Just checked the BAH for the area. 897 USD. House payments are expected at 1400 USD. That would mean Id hafta come outta my pocket ATLEAST 500 USD EVERY MONTH just for mortgage. Im gonna hafta talk to the bank and see about either backing out, or see other options for reducing payments by at least 200 USD. Oh damn.

Otherwise, all else is well. Hope all is well on your side of the screen.

HUH?

The DOD gives extra money for housing called BAH Basic Allowance for Housing. How much you get depends on where you live. The higher the cost of living the higher the allowance. For instance here in Atlanta the rate for an E6 is 1300 a month.

RCs area he only rates 897 a month and his house payment is looking to be 1400.

When people play the game right you can get your house payment real close to if not under the BAH and in essance the Govt. pays for your house lol.

So he gets that amount besides what he makes from the military, salary?

edit: Just read his now with your explaination, and I figured it out, out of pocket $500.
Well damn, that is what most Americans doing, out of pocket, full mortgage!

What size house are you getting for $1400/month?
I've got an 1800sq/ft 4 BR house and I'm only paying $1200/month, and that's in Austin.
For $1400/month in Lufkin, I would imagine that's a pretty good sized house.

Sounds better then it is.

Me for example E6 over 16 years base salary is $3,197 a month
Not much is it?

But when you add in
$294 for BAS (food money because I have dependants and am not privey to free food at the chow hall)
$1300 because I live out in town and not in base housing (if I lived on base I wouldn't get any of the 1300)(BAH varies by location and paygrade)
And because I have a dangerous job and have done it for the last 16 years I get
$400 a month for flight pay.

Those that are assigned to ships and deploy get sea pay based on their pay grade. Those assigned to carriers and work the flight deck get hazardous duty pay.

Divers get dive pay, sub guys get sub pay.
Jobs that are hard to fill also get an incentive pay. When I was a Loadmaster I recieved an extra $75 a month for that Flight engineers recieved $150.

So ah Herc, why don't you have more mods then with that loot!!!??

Cause I have a wife three kids and a niece living under my roof

...and if he didnt have the wife and three kids he wouldnt get paid as much money either.

Sounds like TMS next year is gonna be a big one.

That extra 1300 just happens to match my rent. I coulda found an apartment or smaller place or alot farther out and kept the rent under $1000 but I'm not livin in the hood, I need a garage and what I wouldn't spend in rent I'd spend in gas. Then you add $700 for food a month, car payment, bike payment, insurance on 4 vehicles, cable, phones, utilities it doesn't go very far.

The house I just backed out of was 2056 sqft, .53 ac, 3 bd/2ba, 2 car garage, 20x33 workshop with central heat/ac. 180k.

We're now better educated and are looking for a house that will be as close to 2000sqft as possible with 3 bd/2 ba, fenced backyard, and a neighborhood thats safe and clean. All that for a max of 130k.

BTW: Recruiters get about 450 USD/mo to deal with all the headaches and stress that is Recruiting Command.

E-5/10 yrs: roughly 2600/mo. BAS: 267. And Im due to get picked up for E-6. I'm number 7 out of the US Army's eligibles in my MOS. Just a matter of time. OH! and 100% of tuition is covered, I have 73k USD for school after I get out, and all the retirement bennies that Im eligible for should I decide to retire. hmmm-mmmm

Good luck on your house hunting.

10 years in? Sheash you'd have to have one heck of a job offer not to stick it out another 10. I'll be 38 when I'm eligable to retire. Can you imagine collecting a retirement check and still working full-time toboot? Granted it's not much but it is a house payment plus the medical...

by the time this current contract runs out, I'll have 14 TIS. It'd be insane for me not to get free medical for me and my wife for life. And the pension check. And access to all posts. Which means access to the Auto Crafts Center. Oh, yeah. Im not thrilled with the idea, but it is the only course of action that makes any sense at all. Eh, oh well. I'm gonna be 38 by retirement time as well. I joined 9 days after H/S graduation.

thats the way to do it , my dads cuz did it that way now he is mid 40's gets a check every month and works the clocks for NHRA drag strips in TX

I gotta see how the DEP plays out for me. I know they dropped it for pay purposes but if it counts as reserve time I maybe able to retire 11 months early.