Customer Reviews

How to Survive (and Perhaps Thrive) on a Teacher's Salary

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1 star:		(10)

 

 

Don't buy this book for the simple reason that the author doesn't "survive on a teacher's salary", according to his own narrative.

Most of the time period covered in this short book, the author "survives" on two teachers' salaries because his wife also works. In addition to their two-teacher income, they earn money on the side by tutoring and working for relatives. In a few brief periods when one of them was not teaching full-time, they received money for teaching part time, keeping someone's child in their home and collecting disability. There are loans from grandma and a home improvement loan to supplement their income. The fact of the matter is that Danny and his wife are rarely without additional streams of income. At one point, Danny leaves teaching altogether for a more lucrative job selling flooring. At the end of the book, Danny goes back to teaching.

So what does Danny teach us about surviving on a teacher's salary? Never rely on a teacher's salary. Have two...and then tutor on the side. Work for relatives and friends as well. Sell a house. Borrow money from grandma. Collect disability. Work part-time. Publish and sell a book. This is how Danny does it.

To end on a slightly more favorable note, Danny does some smart things with his money which are worth emulating but you don't have to buy his book to learn how to do them. Danny suggests his readers check out books by David Bach. I would add that you look to Dave Ramsey and Larry Burkett.

Despite my initial reservations, I chose to purchase this quick read in pursuit of practical advice to achieve my personal goals of supporting my future family on a teacher's salary.

Unfortunately, I must admit that Mr. Mangrum is spot-on is his assessment of this ten-dollar waste.

Over the course of eighty-four pages, Mr. Kofke writes with poor precision, abandons his own commitment to "survive (and perhaps thrive)" on such a salary, and offers the occasional money-saving suggestion of an ethically questionable nature:

In one such example, the author and his wife manipulate their disability insurance to escape $2,293.33 of a $2,318.50 hospital bill following the birth of their first daughter.

The book's greatest worth lies in the author's references to financial literature by David Bach. Personally, I would recommend investing $9.99 in Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness ($17.99 on this site). Dave offers direct, biblical, effective, "proven" (as the book states) financial advice that would serve a working man well in any profession.

For the record, I do appreciate Mr. Kofke's contribution to the understaffed field of special education...

...but I beg you to refrain from adding his book to your cart. Tate Publishing should be ashamed for endorsing such literature.

This book was not worth the money I spent on it. It was a narrative of the author's experience. It was misleading. There were times when it was about 2 teacher's salaries and 3 times his grandma lent him money. I think he will do well in sales because of the title but will disappoint many buyers. The author will add to his savings but poor teachers will be conned out of $13.00 for a book that has no practical use for them.

I am so disappointed after reading this short ebook. The things that the other reviewers mentioned are spot on. Danny did NOT live on a single teachers salary. He always had rich ole grandma around to bank roll him. For most people starting out is the hard part but when you get rich family members to loan you money for free that makes your starting out significantly easier. Him and his wife almost always had multiple sources of income which made their meager life work which I found disappointing. Also I was SHOCKED that Danny left teaching for the almighty dollar! What a sellout. While this "book" does give some basic good financial information is DOES NOT tell you how to survive on a single teachers salary.

I checked this book out from my local library. It was in the local authors section, and I'm a teacher in Georgia- so I thought I'd give it a look since it is a very quick read. I wanted to write a review so that people who are considering a purchase will not do so. Sorry to the author-- I know you are just trying to make a few extra bucks to support your family, but your book is not helpful to teachers who did not come from am upper middle class family and have as many lucky breaks as you did. Why did you write a book? Your experiences were not special in any way. You came from a middle class family that could afford to help you out when needed, and you've managaged to work a few side jobs and have a reasonable budget. There is nothing new or exciting about any of that. In fact, the writing is pretty boring. Maybe I should write a book.

Unfortunately, this book appears to have been written just before the economy went south. The author is very lucky to have graduated in time to have a few years under his belt before new teachers began being laid off in droves. He is also incredibly lucky to have come from an upper middle class home. He worked for his dad as a teenager (whereas these days unemployment for teens who want to work is very high since older people who are out of work are going after the jobs that used to be occupied by high school students). His father in law got them a discount on a new car. He and his wife were able to make a huge profit on their house in Florida before the recession hit and now there are many homes in foreclosures and houses are selling for much, much less than they were "worth" a few years ago. They sold their house within a few hours of putting it on the market! That doesn't happen anymore, sorry. He gives advice about making sure to buy a house instead of renting one (I preferred buying myself too, so I can't totally knock that). Unfortunately in this economy it is not always wise to buy because it is much harder to sell your house if you have to move or if you lose your job and can't make the mortgage payments.

The author never experienced being laid off the way many new teachers in Georgia are having to experience. He graduated before the teaching market became overwhelmed by new graduates who are still lost and looking for positions. The only good advice I can really see in this book is the idea to teach overseas. Recent graduates should consider this. If I wasn't already settled in GA before the recession hit, I might have done this too, but can't now.

The author (I guess technically that's what he is) wrote a very short narrative on his teaching experiences within the first few years out of college. The fact is, he caught alot of lucky breaks. He doesn't seem to realize that his parents and grandparent really set him up for success. I realize some of the money from his family was an interest free loan and not just free money, but if he hadn't had them to help him with school, a car, housing a ring, etc, that he may still be struggling. He doesn't realize that the people who didn't have thousands of dollars of help UP FRONT are probably already living paycheck to paycheck. He doesn't really give any advice on how to get out of debt, he just defers to another author.

