“My responsibilities as a primary school director are not reflected in my salary”

The wallet of…

Are you satisfied with your salary?

“I don’t think my salary is too high, especially because I have responsibility for more than 200 students. In addition, I am paid for 32 hours, but in practice I work many more hours. As a director you are always reachable. These overtime hours are not paid. But my husband and I can get by just fine on our salaries, so we’re on the right track in that regard.”

In the media you read a lot about teacher shortages and too low wages for teachers: how do you view this?

“The shortage of teachers is definitely a problem. At some of the schools I’ve worked at, they barely got the formation done because there are just no teachers. I think the Randstad has more to do with that than we do in the north. As a director, I also find it very difficult to tell parents that an entire group has to stay at home, because we have no occupation. This happened quite frequently during the corona time. Incredibly annoying. What I do think is a good thing is that the pay gap between primary and secondary education is now being closed. I have also campaigned for this myself. For example, a while back we joined a group of colleagues in a silent protest.”

You call yourself financially independent, what does that mean to you?

“That I can handle my own business and that I am not financially dependent on someone else. I think that’s very important. I have two daughters and I also tell them how important it is as a woman to earn your own money, so that you can make your own choices.”

How do you and your partner divide the finances?

“Since we moved in together, we do everything together. Our salaries come into the same account and that is where our fixed costs are deducted. I often hear that people also have their own account next door, but I don’t have one. I have linked all kinds of savings to our account. When the salary comes in, I divide the savings equally among the jars. We have a pot for maintenance on our car, for groceries, for fun trips, for gifts. We are now in the process of redesigning our garden, so we recently added a pot for that.”

You save a nice amount every month. Do you have any long-term savings goals?

“Yes, we have been making additional repayments on the mortgage for two years now. It has an interest-only part, which was still possible at the time. Every year we want to pay off a part of that.”

Are you a saver or a spender?

“I think this is 50/50. I am absolutely conscious about saving through my piggy banks, but we are not very frugal. We enjoy life. I prefer to spend my money on experiences with the four of us. We like to eat out and enjoy days out and weekends away. I think that’s more important than stuff. During holidays we often go camping in Friesland.”

Your oldest daughter is 18 years old. Are there any plans to move out?

“I secretly prefer not to think about it. I don’t like the idea of ​​her leaving home any time soon. She is still studying and likes it at home, so she will stay here for a while. Of course we will think about that, but it will be difficult. Certainly if she wants to continue living in Assen, there are very few affordable starter homes there. She is already saving money. She works next to her studies and she puts half of that aside. I realize that it is very difficult for someone of 18 to save for a house, it is all so abstract. My husband and I are willing to support her by then. We just have to see what is possible.”

Have you ever had money worries?

“When I first started working as a teacher, I also studied alongside. I didn’t have it then. I didn’t buy a lot of clothes, didn’t eat out. I had to leave something out. I never had a problem with that, it just was.”

Are there things you would like to save money on right now?

“I would like to spend less money on my car. I drive €400 worth of petrol, a lot of money. Unfortunately, public transport is not an option, because there is no stop nearby. I also think that we spend a lot of money on food: €600 for groceries and Hello Fresh – €210 for three meals a week – on top of that. But we like to eat tasty and good food. We enjoy that too.”

You give € 150 per month to charities. Do you think that’s important to do?

“Yes, we have it well ourselves, so I think it’s important to do something for people who are less fortunate. I want to pass that on to my children. We have two adoptive families in Romania through the foundation Groningen-Friesland-Drenthe for Romania† A transport goes there every three months with, among other things, clothing, toiletries and school supplies.”

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