Latest news with #militarylife
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
One month to go: 5 things every military family should do before a PCS
Every service member and military family out there knows how stressful and chaotic a PCS can be. With so much piling up on our to-do lists alone, we tend to lose sight of the fun and soulful moments we can still create to make memories before our big move. The final month before the move can bring exciting opportunities to enjoy a duty station before the goodbyes start setting in. You've got thirty days, one big move coming up, and here are five things to do before the month is over to close out this duty station chapter. 1. Focus on your bucket list. We have all been there. We arrived at a duty station with the motivation to do all the things, but guess what? Life, work, school, and all the routines got in the way, and we did not check everything off our list. Life happened, but now you have thirty days, so make it count! This is such a heartfelt way to transition out of a duty station while also visiting new places. Take advantage of your local natural surroundings and tackle one last adventure. Before everything gets packed, make plans to spend time together trying something new. Checking off more fun things off your bucket list can become treasured stories in your family's PCS journey. 2. Say meaningful goodbyes. Someone cutting onions? Goodbyes are rough. Not going to sugar coat it, they are hard… not just for you but also for our military kids, and the people we leave behind. Adults and kids need closure. We understand the challenges of military life when it comes to forming connections and friendships; these relationships deserve to be honored with meaningful farewells. Host a final gathering and invite neighbors and friends. Take all the photos together. Write notes for the people who made a difference in this chapter, and most of all, make honest and achievable plans to stay in touch. 3. Take a photo in your home. Just one snapshot of you all in the place you called home. This is something that has been a must for our family: Having a photo of us together at a place we called home throughout our military life adventures. This photo will help you reflect on the time you spent together in this home, the memories you made, the ups and downs of the duty station, and, most of all, the way everything always seems to work out despite the challenges of military life. 4. Revisit memories. If you completed your bucket list, then why not revisit some of your favorite spots with family and friends? From favorite coffee shops, nature trails, local markets, and hidden gems in your neighborhood, you can visit these with a different perspective. Return to your favorite running trail, the splash pad your kids love, your go-to sunset spot, a favorite bookstore, local diner… even your favorite installation staples like the bowling alley or an MWR outdoor site. Revisiting familiar spots during your last month offers a chance to see them differently: with more presence, more gratitude, and often, more emotion. You're not chasing nostalgia, you're collecting closure. 5. Take care of the necessary. The last month will be busy, and yes, having heartfelt moments is important, but taking care of the logistics of your move is, too. This is not limited to just packing. Don't forget to forward your mail or place it on temporary hold. Stop any subscriptions you will not need until you arrive at your new duty station. If you live in military housing, do not forget to request your final inspection and plan your move-out cleaning. Disconnect utilities, organize important documents, and make copies (yes, digital copies too). You can also plan to schedule vehicle maintenance if you are driving for your PCS, and never forget to track all your expenses for PCS-related reimbursements. While we're busy making the most of our time left, we also owe it to ourselves to wrap up the military-related loose ends that can make or break a smooth transition. You have one last month to enjoy the chapter you are getting ready to close. And while everything feels exhausting, the silver lining is that you have the power to make it count and make it memorable. It is your last pause before what comes next. We are all very aware of the unknowns that a PCS can bring. For the last thirty days, as you check off another duty station, let the countdown come with intention to reconnect. We know that change is coming, but one last month to enjoy and create more memories is essential to say farewell and move on to the next adventure. Goodbyes may be hard, but they're also proof that you made a place feel like home! 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Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How to budget when everything is temporary
