Financial Advice requested - Page 2

**Dan** · 12-26-2005, 08:06

BLUF: You need to focus on doing two things during this time (1) being a good soldier and focused intensity on the Q (2) being a good husband and father.

Everything else will fall into place including your finances. As far as your financial query it's hard to give any advice because you have too many variables it seems that are unclear to me like:
- How many months can you live off of your emergency fund (with no other help financially)?
- do you have any other debt and if so how much?
- will the wife lose her income when she is 8 months pregnant?
- how long before she can go back to work to get income flowing?

The best advice I've heard so far, based on what I understand, is from dennisw to sell the home, rent, save enough for 100% down, buy with cash later, and enjoy things debt free. Reason being that if you didn't have 3-6 months of living expenses in an emergency fund, you wouldn't be coming here asking for advice on finances!

Without knowing some of the above variables, the best advice I can give is to get on a good financial plan. Here's a few good plans:
- Get the book (Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey (daveramsey.com)
- I'm not sure if they have a book, but (crown.org) has a good plan too.

dennisw · 12-26-2005, 13:42

This next little bit of advice is free of charge. Having raised two kids and been around the block a few times, it's my opinion, kids need more than college funds. They need a mom at home. I realize your wife makes good dough, but your baby only has one childhood.

The wife and I struggled after she quit her job to raise the kids. Would not trade it for the world. Be careful or your little one will be raised with other folks' norms and standards.

I know it's tough, but no one said it was supposed to be easy. Just my 2 cents.

Sten · 12-26-2005, 17:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by dennisw

This next little bit of advice is free of charge. Having raised two kids and been around the block a few times, it's my opinion, kids need more than college funds. They need a mom at home. I realize your wife makes good dough, but your baby only has one childhood.

The wife and I struggled after she quit her job to raise the kids. Would not trade it for the world. Be careful or your little one will be raised with other folks' norms and standards.

I know it's tough, but no one said it was supposed to be easy. Just my 2 cents.

Or a dad at home.

Stiletto11 · 12-27-2005, 09:04

One small piece of advice: Make sure you know what you are getting into and why. Once committed, you will find a solution or the solution will find you.

The Dude · 01-03-2006, 12:04

Thanks again for the advice everyone. I don't think this is as undoable as my wife does, and really I'm looking for ways to help make my case and make her more supportive. I am interested in how the BAH thing works for guardsmen. The military pay compensator that someone was kind enough to provide the link to can vary wildly by location. Getting a good grip on that would really help me in figuring out the exact adjustment from a monthly budgeting perspective.

As for the wife working and having the kid, well, I'm fortunate in two respects there. Her job gives her a fair degree of leniency regarding their "work from home" policy, and on the days she does have to go in to the office, my mother is close enough to be an inexpensive babysitter.

Thanks for the book recommendations.

Surgicalcric · 01-03-2006, 17:22

Once you start OSUT you will be paid BAH for wherever your family is residing (search for figure by zipcode.) You will also be paid a Family Seperation Allowance of $250.00 as well as Basic Allowance for Substinance of $274.00.

You will need to decide if they (wife and child) will be accompanying you once you PCS to Bragg or whether you wish to come here without them. Understand that if you wish for them to stay there (wherever that may be) your orders, as cut by the State, will have to specify that you ARE NOT authorized movement of family. If you chose this route, you will ONLY be paid BAH for where your family is residing. You will not be given a barracks room after SFAS, which means you will have to pay for an apt out of pocket.

This sucks...I cant tell you how many guys I saw in the NG Liaison's office complaining about the policy.

Hope this helps you in making your decision.

Crip

**The Reaper** · 01-03-2006, 17:39

Not to be unsympathetic, but that is the way it works for AD soldiers as well. You can leave your familiy whereever you want, but you are out of pocket for expenses if you are PCSed and are not in the same house.

