If housing and food is paid for, how are people staying broke? I dont understand ??? Are they just blowing money????
For the people who do save and invest, how much do you save and invest? When enlisted, i was hoping to save and invest around 80% of my checks. I'll be starting as E3 but im concerned abour hidden fees and hidden bills cuz a lot of people say they end up having to work 2 jobs while in the military or they have to get side hustles ??
Saving and Investing money
byu/PiNKCaNDYxOxO inMilitaryFinance
Posted by PiNKCaNDYxOxO
2 Comments
1. Yes, there are terrible spenders.
2. You will find saving 80% will be challenging. You’ll probably have a phone bill, a car note for a few years, insurance, and, you’ll probably want to go out to eat or enjoy yourself once in a while.
3. Most people absolutely do not work second jobs in the military.
4. Families change expenses from when you are single and child free – A LOT.
It sounds like you want to save aggressively, and that’s a great goal, but 80 percent may be a little too aggressive.
Yes, housing is covered but you’ll likely be paying for food, barracks usually don’t cover internet so you’ll be paying for that out of pocket, your phone bill, and a car loan if you don’t have a paid off vehicle already.
Yes people have really bad spending habits, especially junior members as they usually haven’t had significant financial training. Bad car loans usually get junior members into long term financial trouble and the areas around military bases are full of shady lenders.
Best advice is to make a budget and figure out what your constant monthly expenses are, and estimates for food and going out
It isn’t uncommon for junior members to drive Uber or some other side job in their off time, just be mindful that you usually need to route any second job through your command