Military life makes creating a budget really weird. You're working with fixed income and shifting costs, tax-free benefits, surprise expenses, base access, and blackout dates. You get paid on the 1st and 15th like clockwork—but nothing else feels predictable. And yet, some spouses manage to stay on top of it. Not because they have spreadsheets for fun (although some do), but because they've learned how to build flexible, resilient budgets that can survive the reality of military life. Here's what they've figured out and what can help you do the same. The biggest mistake people make is building a fixed, 'ideal life' budget and then expecting it to hold. It won't. Military paychecks are stable, but military life is not. Start with a core budget—rent, food, gas, and bills—and then build flex zones around items like seasonal expenses, short-term travel, school supplies, or kids' sports. You don't need to forecast the entire year. Just plan for what shifts quarter to quarter. Apps like YNAB (You Need a Budget) and EveryDollar are spouse favorites because they make it easy to reassign funds when life changes without disrupting the entire budget structure. Use whatever works for your brain but build something you can actually update—not just admire once and forget about. Yes, it's full of acronyms. Yes, it looks like a tax form and a riddle had a baby. But your spouse's Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) is where the money lives, and it's not optional. Spouses who stay ahead of their finances know how to read the LES. They check it every month—not just for pay accuracy, but also for changes in allowances, such as BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) and BAS (Basic Allowance for Subsistence), as well as any deductions or entitlements that shouldn't be there. Print one out. Google each line. Highlight what you don't understand and ask someone who does. This isn't extra credit—it's how you avoid getting underpaid for six months without realizing it. Set bills, savings, and recurring donations to auto-draft on the 1st or 2nd of the month. That way, you're working with a clear picture of what's actually available after the essentials are covered. Then, calendar everything else. Birthdays. Travel. PCS window. Your kid's activity fees that somehow always land the same month as car registration. Budgeting is less about the money and more about awareness. Knowing when an expense hits can make or break your month, even if you technically 'have the funds.' Use Google Calendar. Use sticky notes. Just don't rely on memory. Your brain is already carrying too much. Build a category into your budget called 'margin' or 'oh no' and give it real money. This isn't emergency savings (that's separate). This is for the week your tire blows and your kid's shoes don't fit and your spouse forgets they signed up to bring snacks to something that now requires 80 juice boxes. The number will vary. Some families can swing $200 a month. Some can only do $20. What matters is that it's there, it's yours, and it keeps you from spiraling into panic every time life throws a punch. Tracking expenses sounds miserable, but it's not about judgment. It's about awareness. Use one month to write down everything. No censoring. That $9 coffee? Count it. The five Amazon orders that were each 'only $20'? Add them up. Then, without guilt, look at where your money goes. You're not trying to shame yourself into change. You're trying to see where your default settings are and decide whether they're working. Most spouses who've mastered budgeting didn't get there by being perfect. They just got really honest. It's going to feel awkward for a while, but once you're really clear on where the money is going, you'll understand where you can trim. If you want support beyond apps and best guesses, use your access. Military OneSource offers free financial counseling with real humans who understand how military pay works. So do your base's Personal Financial Readiness Program and most Fleet and Family Support Centers or Army Community Service centers. These aren't judgmental. They're not selling you anything. And you don't have to be in crisis to use them. Sometimes the smartest budgeting move is asking someone to help you make a plan that fits your actual life. Bottom line: Budgeting won't fix the system, but it will protect your peace Military salaries are fixed. The rest of your life isn't. Creating a budget that actually works means planning for what shifts, leaving room for what breaks, and being real about what you need. You're not bad with money. You're just navigating a life that's built on uncertainty. But you can build stability anyway, one calendar alert, one tracked receipt, one adjustment at a time. We Are The Mighty is a celebration of military service, with a mission to entertain, inform, and inspire those who serve and those who support them. We are made by and for current service members, veterans, spouses, family members, and civilians who want to be part of this community. Keep up with the best in military culture and entertainment: subscribe to the We Are The Mighty newsletter. These military spouses were unsung heroes of American history 4 milspouse personas you'll meet during deployment 9 Incredible day trips from Stuttgart, Germany for any military family
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Everything you need to know to prepare for your first ‘deployment spiral'
