Personal Finance for English Teachers Abroad
Nearly 5 years ago, I wrote about building up your pantry on a budget. Now that I’m leaving Spain in just 4-5 weeks, it’s time to do the opposite. Care to join me in a pantry challenge? Let’s use everything up!
Although I’ve moved within Spain several times, this will be my first international move since I arrived in 2015. With each previous move, I left food behind with local friends, since pantry food was the last thing on my mind, and I never planned for it.
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Coming to Spain as a language assistant back in September of 2015 will forever be one of the best decisions of my life. Since then, I’ve gained residency through pareja de hecho, worked as an ESL teacher, and then as a Director of Studies. I’ve improved my language skills, seen a lot of Spain, and even started a family. Despite all of this, there are some positive changes on the horizon for me, and it’s time to move forward.
On June 6, 2022, I will start my first day as a Consular Fellow for the US State Department. Although getting here was a long process, which I started in July of 2020, the 40 days I have left in Spain feel so short. I have so much to prepare before moving to DC for training, but need to remember to slow down and enjoy the time I still have left here.
I intend to keep this website going with great budgeting and travel tips, as well as life in Spain posts by guest contributers. However, I will now be posting about my Consular Fellows experience as well. If you are only intrested in reading about exeperiences from Spain or from Consular Fellows, you can filter posts by category.
I think the Consular Fellow program is a perfect transition for former language assistants. All of my experience in the classroom was even credited as qualifying experience as a part of my salary determination. My advice for people who might like to take this same path, especially now that the Ministry’s Language Assistant program has a 5 year limit, is to use your time here wisely. Learn Spanish. Gain good experience for your resume. And enjoy Spain.
I am creating a collection of audio narrations and questions for ESL students that can be used by teachers in their classrooms, for one-to-one instruction, and even for student self-study. The first one, How the Whale Got His Throat by Rudyard Kipling is now available, and the questions can be downloaded below. Let me know what you think!
“Budgeting isn’t about limiting yourself — it’s about making the things that excite you possible.” The Financial Diet
Moving abroad to teach English is a huge step, whether you plan to go for one year or to put down roots. How much money to take with you will depend on where you’re going, but a good rule of thumb is to save up at least 3 times your expected monthly income. Equally important is planning the whole budget for a year abroad. Download my free budget template and follow along.
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Learning Spanish is a popular goal for many people who move to Spain to teach English. Living in Spanish will absolutely make learning Spanish a lot easier. But what if you want to start learning before you go? Here are 5 great resources for getting a head start on learning Spanish before you move abroad. Keep reading to the end to learn my easy method for remembering lots of vocabulary. This method is not only useful for you while you’re learning Spanish, but you can also teach it to your students for better results in English.
There is a lot of material for learning Spanish available online for free. You just need to know how to find it. A good place to start is by assessing your current level. If you’ve never studied Spanish before, you will be a beginner, or an A1 on the common European Framework. It’s a good idea to become familiar with this framework, not only for learning Spanish, but also for helping assess your students’ English level. You can get an assessment grid for yourself in English and for your students in Spanish.
No two auxiliars experience the same working conditions, and auxiliars who have done multiple years know that experiences can even change from one year to the next. This post will help you learn how to tailor your individual experiences to the types of jobs you’re seeking.
If this will be your first year as an auxiliar , keep reading. This can help you make a plan for how to use your year abroad. Also, feel free to check out my article on how to plan your first class.
Even if your next job is another year as an auxiliar, read on. These strategies can shape your next auxiliar experience to help you gain the skills you need.
First, let’s take a look at some of my job descriptions.
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Finding ways to earn extra income is not a new concept to most people, from the Millennial “side hustle” to Dave Ramsey inspired “Dave Jobs,” every generation has its own methods for creating new sources of income. This isn’t any different for the auxiliar de conversacion. Here are 3 tried and true methods for earning a bit of extra money while teaching abroad, and one bonus way to start earning extra income before you even move abroad.
According to CNN Money, 44 million Americans have a side job. Many people need these jobs just to keep up with their regular bills. One benefit of teaching English in Spain, is that you can avoid such inflated bills, since the cost of living is so much lower than many of our cities back home. As an auxiliar, you shouldn’t NEED extra income just to get by, but it can really help improve your travel opportunities. Extra income can also be used to pay down debt back home.
It’s that time of year again. The holidays? Yes. But rather than a white Christmas, I’m dreaming of airports in Spain. Why? Because it’s time to start thinking about renewal as an auxiliar de conversacion. Or maybe next year will be your first year, and you’re not quite sure how to choose a region.
Since the application period will open just after the holiday season, it’s a good idea to start planning where you’d like to go now. Maybe you want to go to where the auxiliar income is the highest compared to the local residents. This is a great plan for living your day-to-day life in Spain, but what about our international adventure seeking readers?
For those of you who want to see as much as possible in a relatively short amount of time, it may be a good idea to make your regional choices based on which communities have the best access to airports.