Under most circumstances, barracks in CONUS may not be utilized to house geographic bachelors. Exceptions may be granted to certain groups in priority order by the installation commander, if he has excess housing and no one waiting for quarters. Fort Bragg does not have that exception.

Wait till some of you find out what happens when you and the wife undergo a legal separation. AR 608-99 is not exactly soldier friendly.

TR

**18C4V** · 01-03-2006, 18:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surgicalcric

If you chose this route, you will ONLY be paid BAH for where your family is residing. You will not be given a barracks room after SFAS, which means you will have to pay for an apt out of pocket.

This sucks...I cant tell you how many guys I saw in the NG Liaison's office complaining about the policy.

Hope this helps you in making your decision.

Crip

It all depends on the state whether or not you get "dependants not authorized". California does PCS orders which is totally stupid. NG SF soldiers go back home after the Q. Usually the guys who own homes get screwed by this policy. Home owners become geo bachelors who have to maintain a mortgage for their HOR and maintain an apartment off at Bragg (while getting BAH for Bragg). I did that for 14 months in the Q and that sucked financially.

Even if you decide to rent the place out and PCS the family, guess what? The waiting list for on post housing will be months.....Housing told me that it will take 7 months for me when I first started weighing my options before I decided on being a geo bachelor.

Guess what if you're from California........ as a NG soldier you will not get TLE nor will you get DLA for your PCS move to Bragg and for your PCS move back to your HOR.

You really have to plan for all sort of contingencies otherwise you will be distracted while you're in the Q and may have to drop out. I've known a few guys who did drop out due to poor planning with their finance.

**Razor** · 01-03-2006, 20:56

Family Separation is now $250/month?

Wow, it was $75/month just 10 years ago; that's quite an increase.

Stiletto11 · 01-05-2006, 10:19

One option might be to link up with others of like mind and split the costs as a geo-bachelor. It sucks but you have a mission to accomplish.

**The Reaper** · 01-05-2006, 10:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stiletto11

One option might be to link up with others of like mind and split the costs as a geo-bachelor. It sucks but you have a mission to accomplish.

Lots of that going on, apartment construction is booming.

TR

**18C4V** · 01-05-2006, 12:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stiletto11

One option might be to link up with others of like mind and split the costs as a geo-bachelor. It sucks but you have a mission to accomplish.

Great advice!!!! just be careful in whose name is on the bills: lease, electrictiy, phone , cable, internet etc....

Otherwise you could come back from a phase and find out that a roommate got dropped and left without leaving money or a message.

01-05-2006, 12:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by 18C4V

Great advice!!!! just be careful in whose name is on the bills: lease, electrictiy, phone , cable, internet etc....

Otherwise you could come back from a phase and find out that a roommate got dropped and left without leaving money or a message.

Or, if you sign the dotted line, could make an estimate of how much it will cost per month and try to hold one month worth of money from everyone in reserve.

Martin

fsamimi · 02-27-2006, 13:57

Also, Google the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act (SCRA). I searched for this but didn't see any references on this site.

DanUCSB · 02-27-2006, 17:44

I am not NG, but I have been AD with dependents. I, also, currently live in a place that is very expensive (Santa Barbara, CA), with a wife and two children.

And the best piece of advice I would give is to restrain your habits.

The biggest problem with making money, from my perspective, and especially if you are going into the service, is that it's way too easy to just assume that your current standard of living is the minimum you deserve. It's happened to me, it's happened to a lot of people. But the fact is, almost everyone has a whole lot of creature comforts that aren't exactly necessary. You don't need a mortgage. You especially don't need a car payment. I am yet a young man, and one thing I've noticed amongst many of my 'peers' here is that everyone assumes that they should have all the luxuries and creature comforts of a successful middle-aged businessman (your own home, a new car, several credit cards, that big screen TV... all with payments attached)...

... even while they are still in their twenties.

In short, live within your means. You can do it, quite happily, after an initial adjustment period. If your means ain't up to your livin', your livin' best change.