Military Life News

Military Life News, Commissary Rewards and Military Discounts

Why You Should Consider Attending a Yellow Ribbon School

By

Ahhhh, college. New experiences, exciting challenges, and mountains of student debt. A college education is becoming increasingly expensive. If there’s a chance to cut costs, you should jump on it!

All of this makes Yellow Ribbons schools a great choice for military-connected students.

The Yellow Ribbon program offers the opportunity to decrease your out-of-pocket costs for earning a college degree. It’s a pretty sweet deal.

Why You Should Consider Attending a Yellow Ribbon School

The Post-9/11 GI Bill offers outstanding educational opportunities to military-connected college students. For qualifying beneficiaries, GI Bill benefits provide funds to cover the resident tuition and fees at public colleges.

If you’re going to be attending a private college or enrolling as a nonresident at a public university, there might be a gap between the GI Bill and the bottom line. That could leave you footing the difference. An education at a private or out-of-state college is definitely not cheap!

This is where the Yellow Ribbon Program comes in.

At select schools, there is a fund-matching program available to help reduce the total tuition costs.

Yellow Ribbon 101

Students at private schools or attending as an out-of-state resident, are entitled to the lesser value of their school’s tuition and fees or the national maximum funding for an academic year.

To help GI Bill beneficiaries cover a difference between their entitlement and their tuition, schools may elect to participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program. This is a voluntary program that does not impact your GI Bill entitlement or funds.

Participating schools select how much of their tuition and fees they are willing to cover. Then the VA will match those funds, and send that payment directly to the school. Both sets of funds are then applied to the final bill.

In order to qualify, students must meet specific criteria.

Only 100% GI Bill qualified veterans and/or their designated beneficiaries are eligible. Yellow Ribbon Program funds are not available to active duty service members or their spouses. However, the children of active duty service members may be eligible if their parent is qualified at the 100% level.

The percentage of eligibility is determined by the service member’s service record. To reach the 100% qualification level, and be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program, troops must serve at least 36 months on active duty or have served for at least 30 consecutive days before being honorably discharged for a service-related disability.

Yellow Ribbon Fine Print

The Yellow Ribbon Program sounds ideal! Extra money straight from the school and matching funds from the VA. What could be better?

However, there are some caveats.

First, veterans and their designated beneficiaries must qualify for full GI Bill benefits, based on the veteran’s service record. Not all veterans will qualify for 100% GI Bill funding. This is required to be eligible for any Yellow Ribbon Program.

Next, your selected school has to opt-in to the Yellow Ribbon Program. This is a voluntary opportunity, and not all public or private schools elect to participate.

Each school decides their own level of funding and the number of awards available in an academic year. This means that even if your school is part of the program, all funds for this year might have been awarded. You will still be able to apply your GI Bill, but there will not be Yellow Ribbon funds from the school applied to your bill.

Each year, a list of participating schools is released by the VA. Funds are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Award amounts may vary based on enrollment status and level.

In order to qualify, you must first apply to a Yellow Ribbon school and identify that you are eligible per the GI Bill qualifications.

Receiving Yellow Ribbon funds this year does not guarantee that your school will participate in the future or that they will contribute funding at the same level. However, your school should notify you of changes or if they are leaving the program.

If you do qualify for and receive Yellow Ribbon funding, this is a good program to help make higher education more affordable

Did you participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program when you earned your college degree? What was your experience with this program?

8 Financial Stressors Military Couples Face and How to Overcome Them

By

There are many things that set military couples apart from civilians, but financial stressors we all share. Sure military families have different financial stressors than civilian families, but they are there nonetheless.

Here are 8 financial stressors military families face and how to overcome them.

8 Financial Stressors Military Couples Face and How to Overcome Them

Not Agreeing on How to Handle Finances

Most couples are made up of one spender and one saver. This can be great as the saver can keep the spender in check and the spender can get the saver to live a little. When a couple can’t decide together how best to handle money, financial stressors occur.

To overcome this, sit down and talk to each other. Set aside time when children are not around and there are no interruptions so that you can have a serious financial discussion. Don’t leave the table until a decision has been made.

Not Communicating

Communication is key in a healthy relationship. If you are not being honest with yourself or your spouse about spending, more financial stressors will occur.

Do you hide shopping bags in your car until your spouse isn’t home so they don’t see how much shopping you’ve done?

