator Mortgage Program, Teacher Next Door, and Homes for Heroes are just a sampling of the various programs for educators to purchase their own homes.
These programs vary by state and local ordinances and are often only available to full-time teachers. Still, the benefits include down payment assistance. A percentage of the purchase price, and a variety of other discounts that can make your dream of owning a home a reality once and for all. Be sure to educate yourself with all the available programs in your area to make your home purchase dreams come to fruition.
Being a teacher is no easy task. There are many things to remember, and finances can get very tight. Thankfully, there are various programs and discounts available to teachers. The best advice from teachers throughout the years is to keep every receipt for fuel, education tools, clothes you purchase for work, and anything else you spend on teaching. These receipts can add up to huge deductions when you file your taxes.
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