Last night hubby and I looked at different vacation packages and we have decided we're going on a road trip! Road Tripping will squeeze some miles out of the eyesore and save us about 400 bucks in transportation fees alone. Lots of theme parks are allowing steep military discounts for active duty soldiers.. the only thing is finding them! Our local MWR isn't as helpful either

Yesterday I received some disturbing news from a fellow army wife that lives in housing. It seems that her hubby is up for his security clearance and he may not get it. The military is very strict with credit issues and the slightest mishap (while on active duty) can get you in SERIOUS trouble. You cannot file bankruptcy, have a low credit score, mannn don't even think about bouncing a check or else your commander becomes your financial planner for a LONG TIME.

So now she's asking for help and all I can think of is giving her the same general advice I received when hubby was in hot water:

1. One of you must wake up and wrestle with the finances. Waiting for one to say ok ok I'll pay the bills will only make matters worse.. an HOUR late means paying 29.00.. two occasions of 29.00 means 9.9% to 29.99%.. I call it legal loansharking

2. Pay off credit cards before you save money in the bank- money you put away will not be interest until you pay off the interest you're paying SOMEONE ELSE every month.

3. Stretch as much as you can and cut back on leisure until you can balance a tight budget.

Hopefully she'll find this site (I referred her over so she can learn some good strategies for handling finances) I know I have!