Living Apart in the Military
Living Apart in the Military
Being apart from your spouse while they are on a tour, PCS or deployment is one of the hardest things a military spouse has to go through. I still remember when my husband called me and told me that he was being sent to South Korea for a year, and I nearly broke down. Since we wouldn’t be seeing each other before he left to Korea, we had to have a serious talk about spending, so that we would be on the same page. We both knew that life gets expensive so we came up with an amount that our account balance could not dip below.
Whenever he got paid, we could discuss our expenses. If we saw we were going over our budget, we would see if any purchases could be pushed to the next pay period. This communication saved us from being financially in trouble when we were apart and living separate lives.
Meanwhile, my husband was staying in the barracks rent free making it so we could put a large chunk of money into savings each paycheck. It’s always important to save when you can for a rainy day.
My personal tip is that it was always nice to have something around that reminds you of your spouse while they are gone, like a picture of the two of us. It helps to have those reminders of when you were together and be able to look forward to the memories you can make together when they are home.
MilSpouse Money
Mission Response:
Separation from your spouse is certainly a difficult part of military life. Keeping a picture or memory prominent in your everyday life is such a great idea. It looks like this was a fun night out!
There are many types of separation – such as short deployments, longer deployments, TDY for training, field and other training exercises, and unaccompanied tours like your husband’s in South Korea. Before any separation, it’s important to know the financial implications. Some may come with special pay and allowances and others may not. It sounds like you did a great job communicating and coming up with a plan. That’s really half the battle! The path to success is having a firm understanding of your goals, knowing any changes in income and expenses, and then developing a plan to stay on track. There is no right or wrong answer. You have to see what works best for you and your family. For deployment, Erica shares her tip in a short video to watch here. For more tips like this and many other resources to help you plan for time apart, visit our Pre-Deployment section.
