Smart Military Money
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A host of difficulties face those preparing for deployment. In addition to leaving your friends and family for an extended period of time, there are also important financial decisions you should make to ensure that you aren’t wasting any money while you’re away.
From adding a military clause to your lease to suspending your car insurance, there are a lot of ways to make sure you don’t spend when you don’t have to.
One of the best ways to save money while you’re deployed is to suspend your cell phone service. Chances are you won’t be able to use your cellphone if you’re deployed overseas, and many service providers allow active duty service members to pause their accounts.
Sprint allows active duty service members to cancel or suspend their contracts free of charge. A military suspension can begin on customer request, but full line cancelation requires proof of active duty assignment. With Sprint, individual lines can be cancelled or paused as well if you’re on a group plan.
AT&T customers are offered two options when faced with a transfer or deployment that takes them outside of the AT&T service area.
First, you can decide to cancel your service and AT&T will waive any early termination fees you would normally have had to pay.
The second option is to cancel your service but retain your number, which you can then reactivate within 90 days of returning from deployment. A great feature of the AT&T plan is that any family members included in your FamilyTalk Plan are offered these benefits as well.
Verizon offers active duty military personnel the opportunity to suspend their contract for up to 48 months. Contact customer support with your account number handy and provide them with a suspension date as well as a restart date if known. Verizon also suggests assigning a friend or family member in the states the ability to make changes to your account in the event of deployment extension.
U.S. Cellular offers line suspension while on assignment overseas at no extra charge. Questions about enrollment can be directed to 1-888-944-9400 or 611 from your U.S. Cellular device. Have your military ID or some way to verify your active duty status when trying to suspend.
Active duty service members with T-Mobile can suspend their account for up to 39 months due to deployment. The account will remain current meaning that any outstanding installments will be due upon restoration of service. Contact customer care to set up a suspension.
Take advantage of these and other ways to save money during deployment.
Photo thanks to midnightglory under a creative commons license from Flickr.
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