For those that are in the Army Reserves/National Guard how do you manage the money that you receive from it?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 11:35:01 -0500

Response by CW5 Jack Cardwell made Feb 28 at 2018 11:38 AM

CW5 Jack Cardwell — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 11:38:16 -0500

I had 20% going to Thrift Savings Plan. Started at 10% boosted it up when pay went up. Pooled the rest with my civilian pay.

Response by SGT Eric Davis made Feb 28 at 2018 12:08 PM

SGT Eric Davis — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 12:08:26 -0500

Child support!

Response by CPT Enrique M. made Feb 28 at 2018 12:16 PM

CPT Enrique M. — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 12:16:00 -0500

I save it all on a separate account (USAA). And only use it for whenever I am doing Army outings ( aka lunch during drill weekends, fuel , etc) Reason being is that I am using this money in the future as my savings account for any incidentals or emergency reasons.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 28 at 2018 12:46 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 12:46:29 -0500

It pays for my Tricare reserves

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 28 at 2018 2:01 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 14:01:08 -0500

My money is primarily used for Tricare Reserve insurance for medical and dental. The rest is used for transportation to and from Battle Assembly and meals during (breakfast and dinner). If any is left, I put it in my emergency fund for any time I NEED (not want) money in a pinch.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 28 at 2018 8:43 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 20:43:25 -0500

Many people I know put theirs directly into their TSP. They don't use their pay at all just save it all up for retirement.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2018 1:45 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 01:45:17 -0500

My military pay is funneled directly into a saving account. I learned long ago to budget without that monthly "bonus" to my income. I do count my annual training as income and it goes into my monthly budget.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2018 8:55 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:55:52 -0500

It goes into an account I used to use for my car payment, but then after the car was paid off, it is now the student loan / HOA fees payment account (both relatively small payments).

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2018 10:30 AM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 10:30:45 -0500

Its my play money.

Response by SSG Daniel Munoz made Mar 1 at 2018 11:17 AM

SSG Daniel Munoz — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 11:17:41 -0500

92% Put In TSP.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2018 12:24 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 12:24:07 -0500

I make the money my wife takes the money, is there another option? ;)

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2018 4:55 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 16:55:49 -0500

My husband is in the national guard now and I generally get the majority of his check to help pay the bills. While I’m active duty my big baller pay check doesn’t pay for everything.

Response by CW3 Michael Bodnar made Jun 5 at 2019 9:44 AM

CW3 Michael Bodnar — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 09:44:24 -0400

I use the money for building savings. There are some months where I put the entire check into savings and others where I can only do a certain amount. Either way, it's additional income that I kind of don't count on.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 11 at 2019 9:49 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 09:49:19 -0500

While i was at AIT i was "Over Paid" so for the first next 2 years i was only making less than $100 a per drill . My Reserve Unit was 45 minutes away so the army was pretty much paying for my gas to go drill and back home. The End
P.S : I finally switch to active duty and for the first 6 months i wasn't getting bah or bas.
Hooah!