Educator's Week at Barnes & Noble

This Saturday begins Educator's Appreciation Week at Barnes & Noble, where pre-k to grade 12 educators (including homeschoolers) get 25% off their book purchases and 10% off of CDs and DVDs.  This includes items for personal use (educators can regularly save 20% on items for their classrooms at B&N).  Just bring id.

Oh, Columbia... I think Pumpkin could use another book. =)

We're employeed!

DW and I got our letters in the mail for next year. I've mentioned before that we worked last year for "the Region". There were 10 regions across the city, but that level between chancellor and teacher has been dissolved, along with all the jobs that went with it. Ours included.

I'm happy to say that we've been offered new Department of Ed jobs. The description of "Instructional Technology Specialist" is open to say the least (pdf for the interested), but it is a job. The nice part is that DW and I will be working together for the first time in 3 years. (We met working at the same school.)

Prayers having been answered and a load of our collective consciences, this is good news. The shapelessness of this new position will cause its fair share of stress. At least we don't have to worry about that for a few more weeks.

Why bad food is cheap food

Kitty writes about saving moolah (a post which references two simply-must-read blogs). She notes that those with little money are caught in a catch-22 when purchasing foodstuffs. Those trying to be frugal can save money today, but can find much more expensive problems tomorrow:

...if you can’t afford food, you certainly can’t afford vitamins or a gym membership. It’s easy to see how people become obese.

This one line made me think about something I'd read about recently: Corn. Let's see if I can't find a link with charts and graphs and tight copy... here we go: I'm Hatin' It: How the feds make bad-for-you food cheaper than healthful fare.

The premise disturbingly simple. Corn Syrup, the cheap sweet found in sodas, baked goods, cereal and more is made from corn. With me so far? In the time that it's been used (about the past 25 years) obesity has nearly doubled. Childhood obesity has nearly tripled. Occurrences of type II diabetes rose 41% from 1997 to 2004.

So if it's so bad for us, why use it? The Farm Bill helps increase corn production by subsidizing those farmers. This leads to an overproduction of corn, which causes lower prices. More cheap corn = more cheap corn products = more corn syrup. But just because it's cheap, doesn't mean we have to use it. Does it?

Actually, yes and no. Let's say you go into a supermarket to buy a sweet product. You might be a responsible individual and scan the ingredients list and say "High Frutose Corn syrup? I'm not putting that in my temple". You'd pass it and buy the alternative. It has a nicer package anyway and says good things like "pressed cane juice" and "organic". You feel better leaving the store, though it cost a little more.

Another responsible individual goes to the same market, and picks up the same first item, and looks at the ingredients. "Sure, I know what's in this, but I also know I can afford this. My kids will eat it and it costs less than half of the fancy one next to it." Money is an issue for most people, and saving big bucks at checkout time is often times priority one.

Now, let's say you're a teacher in the Bronx. You watch your students coming into school at 8 in the morning with a buttered roll and a blue drink that in the shape of a plastic jug. You scoff and shake your head; "how can you drink that stuff so early in the morning!? It's blue sugar water!" Wiping the sleep out of their eyes, they shrug their shoulders. At the bodega (deli) across the street, the buttered roll costs 25¢, as does the blue juice. For 50 cents, breakfast is taken care of. You'd spend at least $3 for eggs on whole wheat and an orange juice. Get them hooked while their young -- twice the sweet for half the cost. What could you expect?

The money saved today is going to cost us later, when we have doctor bills and health related illnesses keeping us from enjoying life. Unfortunately for many, the real challenge is making it until tomorrow, by any means necessary.

My job in a past life

I've mentioned that I'm a tech staff developer for the NYC Department of Ed, but I haven't mentioned that the grant that funds my position (Title IID, enhancing education through technology) is at the end of its 3-year run. On top of that, I work for a region (there are 10 across the city), and the regions are being dissolved. This leaves our fair hero with an impending change of scenery come September.

My work now is mostly running the regional website, and occasionally training teachers to use various technologies. I learned a lot during the first two years of the grant, but this year I'd updated the site to give moderator-status to others. In doing so, I have basically put myself out to pasture in workload and mental stimulation. The programming thrill there is gone, and the prospect of new challenges is very appealing.

