Struggling with finances... Don't know what to do anymore

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I don't have teacher certification. The only job experience I have (other than law) is two years of being a financial aid counselor at a university.

You don't have to have a teacher certification. You can start teaching and simultaneously work on getting your certification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you could be a surrogate.

I'm thinking this was a joke but you could be an egg donor- think it pays around 8-9000. It's no picnic though- you have to take lots of hormones so that your body will produce lots of eggs like women who do ivf. You would be a good candidate though- in your 20s and law school grad.

actually this is a great idea. I did IVF 3 times in my early 30's (not as a donor but to conceive my three children) and honestly, it's no big deal. You take daily shots (insulin needle size--so tiny) for roughly 10 days. Because you're young, you'll likely only need very low doses of hormones. It's a reasonable option to consider.

[Anonymous]

once school starts people look for morning nannies to come to their house before school and drop the kids off.

You can easily make some cash doing that and then picking the kids up at the end of the day and bringing them home until their parents come home from work. I would guess that the going rate for this service is $15+ /HOUR.

[Anonymous]

20:15 I am not the OP but I would like to know more about it. Do you have a generic email?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

OP, I didn't see anyone mention legal temp work. If you passed the bar that might be a good way to tide you over until you find something permanent.

[Anonymous]

You should be able to make money doing child care, including driving kids to and from camp, etc., as another poster suggested. I know families who would readily pay $15 plus/hour for this and have you use their car. Even if you do this four hours/day five days/week you'd have something. I also second the temping. Finally, with the financial aid background, you should be able to get a job at a local community college or university. I wish you luck. I am so sorry about this situation you are confronting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I don't have teacher certification. The only job experience I have (other than law) is two years of being a financial aid counselor at a university.

You don't have to have a teacher certification. You can start teaching and simultaneously work on getting your certification.

Unfortunately, most schools are financially strapped and most districts have been on a hiring freeze for several years now. And there's graduates who have their degree in education (like me) who can't even locate a job. And even when a position does open, there's probably hundreds of applicants or more.

It also would be a lot to take on to go into a classroom with zero experience and teach plus work on getting certified.

Substitute teaching may be a better option, as it would let the OP get her feet wet and make some connections without the stress of taking on an entire classroom and teaching/planning duties.

[Anonymous]

OP can you work as a contract attorney? The market is strong right now in DC. 30-35/hr, plus OT = 100K+ per year if you get something with OT. this is your solution (although temporary), and you will also be able to afford child care. Are you barred in DC? Also, and i know this sounds terrible, have you considered having a renter in your house? If you have space for it . . .

I wish you luck, OP. DH and I are struggling with the amount of law school loans we have (right around what you have) but our income is higher, and it is still tough. Hang in there - I'm sorry you're going through this.

[Anonymous]

Substitute teaching does not make enough money to pay for child care for two children. Also as many teachers have been laid off, sub teaching jobs are harder to come by.

[Anonymous]

I'd seriously think about trying move out of this area.

[Anonymous]

I thought of contract law work (e.g., doc review) too. If you search on this forum, there are at least a couple of threads discussing it and with names of firms that hire temporary lawyers. I will try to find them and post for you. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Substitute teaching does not make enough money to pay for child care for two children. Also as many teachers have been laid off, sub teaching jobs are harder to come by.

It would be an ok source for supplemental income, however. Better then nothing. And in most school districts, you'd get called most days of the week and would make around $100 a day. ie: MCPS pays $119 per day for daily subs and $169 for long term subs. Pay rate is higher for those with a certificate.

Being a paraprofessional may be another option as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP.....I have a day job as well as two passive income websites.....the first one makes around $10,000 a year and the other one is making around $5,000 a year. This could be a great way for you to slowly pay off debt over time. Once you put the hard work in to developing a website, you continue to earn money, with much less work over time. There are minimal costs to starting these websites ($299 a year) and have been a great way for me to save up money.....I got into it because my day job somewhat bores me and I love knowing that I have these websites if things ever went south at my day job. If you're interested, I could share more info with you....let me know The company that I use to develop the websites is called sitesell.com

To the poster that was interested, contact me at [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Substitute teaching does not make enough money to pay for child care for two children. Also as many teachers have been laid off, sub teaching jobs are harder to come by.

It would be an ok source for supplemental income, however. Better then nothing. And in most school districts, you'd get called most days of the week and would make around $100 a day. ie: MCPS pays $119 per day for daily subs and $169 for long term subs. Pay rate is higher for those with a certificate.

Being a paraprofessional may be another option as well.

But how much does daycare for at least 2 kids cost per day? It's very hard to find occasional daycare for 2 kids depending on whether you get called at 5 am that morning to sub or not. So she'd need full time daycare. For two kids, a cheap center would be charge what? $200/week for infants and $100/week for older kids? I have no idea what center caer costs. But my guess would be $1200/month for two kids in daycare -- is that close to accurate for the DC area?

At $100/day for sub teaching, assuming you were called to work every day (many months have holidays/teacherworkdays) that's maybe $2,000/month. After taxes at her tax bracket she'll bring home more like $1400/month. That's making $200 a month for working fulltime.

I think doing in home child care would net you more than that. Or dog walking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My DH is phone-interviewing (not even a real interview, ugh) for a job in Maine next week. The pay is 75K there. GOD i hope something works out soon. Thank you all for your responses, though.

My family grew up in Maine, and I can tell you, that with the MUCH lower living expenses, a $75/yr job up there is an AMAZING opportunity.. If we had that kind of opportunity, we'd be back up there in a second... and practically living like kings..