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Active-Duty Deployment: Financial Preparation
HMForces.co.uk
Being financially prepared is a big part of overall deployment readiness. Here are some basic guidelines that should be considered prior to deployment.
Finances
Service members are responsible for their household expenses/bills while they are deployed. These expenses could include rent, mortgage payments, car payments, credit cards, etc. Before deploying you should ensure that you have made arrangements for these payments to be taken care of. You may wish to appoint your spouse or family member with power of attorney, so that they can handle your finances while you are deployed. For more, see the Legal Preparation section.
Discuss a budget before you go away and plan a set amount for spending, both for you in theatre and your partner at home. You may be restricted in how you can access your money in theatre. You may need to cash UK cheques and these can take a few days to show up on your bank balance. You may be able to use the situation to make regular savings as you will have fewer opportunities to spend money in theatre. There may also be memberships that you will not be able to use like gyms or TV subscription services that can be cancelled.
Make sure that you can both access all your financial resources in case there is an emergency. It can help to pay regular bills by direct debits or standing orders. This means you both know when certain payments are coming out of your account so you can plan accordingly.
Income Tax: If you have to complete Self Assessment tax forms and you are going to be deployed when your taxes are due, decide in advance how income taxes will be filed and who will do it.
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oneitaone
about 1 month ago
12 comments
Having a spouse away can be hard enough from an emotional standpoint, and adding to that the day to day responsibilities of life can make it even harder. That is why making a budget and staying organized about one's finances is very important. Moreover, being smart about your spending habits can go along way to keeping the stress down. Examples of this are setting a specified amount of money aside into savings rather than spending it. Other ways to save include bargain shopping. . There are lots of outlets, such as coupons.com, that offer deals on different products. Saving money is not only smart, but it can be lots of fun.