Ask yourself why you feel the need to do so. Did you spend more than you should of? Are you worried they will be upset with you for this?

Not Creating a Budget

Forget financial stressors, money-conscious couples that set budgets have less stress. Knowing how much money is coming in and going out will bring relief.

Knowing that you have enough money to pay all the bills by allocating money each month will set fears aside. As a couple, decide how much money you want to save and how much you’re comfortable spending each month.

Putting Off Saving for Retirement

When you’re young and facing bills, saving for retirement might be the last thing on your mind. Savvy savers know that saving now for retirement can alleviate financial stressors. You can contact a financial planner, attend a saving for retirement seminar or do your own research.

The sooner you start saving for retirement, the better off you’ll be when the time comes.

Not Having an Emergency Savings

It is recommended to have an emergency fund with the greater of either 2 weeks’ worth of pay or $1,000. You can use an emergency fund calculator to determine the right amount that your family should save. When an unexpected event occurs that brings in a large bill, financial stressors arise. Help lower the stress by having a plan already in place.

Taking on More Debt Than You Can Handle

You and your spouse need to be realistic on what you can afford. Keeping up with the Joneses is what gets military families into trouble.

If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.

Just because your neighbor has a new car or put in a pool does not mean that you need to do the same thing.

How many financial stressors do you need in your life?

Is trying to keep up with the social status of your neighbors or friends worth the burden?

Be realistic with your wallet. If you can’t afford the payments on a new car, maybe you don’t need such an expensive one.

Struggling with Finances on Your Own During a Deployment

When your spouse is deployed and you are unable to communicate immediately or even frequently, financial decisions are often made on your own.

It can be extremely frustrating when financial stressors arise during a deployment. You don’t have your significant other to help you make a decision and are forced to deal with it on your own.

Setting time aside before your spouse deploys to discuss what to do in this instance can help significantly.

Not Expecting a Baby to Change Your Finances Dramatically

If you don’t have children yet, you might not understand this but it is true. Children are expensive. The more you have, the more it will cost you. Having a child unexpectedly can create financial stressors if you aren’t prepared. Not everyone gets the opportunity to plan ahead for a growing family, but if you are able to plan financially for your little one, life will be a little easier.

Which of these financial stressors is your military family facing? How are you planning to overcome them?

3 Easy Ways to Spend Less Money in 2015

By

I don’t know about you but when a new year starts I always think a lot about our money situation: how we are spending our income, which debts we are going to pay off and how much money we are going to save. It only make sense to do this when you are starting a new year.

It is always a good idea to figure out how to spend your money wisely. It shouldn’t matter how much you make. It is a good thing to work to make every dollar go a little further.

3 Easy Ways to Spend Less Money in 2015

Here is a list of 3 ways to help you spend less money in 2015.

They have worked for many people and they can help you get on the road to a better relationship with your income.

  1. Use Cash. This is as simple as making a budget and going to the ATM to get your money out. A lot of people like to use envelopes for different categories such as groceries, entertainment and gas. By using cash you can get a very visual idea of where your money is actually going. It is also harder for a lot of people to spend cash. Using a card is easier and requires less thought. Once you run out of cash for a particular category for the month, you can’t spend any more money.
  2. Use Coupons. Couponing can seem a little overwhelming but once you know what you are doing, clipping coupons becomes a habit. All you need to do is start buying your local newspaper on Sundays, find coupons online and go to the right websites to help you match them with your local stores. It will take you about an hour to get ready for your shopping trip but the savings will be worth it. When you match coupons to sales you are able to save more money than you would think. There are also a lot of great resources out there for those wanting to learn about couponing. Don’t forget to add digital coupons to your commissary rewards card app every week.
  3. Save Your Spare Change. Find an extra plastic tub of some kind. You can also buy a piggy bank. Put all your spare change in it. When it is filled, go and cash it in. You would be surprised to find out how much money you can save this way. You could use the money for a family event or put it in savings. Tell your kids about it and have them contribute to the jar. You will have even more change if you use the cash system to help save money.

Even by making a few changes, you can see a big difference. You can make room in your budget to pay down more debt, save a little bit more or vacation a little bit more with your family. Take baby steps to achieve your financial goals and take the time to sit down with your spouse to discuss what you want in the next few years. It is very helpful to have a goal and be able to work together to get to where you want to be financially.

How are you planning to spend less in 2015?