One of my observations in the lifestyle trend of Public School teachers is that they endlessly pay debts from different financial institutions or worst from different loan sharks like 5’6, or S.T. (Short Time).
It is also very alluring to them the so-called “Big Discount” offer of furniture and household items like a set of casserole, cabinets, and the like - continuously deceiving themselves that it is okay because of its long-term payment in small chunks of collection. When asked why don’t they save money and buy it on cash at a very reasonable price, they usually say it is better off that way so they can have extra money to sustain other necessities.
Pawning of ATM has become a trend as well, which makes the life of teachers even harder or more degrading in their professional upholding. The confidential worth of being a teacher is somehow at stake, which resulting in moral demeaning. Teachers were hooked by these loan sharks terribly because of the following reasons enumerated by Fernandez (2020), loan sharks do not require background checks, personal loans allow them to consolidate their debt or easy-available, and convenient methods of acquiring the loan.
Consequently, there are seven (7) most common reasons according to Lopez (2019) as to why a teacher is into more or higher salary loans: first, to support the education of their children; second, payment for a housing loan; third, travel and leisure; fourth, the highest cost of living; fifth, post-graduate studies; sixth, support extended families; and seventh, other emergencies. If we individually check on these reasons, we could trim this down reasonably.
The first two reasons can be considered necessities, and they demand a considerably high amount of money. Surprisingly among these reasons, travel and leisure come third. McGuigan (2018) defines leisure travel as travel in which the primary purpose is to take an escape from everyday life. Undeniably, we, teachers, deserve to take a vacation from the hassles of school. Nevertheless, to spend the last penny from our pocket is never practical. Travel and leisure may twist from expensive to a more economical but still exciting one. An example is to enjoy our annual Gender and Development Trainings with our colleagues, Christmas party with the whole teaching and non-teaching force, and Teachers Day celebration as a gift from SSG officers and students. If these do not happen, a simple picnic with nature like in free parks and rivers with simple food with our family is truly a great way to enjoy our spare and leisure time.
The fourth is the high cost of living, which is practically avoidable. Instead of dining at expensive restaurants, cooking for ourselves and our family is the best option. Our specialties may still be the best meal we could share with our loved ones. Sixth is the extent of support to our extended families. We cannot give fish to our families every day of their lives. It is always advisable to teach them how to fish! Setting limitations in extending help with families is not a crime to make us feel haunted by our conscience when we turn down their favor. Everything too much is just not right!
Furthermore, the seventh is the other emergencies under a matter of life and death. If a relative goes to us and borrows money, and we do not have a spare budget for that, it is okay to have a second thought. Nevertheless, when we have more than enough, it is time that we can lend some but not all. While numbers one, two, and five are inevitable, there are many ways to sustain them without plunging into excessive loans.
With a more in-depth understanding of the situation of teachers, these know-hows might be helpful to get rid of these perpetual loans. In an article published in the Manila Bulletin, Hernandomalipot (2017) wrote a remarkable line that reads, “Pay your debt or lose your license to teach.” This is a predicament that is faced by most public school teachers, who are suffering from significant pay cuts due to loan deductions. Indeed, continuous renewal of loans from different Private Lending Institutions (PLIs) or loan sharks is never the right option. It only makes the problem recursive.
The following steps may be of help to at least start to step forward and get rid of our financial dilemma gradually. First, turn our backs from any loan or chance, which incurs us added interest and expenses aside from our current financial state. An emergency loan without interest is quite tempting. However, we should be mindful of where these loans go. A significant purchase that might otherwise require a lump-sum payment can be spread out over 12 months to several years, with zero interest, thereby creating a more palatable cash flow situation. However, such loans present pitfalls, including the temptation to make impulse purchases, the tendency to overspend, and exposure to exorbitant penalties for violating a loan’s terms (Depersio, 2019).
Second, teachers value comradeship demonstrated through acceptance of different sale offers from their co-teachers or colleagues such as an imported perfume in an installment basis, ukay-ukay at a meager price like 3 plus 1 @ 100 pesos, chips of limited stocks only, accessories – pay when able, pawnable jewelry and a lot more. These are sugarcoated temptations to make our life bittersweet. Know that there is a big difference between good and bad debt, and we all should identify the difference between the two (Chinkeetan, 2020). Say no when needed. Our colleagues are understandable enough that we cannot afford to say yes this time. There are a million ways to say no, whereas there is only one way to say yes.
Third, have an extra income. Some ways to have extra income include online tutoring, writing an e-book, selling various new and pre-owned kinds of stuff, doing buy and sell, service deliveries, making meals for others, getting paid to shop, maximizing our talents, becoming a real estate agent, and others. Some additional ways teachers are adding more to their bank account include traditional routes as well ( Epstein, 2018). It does not degrade our social status as a teacher, but it makes us more upright and prouder of ourselves of a teacher.
Fourth, lend your money from a real friend without interest or look for someone who could entrust their products unto us. However, we should be responsible for paying on time. Taking these words from Reddy (2020), it is better to ask a friend than to ask a stranger. In the event of needing money, rather desperately, it is always better to borrow money from a friend rather than an unknown person who can take legal action against you in the event of your being unable to pay back the sum on the stipulated date.
Meanwhile, Henske (2018) outlined that in borrowing money from a friend, it is rare, at the more significant amounts, that doing so ever has a good ending. Sometimes the sad part of this relationship is when a significant sum of money is involved; there is a risk of losing your friend. However, if we follow the first to the third step, we can certainly think that the amount involved is not too significant to our friendship. However, it is always up to us! It is necessary to say thank you when a friend lends us money and say we are sorry if we failed to pay on time. However, it is best if we find ways to pay our friends on time. With these, the world meets on us well, no ruin relationship, no added burden of interest incurred. Lastly, share our financial status with your loved ones, albeit debt is a complicated matter to talk about, especially with those closest to us. There are several benefits to discussing our debts with our family as they may be able to help us save money or increase income or even our simple cheerleader. They make us feel less alone. If they genuinely love us, they will find ways on how to keep us out of this financial problem like reducing their outgoings, cutting their utilities like mobile allowance, helping us in every simple way to earn money, helping us our in daily household chores to focus on your extra income activities and a many more.
Finally, teachers are expected to be excellent in every facet of any field. Living financially stable free from innumerable debt can be attained if we learn to live within our means. Let us make our retiring days more exciting and much-awaited free from the deduction of our outstanding loan to the hard-earned pension lump sum money we deserve to enjoy.