Smart Military Money
Personal finance tips andadvice for the military lifestyle.
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Given some great news this week, this military personal finance roundup focuses on jobs, a hot topic for everybody in the U.S. right now. But there’s no use in giving up on a job hunt. For service members and veterans, there are several resources to help you find work such as the Stars and Stripes Veteran Job Center or VetSuccess.
Beyond that, fellow personal finance bloggers regularly offer tips and tricks for finding work. Give this roundup a look for the good news and to see what some of them suggest.
Tornado season hits its peak for much of the U.S. in the summer, so this military personal finance roundup focuses on natural disasters. Unfortunately, disasters can happen at any time. Thanks to modern meteorology, forecasters can better predict when a storm will strike, whether it’s a Tornado in Texas or a hurricane on the East Coast. But that doesn’t mean they won’t do damage.
Natural disasters do more than damage infrastructure — they can wreak havoc on people’s finances. The good news is that you can prepare for a natural disaster well before it’s even a threat. Take a look at what these personal finance bloggers have to offer on the subject.
As a shameless plug in this week’s military personal finance roundup, check out the Veterans United Live chat on relationships and money we hosted on Tuesday, April 30. After all, the roundup’s theme is about relationships, either with people and money or different facets of spending money. Within social circles, there is sometimes pressure to spend money when you don’t need to. The same goes for romantic relationships, though those may be even more expensive.
But we sometimes put a bit of a twist on relationships here, meaning they’re not just about human interaction. Take a look at these blog posts to get an idea of what we mean.
Few things are more detrimental to your finances than payday loans. As a tool to effectively get paid before an individual receives a paycheck, a payday loan can lead to serious debt.
These loans require repayment of the principal and a fee measured as a fixed dollar amount per $100 borrowed. Military personnel are no less susceptible to these loans than civilian consumers, as a 2010 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority report found that 32 percent of enlisted and junior NCO respondents used non-bank borrowing and 11 percent of them had used a payday loan. Of civilian respondents, 9 percent had used a payday loan.
Now a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau white paper examined consumer behavior within the payday loan industry. Take a look at how dangerous this loan option can be for military consumers.
We take aim at overspending in this military personal finance roundup. Spending beyond your means is a surefire way to ruin your budget, fall into debt, hurt your credit score and ultimately affect your finances in the long term. Temptations to overspend are omnipresent, so it’s not solely the fault of consumers to overspend.
The best thing to do is be disciplined and live within or below your means. It’s certainly easier said than done, but these blog posts are full of tips that can help you avoid overspending and save money.
Since everybody has to eat to survive, it’s fitting that this week’s military personal finance roundup is about food. Everybody knows food isn’t free and if you’re not careful, food can destroy your budget. With that in mind, we put together a handful of blog posts about food. It might sound silly, but every tip and penny counts nowadays. Have a look at what other personal finance bloggers have to offer when it comes to money and food.
Aaron Dykstra passed the down time on the flight line by imagining his life building bikes. More specifically, he wanted to build bike frames, the integral series of metal tubes that makes up a bike.
“I spent a lot of time mapping out real basic stuff,” said Dykstra, a six-year Air Force veteran from the 94th Fighter Squadron. The wheels of his future business were already spinning in his head.
With the exception of his deployments and time as a business owner, Dykstra worked in bicycle shops since he was 15. When he turned 17, Dykstra enlisted in the Air Force. He wanted to get out of Roanoke, Va. and the military seemed like a viable option. Now he’s the man behind Six-Eleven Bicycle Co, a company that’s received high honors at North America’s most prestigious bike show.
Talking about retirement rattles some people, but it’s the focus of this week’s military personal finance roundup. We’re not talking exclusively about retiring from the military, but retiring for good. Leaving the workforce may be decades away for you, which is why it’s smart to think about retirement now. Don’t wait too long to start putting money aside in the Thrift Savings Plan or other individual retirement accounts.
This probably isn’t the first or last time a roundup’s theme is retirement. Nevertheless, peruse these blog posts about retirement and get aggressive about preparing for it.
Nobody lives a mistake-free life. Imagine how boring that would be. A life with no mistakes, no lessons learned and no maturation sounds unfulfilling.
At the same time, humans try to avoid disastrous mistakes. Learning to handle your money will undoubtedly cause mistakes. Just ask Cyprus.
Last week the island country’s two major banks sought a $13 million bailout. It’s really not much compared to the $650 million Eurozone leaders have handed out in the last three years. But alas, Cyprus did not receive the funds. There’s more to the story that can teach all consumers four important things.
In this military personal finance roundup, we take a look at entertainment and its relationship to your money. Don’t feel like you always have to spend money to be entertained. Thanks to the spring season, weather is improving, which means you can do all kinds of fun things outside. But if you’re more of an indoors person, there’s no shortage of entertainment for you.
Take a look at these blog posts that discuss several types of entertainment and money. How do you like to be entertained? What fun things do you do frugally?
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