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Old 07-06-2014, 12:45 PM
 
4,317 posts, read 5,755,821 times
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Lets see. My family was in that situation before. Struggling to live off of 2800.00 a month with 2 car payments, cell phone and basic day to day needs. I even had a job making 10/hour (that was WITH paying CA taxes) and we are TN residence- which is one of 7 states that do not have a state income tax. Getting rid of the vehicles was not realistic since we were both classified as "upside down"...we looked into it.

In theory, your calculations may make sense. However this was our reality:

Car insurance $270.00/ month (mainly because of where we lived)
Groceries and household needs (including diapers, formula, clothing etc)- $700.00/month
Car payments (this was less than 1/4 of our take home before the army) $965.00/ month
Cell phone, home phone, internet and very basic cable- $225.00/ month (cell phones did not pick up in the housing area)
Gas-$300.00 for 2 vehicles
Childcare: $316.00/ month

Total: 2776/ month and this is with nothing extra. Total income after taxes:2800.00 Left over each month: 28.00
This is living in housing, saving every dime we could, cutting cost wherever and whenever possible and with one child that was a baby (which was born before the Army came into the picture). Heaven forbid if he needed anything extra for his training. We were having to pull it out of our savings which was part of a ESOP that we both cashed out when we left our previous employer. This included my parents and his parents helping to buy clothes for our child because lets face it, they grow like weeds especially when they are 6 months +. It also helped that he was the only grandbaby.

There is WIC that will help assist which we did use when our second child was little. Did I hate using them? Absolutely. But I knew we needed that little extra assistance and once it was not needed anymore, we discontinued it.

I've seen many others in this situation also including single soldiers.
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Old 07-06-2014, 12:49 PM
 
4,317 posts, read 5,755,821 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133 View Post
I guess this depends on where your base is. If you are station in Camp Pendleton, well, you live in SoCal, and it is very expensive there. I doubt your budget would even work there.
CA is just expensive in itself.

Quote:
Originally Posted by captain_hug99 View Post
But then they receive COLA (cost of living adjustment) along with BAH and BAS.
Camp Pendleton does not get COLA. http://www.mcaspendleton.marines.mil...istration.aspx
Neither did Monterey.
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Old 07-06-2014, 01:08 PM
 
1,198 posts, read 1,780,653 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133 View Post
I guess this depends on where your base is. If you are station in Camp Pendleton, well, you live in SoCal, and it is very expensive there. I doubt your budget would even work there.
That budget is the one I had when I lived in DC, a fairly expensive part of the country.

And before I lived in DC I was stationed in San Diego (but was neither married or had children at the time so my food budget was scaled down quite a bit, but my entertainment budget was higher (had to impress my girlfriend->fiancé->wife)).

Is it the new cars? I mean you need at least one reliable car even if you live on base as many bases are huge, or have housing that is fairly removed from base. But a modest Honda Civic runs $300/month on a 5 year 2% loan (which USAA offers right now).

And you can get a 6 year old model with 64,000 miles for ~$7k (that's what our older civic KBB's for), which brings a 5 year payment (@5%) down to $132/month.

Maybe a military-bank partnership where there is an interest rate reduction or first payment free type thing in exchange for financial counseling could help our young families make more informed choices?

Are cars even the issue? Seems like they can be, there's not much space in my budget for a car, let alone two (mine are both paid for, and again are old, but safe and reliable).
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Old 07-06-2014, 01:26 PM
 
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We purchased both vehicles prior to the military and USAA. Even now, we have had better luck with interest rates outside of USAA. His was newer but about 1 1/2 years old and mine was about 3 years old purchased used. After this Honda I have now bites the dust...we will NEVER own another one because of how many mechanical issues we've had.
You would be surprised how much vehicles are an issue. Especially when one has been totaled. You said it right in your comment "there's not much space in my budget for a car". I've had grown men cry in front of me because they cannot afford another vehicle because they only have 100 to spare each paycheck. There are many times with my job I see them come in with 500-1K deductibles on a 2003 chevy colbalt or even a 2010 ford focus and struggle to even pick up their vehicles (we cannot release them unless the deductible is paid in full). We've had one guy flat out abandon his vehicle.
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Old 07-06-2014, 02:29 PM
 
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My cousin is in the air force in Colorado Springs, rents a house off the base, has two brand new Subarus, dual iPhones, cable TV, two 52" TVs, nice Patagonia level gear, husband back in school, and a 1 year old kid at age 23. I don't know what her take home is but she has far more expenses than I do as a relatively established professional.

Last edited by rzzz; 07-06-2014 at 02:42 PM..
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Old 07-06-2014, 06:36 PM
 
Location: Florida
3,394 posts, read 6,037,905 times
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Credit is relatively easy to come across in the military and for those who do not have the discipline, available credit means debt.

