I refuse to go into the government shutdown and how it is going to affect military . I did that about three years ago and had my chance to talk about it here on MSNBC. I can’t even bother indulging in the politics of how we military families have become pawns in this little game of chess that Congress is playing.
However , another topic keeps arising throughout the military spouse community whenever the words “government shutdown” are uttered. The issue of “SAVING” keeps causing friction among-st some military spouses especially right now when military personnel and their spouses are worried about the possibility of not getting paid.
Bianca Strzalkowski of MilSpouse Magazine wrote recently that several financial institutions were offering to help military families by advancing pay for October 15 2013 , as well as offering interest free loans. Naturally, the general reception to that was relief because times are hard and people need their pay.
Through that somewhat positive news , phrases such as “the military makes more than enough”, “military couples should be better prepared and have savings”. etc keep making their way into the conversation. Generally speaking I get the basis behind people having a little nest egg saved for emergencies. The problem is there is not always enough eggs to put in the nest. For some reason people are forgetting that we all are of different pay grades and that we all have different expenses. It maybe very easy for the family of three with both adults working to save up a few hundred a month in comparison to a lower enlisted family of four where one parent stays at home.
The mere fact that thousands of military families utilize food stamps should tell people that folks are struggling. Having a savings is a luxury at this point! Years ago the average person coming into the military was an 18 year old with no kids looking to find his way. These days the the average recruit is 30+ years old and is coming into the military because it is still one of the most stable jobs out there (despite the annual government shutdown scare). They are coming in because they have families , are seeking benefits and steady pay. They may be living paycheck but not by any fault of their own. Additionally, we should remember that that there are different pay grades in the military so what may work for you won’t necessarily work for others.
I commend anyone who can save and is willing to forego many things to do that. And for the record I am not saying that saving shouldn’t be a priority or shouldn’t be done. I am saying that it’s hard to save when there isn’t much to save with.
I’d love to hear your thoughts…feel free to share them in the comments section below.
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Army Wife 101
Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market. She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries.
Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market.
She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries. 192 Comments on Is Saving Money A Luxury for Military Families At The Moment?
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I agree, we are a family of 3 that just went from e3 to e1 pay due to medical and shady reasons. And what we had saved was spent during the 3 months no pay. And now are barely surviving with just basics
I completely agree! As a family of 5 with only one income, it can be hard and trying to save is nearly impossible!! It seems that something (like a resent dental emergency) always comes up and blows any attempt before it hardly begins. People seem to forget that just because their pay check has plenty of wiggle room for savings doesn’t mean that everyone’s does!
We went from two good incomes to one, when I became a stay at home mom. We struggled with our finances, because we didn’t have a plan. I started couponing to save us some money, that’s when I heard about this guy Dave Ramsey. I googled him and found out about Financial peace university. We went through the class about two years ago, now we have a plan, are almost debt free and have a small energency fund. No more money fights, no more ‘too much month at the end of the money’, I highly recommend this class, there’s even a military version
love dave….we did class a year ago and we are still working at it but we see the light at he end of the tunnel.wish we knew about it 20 years ago when we were a new military family on a tight tight income.
Well after I just got out and now they are going shutdown ! What a way to go! The last one hurt my family !
My family lives paycheck to paycheck. Not because we don’t budget our money, because I have a very strict budget, but because that tiny bit of savings each paycheck gets used closer to the next paycheck because stuff comes up. I don’t even leave the house except to walk my kids to school because I can’t afford to put gas in every week. We never buy expensive things. I haven’t even gotten a new pair of shoes in almost 3 years and they are all worn out. My husband changes his pt shoes out once the wear out. We would be hurt very bad financially if the government shuts down. I don’t know how we could recover from it.
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