Maybe it's week three. Maybe it's hour seven. But at some point during deployment, something in your brain just… snaps. You've been 'holding it together' on the outside. But inside? Inside, you're slowly unraveling to the soundtrack of a dripping faucet, a barking dog, and the echo of your own over-functioning mind that just will not quit. And then suddenly you're whispering, 'I'll feel better if the hallway is sage' in the middle of the Home Depot. And you will. For a minute. But then reality will sink right back in (because it always does), and you'll remember that you're on your own for however long. And that however long is, well, a long time. Especially if this is your first deployment spiral. Let's talk about the chaos. And why it makes total sense. It starts with something small. A late-night Amazon order. A sudden need to clean the baseboards. The unshakeable feeling that you must go back to the Home Depot, right now, because the hallway color is 'off.' You tell yourself it's normal. You're adjusting. You're just 'keeping busy' while your partner is away, doing things they can't really talk about. (And maybe you don't really want to know.) Then, suddenly, it's 2 in the morning and you're alphabetizing the spice rack while texting someone about fostering a one-eyed kitten named Meatball. You say yes. Obviously. Who doesn't need a one-eyed kitty named Meatball? Here to tell you this is not a breakdown. This is deployment. And honestly? It tracks. Here's why. Deployments break your routines, and your body tries to build new ones, fast. The rhythm of dinners together, shared childcare, weekend plans, someone else taking out the trash—gone. Just poof. Replaced with the weird half-life of 'guess I'm doing this alone' and meals that may or may not count as dinner (was that cereal? Again?). Your brain doesn't like that. So it fills the space with something. Projects. Purchases. Paint samples. You start meal prepping like a CrossFit influencer or decide your baseboards are a personal insult. Anything to reestablish a sense of control in a world that now runs on uncertainty and phone calls with bad reception. And the kicker? The military gives your partner a mission, but you don't get one. So you start inventing your own. Alphabetize the pantry. Redesign the hallway. Adopt a cat you found on Facebook Marketplace. Apply to grad school at midnight because… why not? Doesn't matter what it is. All that matters is that it anchors you. (Even if that anchor is shaped like a giant Target haul and emotionally fraught power tools). Every day brings new uncertainty: Missed calls. Delayed updates. Conversations where you both pretend everything's fine, even when it's not. So your body starts compensating. You can't fix the silence, but you can clean the grout. You can't control whether they're safe, but you can learn to tile a backsplash at midnight. It's not dramatic, it's biological. Your cortisol doesn't care that it's 'just deployment.' It's still stressful. And you're still human. Also, the dog just threw up and the toddler won't nap and your neighbor keeps parking too close to your mailbox. You are a goddess of restraint for not screaming into the void daily. It's not like you lost them. But you did lose a shared reality. Your rhythm. Your intimacy. Your teammate. So yes, there's grief. And like any grief, it shows up in weird ways. You cry over a missing sock. You get overly attached to a plant. You spend two hours researching dog beds for the pet you do not yet have. You buy a silk pillowcase because a TikTok said it would fix your skin and your soul. Grief isn't linear. It doesn't look like movie sadness. Sometimes it looks like repainting the bathroom at midnight because something—anything—needs to feel new. The house. The kids. The dog. The dishes. The schedule. The mail. The holidays. The meltdowns. The logistics. The text threads. The questions you don't know how to answer. The feelings you don't get to share. It's all on you. So if you rage-clean the fridge at 1 am or suddenly develop a deep emotional bond with your Dyson—yes. Of course you did. That is the sound of you surviving. If no one's told you lately: you're doing a damn good job holding it all together. Even when that holding looks like chaos. Even when it involves a one-eyed kitten named Meatball. Especially then. Eventually, the chaos settles. Sort of. Promise you'll eventually stop rage-cleaning the fridge. You start using actual plates again. You might even forget what shade the hallway was before it became 'sage,' like some kind of haunted interior design decision. But also: You now own six different types of storage bins. Your dog has a weighted blanket. Your child thinks Meatball has always lived here. And you might be enrolled in an online grad program you don't fully remember applying to. So, sure, maybe you spiraled a little. But you spiraled productively. With commitment. With vision. And when they finally walk back through that door and say, 'Wait… when did we get a third cat?'You won't even blink. We Are The Mighty is a celebration of military service, with a mission to entertain, inform, and inspire those who serve and those who support them. We are made by and for current service members, veterans, spouses, family members, and civilians who want to be part of this community. Keep up with the best in military culture and entertainment: subscribe to the We Are The Mighty newsletter. How to budget when everything is temporary How to explain commissary etiquette to your civvie bestie 4 Ways to fake it til you make it at your first change of command ceremony
