Money for Military A daily finance blog about finances for military members by a military member. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 9 0 0 3171

Articles from Money for Military

Money for Military on the Internet 2008-02-02 18:02:00 I was interviewed on Debt Consolidation Care last week. Please click here to read my interview. ... Internet

Get out of debt PART 1. 2008-01-27 16:25:00 Why is getting out of debt so hard? Here are some major reasons why Americans fall into debt so fast and can not get out of it. The biggest reason is the national debt. The national debt is at $9.1 trillion (source: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np). If you divide this up between the 300 million citizens of the United States, you get each person being $30,000 in debt ...

I Lost My CONUS COLA! 2008-01-17 22:03:00 Just in case you've never looked at your LES, some bases receive CONUS COLA. According to the Per Diem site, ZIP Codes that have Cost of living higher than 8% above the national average, gets CONUS COLA. Beale AFB used to get CONUS COLA and I used to receive $28. A lot of military members joked about this; but I will never joke about additional money. In 2008, the DoD re-assesed the ZIP code ...

Hits4pay Proof of Payment 2008-01-04 19:14:00 I don't know why this is a big deal; however, I understand some people may not trust other people on the internet. Hits4pay is real; however, it's not a get rich quick scheme. At least it's not for me yet. Here is the payment history from Hits4pay: And here is the same incredible payment in my paypal account. ...

FICO has changed its scoring procedures. 2008-01-04 11:35:00 The FICO score is the official credit score. The Fair Isaac's Company or FICO has been the primary score used when determining credit. In light of the housing bubble and America's growing debt, FICO has updated their scoring model. This may affect you and you should really read this article. If the article is like reading another language, then you should just know that the scoring model has ...

The New Year has Started, Start your Finances! 2008-01-01 12:38:00 2008 is an exciting year because now we can contribute $5,000 into our IRA's. I have always recommended that military members max out their ROTH IRA first and then start with the TSP. I have already deposited my first chunk towards my 2008 contribution into my ROTH IRA. This is a $1,000 increase in the contribution limits and is a tiny miniscule step is helping individuals with retirement. ...

Commissary Prices Versus Albertson's 2007-12-28 13:58:00 While I'm on leave, I'm a half hour from the nearest base. I have to run quick shopping errands at Albertson's. I use my In-law's phone number to take advantage of the preferred savings program. None of the 22 items that I bought were cheaper than the Commissary. A half gallon of milk is a dollar cheaper at the commissary; a box of Nutra-grain bars are $1.29 cheaper; and the biggest ...

New Year's Financial Resolution 2007-12-27 10:17:00 I can't stand when people have financial New Year's resolutions. A lot of people say, "This year I will pay off my debt;" or "This year I will start saving my money." Usually, people don't start on their resolutions until after the hangover of January 1st and then think about it on January 2nd. This means that they haven't done any research and waiting until New Year's is just a type of ...

What's the maximum amount... 2007-12-15 19:02:00 I try to spread financial knowledge as much as I can, hoping at least one person hears me. I get a lot of questions on how to start and what is the minimum you can start with. Yesterday, alternately, I got a question that says what is the maximum I can contribute. I loved that question. He also asked me if the employer contribution counted against your maximum. He is a retired Chief Master ...

When are you going to retire? 2007-12-02 15:24:00 I have a civilian contractor that works in my work center and he is 70 years old. He will retire the work force this month. He is doing great and here was/is his plan. He tired from the Air Force as an E-6 at 20 years. Today, that doesn't seem to be the best rank to retire at; however, almost 40 years ago, he was doing great. He has been collecting his retirement check and saving it. He has ...

AAFES Versus Other Stores 2007-11-25 17:15:00 I did some searching around and have found some interesting stuff on the internet about AAFES versus other retail stores like Wal-mart. I found one article about a retired E-7 in the Air Force as a proponent of AAFES. Readers of Tom Philpott's "Military Update" column sound off May 13, 2005 In your article on the impact of base closings on retirees, you made mention of that Wal-Mart are ...

Commissary Surcharge Explained 2007-11-15 22:40:00 So I was looking at my commissary bill and I've noticed that my surcharge keeps getting higher. I'm frustrated about even having a surcharge, so here is my investigation into the surcharge. The Office of the Secratry of Defense Comptroller states that: "Surcharge Collections represents a third major source of funding. Surcharge Collections is a trust fund primarily funded by a five percent ...

Hits4pay Payout - I Finally Reached it 2007-11-13 21:26:00 So, I finally reached the $25 minimum account balance it takes for a payout. According to the site you must make a minimum of $25 to be paid out. I have only referred five or less people so I’m not making a lot of money. It only takes five minutes a day though, so I'm not really worried. Hopefully, I can refer a lot of people and really magnify the earnings. The e-mails are not sent to your ...

Are you Worried about the Falling Dollar? 2007-11-06 12:53:00 I got an e-mail from a friend and he asked me, "Aren't you worried about the falling dollar?" Here is what my answer was. I told him that if you get paid in American dollars and buy and sell products sold in dollars, then the falling dollar doesn't affect you. Products that are dollar sensitive will cancel each other out. So the average American doesn't need to worry about their money currently. ...

Presidential $1 Coins 2007-10-28 10:48:00 Yesterday, at the Commissary, my wife asked for two dollars to pay the baggers. The counter person gave my wife a $1 bill and a $1 Presidential Thomas Jefferson Coin. He said he wanted to get rid of it. Last month, I tried investing in the Thomas Jefferson First Spouse coins, on Ebay, and after everything was said and done, I only eked out a 13% return, and a lot of wasted time. But now I have ...