Denver is so expensive that teachers have to get creative to make ends meet

[Demovictory9]

Denver is so expensive that teachers have to get creative to make ends meet

By 
Here are some of their stories:

She's one car breakdown away from living in a camper van

Katie McOwen has had to make some tough decisions when it comes to money.

At the end of this month, she's giving up her one-bedroom apartment and will move into a friend's basement. The move sacrifices some of her independence, but it affords her some wiggle room with her finances.

The sixth-grade math teacher at Place Bridge Academy in Denver said she makes about $50,000 per year. After paying $1,050 in rent, plus student loan payments, bills and other expenses, there's not much left over. She also nannies during the summers to supplement income.

"I really am living paycheck to paycheck right now," McOwen said. "If my car broke down or anything, I would be really hurting."

_____

He drives Lyft after school and has multiple roommates

Sean Bowers shares a place with three people.

They split the $2,500 rent. He lives in the smallest room and pays $600.

Change is coming, though. Two of Bowers' roommates are dating and they'll be moving out in May.

That fact of life has Bowers trying to figure out what he'll do. Splitting that much rent between two people is more than he can afford.

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If he opts to get a new place, he will have to pay yet another security deposit and the first month's rent.

"I've had to take out loans before for just the security deposit and the first month's rent because I don't have that extra $800 to $1200 to throw down," the 30-year-old said.

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/02/10/us/denver-teacher-strike-multiple-jobs/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[Canoe52]

2. Ridiculous how badly teachers are treated.

[demtenjeep]

9. yes. Our wages have been frozen for 8 years

we are expected to give and give because we "do it all for the children" and I guess we are not supposed to have living expenses

[greymattermom]

3. This is just how Denver is.

My daughter (account manager at drupal company) and her boyfriend (electrical engineer) live in a house near Stapleton that he bought a few years ago. They have a roommate and might get another one soon. It's not a fancy house at all either.

[ellie]

4. Denver is awful

I am counting the days when I can leave.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Are you referring to housing prices or other aspects of Denver?

[ellie]

14. Housing prices

traffic, population density, terrible drivers, bad air

I am editing this to say good things about Colorado since this is my home.

Great public transit, nice scenery (not only the mountains, I love the plains, too), Colorado is in a great location (close to the West coast), great climate, exhilarating wildlife (you haven't lived until you have run into a rattlesnake and/or mountain lion on the trail).

[DavidDvorkin]

15. None of that is new, though

I've lived in Denver since 1971. The air was worse in the 80s. I'm not happy with the recent bad air, but I'm hopeful that electric cars and renewable energy will improve it again.

Population density, traffic -- hard to avoid those if you need to go where the jobs are. It's a general problem, and I don't know how we'll solve it.

[JCMach1]

5. 50k is a lot.more.than I make as an adjunct

Which is essentially the only think you can get after 50...

Education is messed-up across the board.

[madville]

7. The general rule has always been 30% of your income for housing

$600-1000 a month for rent is not unreasonable on a 50-60k a year salary like the examples in the story. Sounds like they could benefit from some financial counseling.

I almost always had roommates as a single person. Even having a spouse or live-in partner also bringing in a comparable income makes life better financially................until you start having kids, talk about bleeding money lol

[marlakay]

10. The problem nowadays

Is healthcare, food, cars, insurance and gas are all so expensive and thats not even talking about how much utility costs have gone up.

Just internet no cable is expensive where i live.

[madville]

12. I was just looking at the Denver Public Schools website

Average annual compensation for teachers is $50-70k and the benefits look pretty decent. $600-1000 a month for rent doesn't sound unreasonable at all at that salary. How much cheaper could their housing reasonably be in a large city?

Just curious, how much is your internet? 25MB Internet is $41 a month here in the Bay Area with Xfinity. If it wasn't so cheap I would just get a Tmobile International cellular plan, they don't advertise it much it has unlimited 4G hotspot for an extra $25 a month, good way to save some cash if your internet service is high and you get a decent Tmobile signal.

[marlakay]

13. I pay $59 for Charter Internet only

We cut cord years ago, I live in Medford OR. There is really no other decent choice here, the other company Century Link is suppose to be worse.

It goes slow, cuts out a lot when streaming movies and if you call them they do a test and say your just fine!

But the money you said is what my husband and i live on for two of us retired, it should be enough for a single person. But I did read a lot of them were still paying back school loans.

I have been to Denver and Boulder and like the area but most cities in Colorado are too high in elevation for me.

[crazycatlady]

16. The other elephant in the room is student loan debt

K-12 teachers have to have a bachelor's degree (many districts require a master's).

[The Truth Is Here]

8. If they would stop putting up luxury condos and apts

And start building affordable housing, people can afford to live in Denver. The burbs are more affordable though.

[forthemiddle]

11. Not going to happen

As long as the condos and luxury apartments are going and selling.

[Charlotte Little]

17. This boils my blood

Teachers should be making six figure salaries and treated like celebrities. Yet, they barely scrape by and many work more than one job.

America is broken.