The Hard Way

I hate hearing, "Sometimes you gotta learn things the hard way."
Blah, what an adult comment to make, LOL.
Once our post deployment vacation to Florida was over John still had one week's worth left of leave still and while we would have preferred for him to enjoy having the time off, we were pegged with a dilemma none of us ever thought we'd face.
One of the main reasons a lot of people join the service is for job security and the benefits. The hours are long and the jobs are hard and so strenuous on everyone involved, but the financial and mental security that pay and benefits brings, makes it somewhat tolerable.

Here we are on his last week of leave, and all we can do is watch on the news about how he might get his pay frozen if the budget for our country is not fixed, etc. Well that's not the way it's supposed to work!
John and I are fortunate to have my income in the mix as well, which takes some pressure off. Thank God we hoarded most of this extra deployment money so we could pay cash for his truck, but also build up a nice nest  egg for those rainy days, those what if's, and those emergencies that may come along. Therefore we were not as worried as some, however, a lot of families in the military don't have that option.
Their service member's pay, IS their only pay.

I'm sorry but when my husband and the 108th boys JUST get home from their year long tour to Iraq and two weeks later you tell them they won't get paid till "things are figured out," there is something wrong with that picture. We would hear rumors and stories around post how, soldiers that JUST left on their tour, were having to tell their wives, in some cases this was their first deployment, that they might not get paid...how can you tell a stay at home mom with kids something like that?
How did we get to this point where not only livelihoods are threatened, but in all honest the integrity of our government system that is in such peril that it has to come to this?

I've always had this stigma, that even though we, as military families, are asked to sacrifice more than any civilian would ever understand, I don't want to be treated different than anyone else. I want to pay my dues and go through the same rules as someone else NOT in my shoes. In any aspect in life that may apply too. But here I was being challenged on that stigma thinking, wait a minute, after what I put up with in this lifestyle, um, what about me??

At first, John and I dismissed that this would even happen, I mean, how could something like that happen? Something will work out.
But then emails from command started trickling down telling everyone how everything was going to go down if an agreement wasn't met.
Wow, this is really real. Ok, so what do we do....??

Well the motorcycle plans he had, had to wait, that was number one, LOL.
We were prepared to spend the weekend in eating leftovers and finding creative things to do at home instead of our usual weekend plans of going out to eat and hanging out with friends, etc.

Fortunately for everyone, things were "fixed" (were they really anyway??) and we got our pay. Then I started seeing people leaving comments on Facebook, etc. how this "threat" of taking away military pay was just a political ploy and the government would never really let that happen....man that just got me fired up. That's so easy to say when you're not the one getting emails from your husband's boss's boss telling you what's going down. It's easy when it's not your personal livelihood at stake.
Then there was the whole attitude of, well if the military weren't deployed we'd save money, so bring them home and save a couple bucks.
Really? REALLY??
Yeah, uh, we get paid regardless of "where we are," first of all.
Secondly, as much as this effects my life every other year or so with deployments, I'd rather the fighting be over there, than here.
Just sayin.

One thing that stuck out to me the most in all of this pandemonium is how financially desperate some people in this country really are. Once things were solidified about our pay and everyone calmed down, another email was sent out from Command stating that this should be a wake up call for soldiers and families that just as you have to always be prepared for combat and the unknown, you also have to be prepared for all other unknowns such as this and not to be lax in your finances.
It broke my heart yet made me extremely irritated in how unprepared people were for a challenge like this.
You can't live without money, that's a fact.
And some people can't help but live paycheck to paycheck, I've been there.
But in my mind, there's really no excuse.

I know it probably sounds easy for me to say, since we have dual income and all, but you don't have to have dual income to have your game together.
This potential crisis solidified, for John and I, that our goals and our plans we've set in place with our finances were the right decisions for our financial future so that if and when an instance like this presents itself, we can take it in swing with everything else this lifestyle may bring and not have to live off ramen.

At our age, I'm proud of that, and it makes me even prouder that we set these goals, obtained them together, and that it worked. Not to toot my horn too much, but I'm totally patting myself on the back right now. :)