At least he acknowledges in his book that not everyone has a grandma that lends money when needed, but it is hard to swallow when SO many teachers are struggling in this economy. My husband and I were both teachers as well, and we had a financial and life plan mapped out very similar to what the author and his wife had. We had a budget and we were looking forward to spending summers off together. We have no debt except our mortgage and a car payment on a used car, and we had some help from our families with college and our wedding. I know that if we hadn't received some help, we wouldn't be as well off as we are now, despite some of our setbacks. That's so great for them that they are thriving, but those of us who graduated in 2008 or later are the newbies who are the first to get laid off in teaching. There are no unions in Georgia like he had in Florida to help him get started off on the right foot. My husband was laid off and now works in retail because he couldn't find any other teaching positions, depsite many interviews, great performance reviews and references, and certification in special ed.

Please do not buy this book. If you are interested, it is at the Gwinett library to check out for free.

This book was improperly named. It should be called "How I Survived on a Teacher's Salary". There are few applicable suggestions and many reports of how the author and his spouse were helped along the way by others. I was very disappointed in it.

I am something of a personal finance junky. I read a lot of finance books, always looking for tips that I can incorporate into my life. This book not only had little to offer, but had some quite dangerous advice.

To sum up the little to offer, most of the authors major financial moments involved help from his family. His parents matched his money for his first car and he received either gifts or interest free loans from his family for his college, engagement ring, marriage and first house. The next major car purchase he makes, he gets a "deal" as he has a relative in the dealership industry. I say "deal" because he still spent way to much on it for a book that's supposed to be about frugality. I don't begrudge him his luck, but receiving gifts from family is not financial advice most of us can follow.

And a short note on some of his dangerous financial advice-buying versus renting a house. In long term situations, it makes sense, but his example was for five years. If you plan on only staying in a house for five years, think long and hard before you buy. Two important bits he left out-closing costs (which are substantial) and as we've seen recently, your house will not necessarily appreciate in value!

In short, my money would have been better spent treating myself to Starbucks.

I bought this book thinking that there would be some great advice on how to live only on a teacher's salary. However, after reading this book, I found little to no helpful advice. The author has more luck in his financial life than hard work paying off. A rich grandma? Selling a home at the top of the real estate market in Florida? Most of the book their household is duel-income (Both teachers!). Spend a few more $$$ and buy Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

Suffice it to say that I read the reviews and what I could read of the book on Google Books. I wanted to see if I should give this book, How to Survive (and Perhaps Thrive) on a Teacher's Salary." to my daughter who is a third year math teacher in a middle school. First, anyone I tell that to is astonished since they know what middle school kids are like and how difficult it is to teach math.

I agree with the earlier reviewers and am not going to buy the book for my daughter. There is no way she would be able to follow the author's advice now. Early in her college life, away from home, she began sinking deeper and deeper into debt. That hardly mattered to the state run university that only encouraged her to take out more student loans from their favorite banks. Nor did it stop numerous credit card companies from giving her ample credit to hang her financial future.

After graduation she defaulted on the high repayments of her $50,000 in student loans and has continually had difficulties with all kinds of loans and the debt collectors trying to get her to pay off various loans.

Daddy bailed her out time and time again and finally ended up with giving her $10,000 last year and she is still in debt, but the "Daddy Bank." is now very old and has serious problems of its own and is not providing more money.
If any future or current teacher wants to have a secure future they need to look toward becoming educated in personal finance. The earlier the better.

Try books (and the TV show) of Suze Orman, for a starter, although there are plenty of good books on personal finance. One caveat is that you need to avoid those titles that seem too good to be true, such as the currently under review book. There isn't any magic to personal finance that someone can tell you about.

For parents, my specific advice is to see what profitable sport your child, future teacher or not, should study. From an early age, invest as much as possible, in sports - play, lessons, training, camps and clinics for your child. Make sure they play on highly competitive teams or compete in elite events. What this might do is to pave the way for your child to be a professional athelete and make millions for themselves and you, the parent. Or, at least they will stand a chance at receiving scholarships to college.

Secondly, although just as important, make sure your child studies personal finance. Tell them it is a requirement for any help you can give them in college. If you cannot find courses for them to take, give the course yourself. I'm tempted to add a few more need to know subjects, but will only mention one - ethical behavior.

As for current teachers - perhaps you have options. Get a different job?

How to Survive (and Perhaps Thrive) on a Teacher's Salary by Danny Kofke, has lots of suggestions. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of truly useful and creative strategies for saving money.

I very much enjoyed this excerpt: "If you become financially independent, you will have the freedom to pursue whatever you want. If you do not like your job, you will have the security to try something new. If you become bored with where you live, you can leave. The possibilities that will exist for you are endless."

The book provides an abundance of budgeting and financial advice that will help you achieve your goals. Everything is clearly spelled out in precise detail and is easy to understand. So I say this edition is definitely worth the money (unlike many other savings books I've read.)

The author, Danny Kofke, is truly committed to helping readers live large on small budgets. He believes that less is more. Having fewer possessions means having more time to spend with family, friends or pursuing hobbies such as exercise or travel.

I enjoyed flipping through this book and reading tips on how we can generate extra sources of income. From Danny's experience, the little items here and there will add up to large sums at the end of the year.

This book helps you find ways to have fun, while saving money at the same time. There are a lot of suggestions for a variety of situations and needs. Danny highlights creative ways we can accumulate resources to acquire better homes; take wonderful vacations; enjoy entertainment; and obtain top-notch medical care. The book is packed with lots of examples that can lead to financial freedom. This is a keeper!

Some people might be motivated to use these tips temporarily because the economy is struggling; then going back to one's old spending habits after accumulating a nice cushion. I feel many of these suggestions are so helpful that they should be made a permanent part of a spending/budgeting plan. I enjoyed reading it, and I recommend it. The book would also make a great gift.

C.J. Good, Author
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