I had a nice, honest heart-to-heart with my financial picture for the next few months yesterday. In the teaching world, I am paid for ten months of work. My employer takes out a specific percentage (22.6% to be exact) every pay period and holds this money to pay me when school is not in session. This is known as deferred pay. Not all districts do this, but most do. My employer decided in the fall to discontinue this practice. We will be paid a large lump sum at the end of June rather than be paid out all summer.

I understood this, but reality sunk in recently when our pay schedule for the 2013-2014 school year came out. We will not be paid until September 20th! As a single mom, I will need additional funds to make sure my DS has what he needs to start school including his glasses. It is with that I decided if I do not gain an administrative position, I will have to teach summer school.

So yesterday I sat down and was completely honest with myself and my budget. I calculated the cost of living for three months, or rather the cash amount I will need in order to make do. I will have just barely enough to make do, but not enough to cover going back to school expenses. But WOW! To be able to see the exact number I will need, be very clear about my big picture, it is so freeing and wonderful! Now, when I see that impulse buy, I will have that figure in my head reminding me that I have to keep our family afloat. Perhaps it will encourage me to squirrel away the extra pennies, dollars, windfalls.

After over a decade of teaching, I am now working at the loveliest school EVER. It has been an exceptionally peaceful year and I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity. While I would love to continue teaching, I am finishing a masters program that will allow me to become an administrator and collect a higher salary. While money isn't everything, I also feel that it is time to utilize my vision and skills in an administrative capacity. Thus, the job search has begun.

I have applied for four administrative positions thus far. I hope to at least get an interview (like a needle in a haystack, I'm sure). Chicago is going through this CRAZY school closings thing, so I'm not really banking on any positions opening up in the near future. I don't want to be a principal right off the bat. I would rather dip my big toe into the water with an assistant principal position; however, I am very qualified to be a special education administrator. We will see what happens. I will keep you posted