Prior to the DOE, I worked as a flash developer focusing on interactivity and animation. While I was pretty god at my job, my flash skills haven't remained competitive. Returning to the private sector has a number of pros (better pay being the main one) and cons (loss of DOE benefits and schedule). I don't think I'm ready to rejoin the 9-5, but I can't rule it out as a possibility. Of course, I've been out of the classroom so long I don't think I could return to that position either.

So I delay and procrastinate, and wait for the sweet deal to land in my lap. Or I wait too long and end up a day-to-day substitute teacher. Either way, I'll likely get an ulcer in the process.

20% of the time it works... Every time.

We have been waiting for the right time to buy. When I say it feels like years, it's no exaggeration. Waiting for a combination of the right time, the right price, the planets aligned, a good night at the tables, etc. The prices to buy in the city are insane -- minimum 650k for a no-frills two-bedroom in our neighborhood There isn't anything we could afford with our current salaries, and we've been spoiled by living in this incredible neighborhood. So we wait patiently and watch, like the mighty lion waits to strike his prey. Then, like the mighty lion, we will STRIKE!, signing on the x, in triplicate. And here. There too. And initial here.

Municipal workers for the city of New York (including we teachers) are entitled to some programs for low-cost housing. With two new buildings going up in the neighborhood, I was encouraged by the "20% rule" I'd heard about. The way I understood it, 20% of any new building project was designated for low cost housing for which there would be a lottery. Teachers get 5% of that lottery, and in some cases those already in the neighborhood get 50% (of the 20%). Sounds too good to be true. If you are willing to venture out of your sweet spot (still staying in Manhattan), there are deals to be had. We would benefit if I were more flexible, but I love this neighborhood too much.

It seems that the "Inclusionary Housing Program" is a tax benefit for those building new buildings. Since the apartments in the Linden are selling like hotcakes for millions a-piece, I don't know if they're too concerned over the tax breaks.

Tomorrow we go to an ACORN housing workshop to learn a little more about our options. I intend to dress the part to let them know who they're dealing with. Grrrroar.

link: Inclusionary Housing Program [from www.nyc.gov]

You'll never be rich as a teacher...

Growing up, there were four kids in my family. We always had food, electricity, clothes, amazing inexpensive outings (ie. camping, nature walks, etc), music lessons... I don't know how my parents didn't sell me to the gypsies after one look at my food bill, but I guess I should be grateful - I hear gypsies aren't the best chefs. Anyway, I definitely have a bit to learn from them about stretching a dollar.

"You'll never be rich as a teacher, but you'll never be poor." This was advice from my dad, also a teacher, about going into the profession of teaching. I started teaching as a new york city teaching fellow in 2002. I'm finishing up my fifth year in the New York City Department of ed. Due to corporate restructuring, I'm soon up for a change of scenery. More about that at a later date.

I am always looking for a chance to buy a home, but it comes as no great shock that two city teachers aren't going to drop 1.7 million on a two bedroom in our neighborhood. Maybe with the next contract, fingers crossed. Existing one-bedrooms in our neighborhood start at around 350k for a basic shoebox. Two bedrooms... well, let's say they're a bit more. Maybe 550+? I never see them even on the most pie-in-the-sky searches, so if I have to ask the price... well, you know the rest.

So I've been following a few finance 101 blogs these past few months, and thought I'd share them with anyone in the same boat.
They've already helped me to get my mind around money and savings, and hopefully you'll get something out of them too.

www.thesimpledollar.com - "Financial talk for the rest of us"
This guy must not sleep. He's always got great links and articles to share, and writes roughly 22 hours per day. All great stuff, and comments are usually filled with intelligent conversation.

www.wisebread.com - "Living large on a small budget"
Like the last one, the titles really sucked me in. I haven't been following this as long, but it's also great stuff. Not updated as often -- about a post or two a day.

www.babycheapskate.com - "Saving big bucks on baby stuff"
While we're not expecting, it didn't seem to hurt to get learned a little early. When everyone tells you that it's too expensive to raise a child in your hometown, you tend to get a little proactive in proving them wrong.