People just live beyond their means. I have an E6 who blows his money on the dumbest stuff: clothing, dining out, spending money on other people.

And then I have 2x E3's who save and save and also live frugally. Guess who they learned from about money? The E6 because those two young men are smart enough to realize they don't want to live paycheck to paycheck like that E6.

People just live beyond their means in stupid ways. Saw an E4 buy a relatively new Audi A4. What's going to happen when maintenance and repairs need to be done? Guys seem to look at a car purchase in terms of a monthly cost instead of total cost. And don't even get me started on guys not having good credit so they're paying double digit interest rates. I don't see an issue with a nice practical car that's 3-4 years old.

I had an E5 laugh at me because I use a prepaid cellphone. I guess he thought I should waste money just because.
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Old 07-06-2014, 07:23 PM
 
12,046 posts, read 10,172,542 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ladybug07 View Post
CA is just expensive in itself.



Camp Pendleton does not get COLA. http://www.mcaspendleton.marines.mil...istration.aspx
Neither did Monterey.
Believe that applies only to the students, not permanent party.
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Old 07-06-2014, 08:15 PM
 
Location: Richmond VA
6,870 posts, read 7,812,978 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy View Post
As I was told by some soldiers, young enlisted soldiers with families are broke because people will enlist into the military at age 18 after high school and suddenly find themselves awash in money, comparatively speaking. They live in the barracks, get pretty much everything provided for them, and they have $1,500 or so every month to do whatever they want. They will tend to splurge on whatever they want, and remain in the mentality that they can do so even when they have families.
I don't think most of these kids have the slightest idea how to budget/economize/plan financially, avoid credit, etc.
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Old 07-06-2014, 08:38 PM
 
Location: New Mexico U.S.A.
26,527 posts, read 51,504,606 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MDrenter223 View Post
What's the issue? Why are so many young enlisted families broke?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poncho_NM View Post
What issue? Do you have any real statistics on your claims "Why are so many junior enlisted families broke?". Just curious...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MDrenter223 View Post
Surely you witnessed this in your time Poncho_NM?
Yes. I have been involved with soldiers and letter's of indebtedness, finance issues etc. Two or three soldiers out of a Detachment of 40. I'm sure some units are worse and some units flawless... That is why I asked " Do you have any real statistics on your claims"

Quote:
Originally Posted by MDrenter223 View Post
Well, the Air Force is including finances in their fit reps, bases have been going after payday lenders for years, and the general impression that I've gained over the last 12 years (everyone sees it as a pay issue when it's a spending issue).
But still, "Do you have any real statistics on your claims"


Quote:
Originally Posted by MDrenter223 View Post


Rand article: Assessing the Personal Financial Problems of Junior Enlisted Personnel | RANDThat dis not help. It showed no real statistics indebtedness. Guess what, they want some money:

Document Details:
"Copyright: RAND Corporation
Availability: Available
Print Format: Paperback
Paperback Pages: 78
List Price: $18.00
Paperback Price: $14.40
Paperback ISBN/EAN: 0-8330-3164-3
Document Number: MR-1444-OSD
Year: 2002"


"Military Personnel: More DOD Actions Needed to Address Servicemembers' Personal Financial Management Issues GAO-05-348: Published: Apr 26, 2005. Publicly Released: May 26, 2005.

View Report (PDF, 65 pages)"
I glanced, seems like a major problem is the failure of DoD to properly pay military personnel. I did not see any glaring statistics of "Why are so many junior enlisted families broke?"

Quote:
Originally Posted by MDrenter223 View Post
Now neither of those are very current, but in my experience little has changed.
I retired in 1990 with 22 years in the Army, and worked as a contractor for Federal Agencies for 10+ years after that. I saw a lot of indebtedness. I saw a lot of Soldiers who appeared to not be able to manage their finances. But I'm not going to comment on something I don't see the statistics on, i do see statistics like "Suicide Is Now Killing More Army Reservists Than Active ...", "Active-Duty Soldiers Take Their Own Lives at Record Rate" etc....

So, I will bow out of this discussion, not because I do not care, but I am really buried with a lot of other pressing issues at the present time.
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Old 07-06-2014, 09:28 PM
 
17,472 posts, read 17,286,872 times
Reputation: 25448
You also have to factor travel/moving expenses. Traveling home to visit family can be expensive. Even if you choose to save money by not going home to visit family, you still have moving expenses that include the usual security deposit, first & last month's rent, and the usual price gouging of military personnel. Being lower rank military also means higher interest loan rates due to being a credit risk.
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