When Ryan and I were preparing for his departure to BCT, we set a savings goal. With Chloe and me living with his parents and his little living expenses, we were optimistic we could save a lot. Well . . . now that AIT is almost over, a few "unexpected" costs have come up that derailed that plan a little.
I thought I'd share what our costs have been to help other families plan:
1. Moving our house into storage.
This was an expense we had anticipated but it was still a large expense. We had professional movers move our stuff (a whole 3 bedroom + office home) into a storage unit. And of course now we have a storage fee every month.
2. Trip to Graduation.
This was our first less-thought-out cost. Even though I shared the cost with my mother-in-law, it still consisted of a plane ticket, a rental car, and 5 nights at a hotel. Definitely adds up! It was my first time flying with my daughter and I made the mistake of not buying her a ticket. She was about 22 months. Let me just say, that was an extra challenge but at least I did save on her ticket.
3. Ryan's uniform.
You think Army --> uniform --> free. Not quite. We had no idea how much it'd cost to maintain his uniform! There's patches and extra shirts and other uniform pieces. He also ended up buying his own boots because the issued ones were terribly uncomfortable. I'm estimating we've spent at least $400 on his uniform since he started AIT. The Army does provide a clothing allowance but it's only about $300/year for military and you don't see that until after a year of enlistment and I just read it's only about half of that the first year because the soldier's uniform shouldn't wear out that quickly.
4. Plane tickets.
Being new to the Army, we just assumed the Army would pay for Ryan to get back to us (his family) so that we could all move to our first duty station together. Not the case. The Army only pays for him to fly from AIT to his first duty station (FDS) (and for Chloe and me to meet him there if we choose to fly).
Ryan was originally expected to graduate right before Holiday Block Leave (HBL) but since he class was delayed (topic for another day) we're paying for him to fly to Oregon, back to Oklahoma for a couple more weeks, and then back to Oregon again (if all goes as planned). On top of that we're responsible for his ticket to his FDS minus what it would have cost him to fly from AIT to his FDS. So, long story short, there's some significant cost here.
5. Shipping our vehicle.
When we PCS it's going to be mid-Jan and we've decided for various reasons (older vehicle, snow, 2-year old who isn't too keen on being locked in a car seat) that we'd rather fly across country and ship our car. But, my understanding at this point is that shipping our car is completely at our own expense. A lot of people sell their car and buy another when they get to their next place but we're about a year away from paying it off so we've decided to hang onto it. Last estimate I got was $1200 to ship from Oregon to NC.
6. Auto repair.
Before Ryan left he did all the car stuff. Of course once he's gone on top of previously discussed items to fix, the PCU somehow dies. Let's just say that was a pretty penny.
7. Eating out at AIT.
Once Ryan started AIT we started receiving Basic Allowance for Substance (BAS) in his paycheck but the Army takes back almost all of it to compensate for eating at the Dining Facility (DFAC). However, once Ryan phased and had more privileges, he started eating out either because he couldn't find a battle buddy to go with or the time for chow was inconvenient. Either way, it became a significant part of the food budget per month. Just something to keep in mind.
8. Mail and shipping costs.
This one is pretty minor but just something to keep in mind. You're sending lots of letters all through Basic and then once Ryan was in AIT I mailed him clothes and movies and school supplies.
I think the major cost hurdles are over but I'm hoping that by sharing this I can help others families prepare for what could pop up.
~Laura
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