My name is Danny Kofke and I am a school teacher with a family of four to raise on my salary. My wife, Tracy, is a former teacher and now stay-at-home mom to our two young daughters. Despite earning a moderate income, we have no debt except our mortgage, have a 12-month emergency fund, invest so that we are on track to retire with a sizable nest egg, and live a financially secure life on a teacher’s salary. I have written the book, “How to Survive (And Perhaps Thrive) on a Teacher’s Salary,” to show others how they can make the most out of their salaries.
Here are some tips that have enabled my family to live on a teacher’s salary:
Make your own Halloween costumes
Tracy has made my oldest daughter’s Halloween costumes the past few years. A few years ago, our daughter Ava saw a skeleton costume in a Pottery Barn catalog and wanted that to be her costume. Instead of buying it, Tracy made an identical-looking costume using a T-shirt and felt material. This homemade costume saved us $50. Tracy did the same thing with a butterfly costume last year.
Get a new cell phone plan
This might not apply to everyone, but we only use our cell phone for emergencies. A few years ago, we had a plan in which we were paying $50 per month and barely using the service. We switched providers and now spend an average of $10 per month.
Use cash
Cash is king these days. Most stores are hurting and are willing to negotiate prices – especially if you are using cash. I recently had a friend who wanted to buy a new TV priced at about $1,000. I told her to walk into the store with $700 in cash and say she really wanted the television, but could spend only the money she had. Well, after some talk, she walked out with the TV for the money she had in her purse. Not all stores will do this, but, with the economy where it is, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
Use your local library
We all know the library is a great place to get books for free, but most don’t realize many libraries also have CDs and DVDs available for checkout. Instead of renting or buying videos for my children, we visit our local library and check them out for free.
Ask for free stuff
This might surprise you, but we have the NFL Sunday Ticket on satellite TV. This is one splurge that is important to us; we have family time together watching football on Sundays. I saw an ad in a local magazine saying new subscribers to this service would receive an added feature worth $99 for free. I called up my satellite company and said I already subscribed, and wanted this free feature, too. Well, after about 15 minutes of being placed on hold and being told I probably wouldn’t be able to receive this free item, I got it. It never hurts to ask.
Save a little every day
Some people buy their coffee on the way to work. This practice can add up easily to more than $100 a month. If you instead make your own coffee at home, you can save up to $25 a week, which adds up to more than $1,000 a year. Another way to save is to bring your lunch to work. On average, you will spend at least $5 eating a fast-food lunch, and more for a sit-down restaurant meal. Instead of eating out every day, bring leftovers from home a couple of days each week. You still get to eat out a majority of the work week, and will save more than $40 each month.
Use Coupons At The Grocery Store
Tracy has gotten serious about this starting with the new year and the results have been great. So far we have saved almost $1250 in 2010!
These are some of the tactics we use to get the most out of my paycheck. For most people, it’s not how much you make, but how well you plan your spending that leads to financial success. This philosophy has enabled us to live a very wealthy life on a moderate income.
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