Shutdown Looms As Hype Continues

For those in the military and dealing with the added financial stress in your daily life, it is wise to consider ways to get by on less until this mess is cleaned up.  The hype and news about government shutdown and hiccups in military pay will continue.  There are some major future financial challenges looming for our country, and until the politicians and other elected officials can fix it, it will be a stressful time for many.

Wives of Faith posted one of my current articles dealing with financial stress called Tune Out Financial Stress and Tune In to God.  If you are a believer, it will provide some spiritual relief.  If you are not a believer, it will encourage you to revisit your current spending behavior. 

What a Government Shutdown will mean is this:  essential positions will remain in effect and some will be furloughed.  For the military, you will report to work and receive a paycheck when the government reopens.  Granted, there will be a paycheck for one week of work.  Questions remain about future military paychecks so if and when you receive your paycheck on the 15th (it will likely be two paychecks rather than one because of internal operations to generate the payment), it is prudent for you, your spouse and your family conserve and cover your bare minimum payments.  Doubt is high about when the next paychecks will be made. Hence, for the next pay period scheduled at month-end, it is questionable at this time whether you will get paid or not. 

For veterans, it is important to understand that the Veterans Services could be interupted (as sorry as I am to type this information) because of issue with government shutdown and budget cuts.  The Washington Post with Bloomberg post an interesting article about the Budget 2011 and how this vote will determine the future direction financially for this country. 

Hype will continue.  Many will fuel anger as a negative sentiment rises amongst people both in and out of the military.  Mismanagment in Washington is unacceptable, and to be in this position of suffering the consquence of poor decision-making makes for an ugly day at the office especially when it's in a combat zone.  (I am appauled that folks in line of fire are having this added financial stress added to a stressful time already.  Thank goodness, I am not the only US citizen who feels this way.) These issues have occurred in our country's history, and while I have not pulled out my history books to state those facts, the issue remains that your military paycheck is jeopardy. 

It is wise to review your finances, stockpile your cash, scale back your current spending in ways you knew not, and wait for what will evolve.  It is wise to focus on what is within your means and control rather than what is not.  For example, I normally go to the hair salon for a cut and color.  It's not a cheap bill.  Because we are paying medical bills for our son's surgery, I went to a different hair salon for a $15 haircut and then colored my hair at home.  Total cost was $25.  That is substantially less than what I had paid (about $100).  It was risky but I took a chance because we needed the money to go elsewhere (classic economics on opportunity cost). 

This time will pass, and if you can weather the storm, the hype and the financial stress, it will be a wonderful character-building time.  My grandmothers survived the Depression and passed on to me awareness for saving up for that rainy day.  Today is such the day as our country embarks on a challenging time.