Said It Here

How to make extra money as a teacher without leaving your dogs

Teacher salaries leave very little left over after bills and loan payments to handle unexpected household repair debt, but finding extra income is complicated by needing to care for dogs at home without expensive pet care. This leaves teachers trapped between needing to pay off heavy debt and being unable to leave their pets alone for long hours to work traditional entry-level jobs.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Doing delivery apps like Instacart and DoorDash
  2. 2
    Trying to do online music lessons
  3. 3
    Teaching online high school classes at night
  4. 4
    Consulting wiki resources like the Prime Directive
  5. 5
    Living beneath means and cutting back on expenses
  6. 6
    Prioritizing extra debt payments toward the principal

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/personalfinance1 person · September 2026

“Every paycheck I'm left with about $400 after loan payments, bills, subscriptions, rent, etc., $200 of which I move to savings.”source ↗

“Considering my situation, how do I save up while also paying down my huge debt load and having enough left to live?”source ↗

Superdude717 · r/personalfinance · 9 upvotes
r/Teachers1 person · September 2026

“I need to find extra work on top of this job, but I also can't leave my dogs alone for the whole day. I can't afford to bring them to a daycare or have a constant dog walker.”source ↗

“Just feeling defeated. I don't want to leave teaching for any other job and not sure if I could even start something entry level to make more money, but I have so much debt and I want to pay it off without making my dogs sick.”source ↗

Database_Alive · r/Teachers · 3 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised