How to Plan for the Summer as a Substitute -

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Last updated on November 10th, 2023 at 04:40 pm

Ah, the sweetness of a soon-to-be summer. Through hazes of humid air, excitements over celebrations and barbecues and time off out of the school system can have even the substitutes– especially the substitutes?– counting down to the last day.

But before you pack your beach bag, think of your finances. How can you plan to be in a place financially that’ll leave you to face June worry-free?

The teacher and author smiling in front of a classroom map — Oh, the places you will go, substitute teacher!

How to plan for a season out of work

If you’re substitute teaching, you’ve probably come up with a schedule for how many days a week or month you need to work to bring in your needed funds.

But don’t forget to factor in the quickly approaching summer season into your calculations.

If you figure out how much you need to make monthly, then to meet this consistently throughout the year you need to account for school letting out over the summer. Start viewing it as dividing your earning time into 9 months a year, not 12. (That is, if your school district follows a traditional calendar– if you have year-round school where you sub, just carry on as normal, you summerless soul!)

Of course, you could find another source of income for those summer months when your schools aren’t in sesson. This can require some strategizing, too.

Some summer jobs that may be well-suited for substitute teachers include: teaching in summer school, babysitting/nannying, giving private tutoring or extracurricular lessons, working at summer camps and programs, etc.

How to calculate for summer

Let’s say there’s not much time left before the school’s doors close. If you didn’t plan for summer and depend on that income each month, start trying to add days to the coming months to make up for this.

Example sub math:

I need to work 4x/mo to earn $560 after tax.
But alas! Three non-earning months are approaching. Multiply 4 x 3 to get 12.
Now we need to house the 12 orphan days in the months remaining.
This may mean April and May are covered in a higher volume of sub jobs to make up for the jobless lull. Instead of 4 working days each of these months, I have to increase it to 10 to still meet that financial goal.

That’s it! You’re adding in extra days the remainder of the school year to make up for not working over the summer. When you start the next school year, make your plan to stretch over nine months of the schoolyear– not a full twelve.

Example sub math (part 2):

Let’s say your family would really benefit from you making $5,000 the next schoolyear.
Divide your total goal by your one-day pay rate after tax (so for me, it would be 5,000/140)
This is your total number of days you need to sub. Either stop here or split it up monthly for a more graspable goal.
In my example, I would need to sub 35.7 days to meet the $5,000. Splittling this up over 9 months would make 3.9 jobs a month.
Obviously, I’ll round that 3.9 to 4 jobs a month.
4 jobs a month is an attainable goal for me. I could take it further, and assuming each month has 4 weeks, make it goal to pick up a job once a week.
This plan ensures I’m covered for the summer– last-minute calculations not necessary!

Face the summer with a strategy

The doldrums of May can have any school staff member drooling over the prospect of that last bell ringing for the school year.

But make sure you’re not in such a hurry to skedaddle onto other things that you forget to plan for a lack of income. Summer is definitely sweet, but it can mean a dearth of earnings for substitute teachers.

Below, I’ve listed some of my ideas for summer jobs for subs. These fit more naturally into the category of teaching and working with kids, but feel free to do what floats your inner tube.

Don’t forget to enjoy this time off so you can rest and be refreshed for the coming school year!