What is your Perception?

Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and its Volunteers operate under the knowledge that Navy life can be difficult and often carries with it many financial trials that can affect ANYONE, regardless of rank. NMCRS’s primary goal is to help families get to a better financial state, to be there in a crisis, to offer nursing education to new mothers, to provide financial counseling and to offer scholarships and educational aid.

Why would one go to Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society? NMCRS MAYPORT distributed over $850,000 to nearly 1,000 cases in financial aid to its Mayport families last year. These numbers tell you two things: You are NOT alone in sometimes needing a helping hand and the generous donations from Sailors and Marines make help possible.

Navy leadership encourages Sailors to seek NMCRS for assistance. Unfortunately, there are still a few out there who forget or fail to encourage Sailors to seek NMCRS’s help. Going to NMCRS shows initiative on the Sailors part to fix the problem or to take advantage of a service that is offered for the Navy Sailor and the family. Waiting until it’s too late to recover or seeking a predator loan company, indicates poor choices and often times leads to a spiral of debt and is not very conducive to a successful navy career. Going to NMCRS BEFORE your finances reach a crisis state indicates a responsible Sailor with a future.

If you are not in need of any of Navy Relief’s opportunities, please think about making a donation of your time. NMCRS relies upon the generosity of its volunteers to keep running. For over 103 years Navy-Marine Relief Society has been helping widows and Navy families cope with the pressures of the military life. You can pick your hours, plus get reimbursement for child care expenses. The best part is that you will be helping your fellow Mayport shipmates and have the knowledge that your efforts will be priceless.

NMCRS MAYPORT operates a local web site where you can read more about Budget for Baby, Nursing Assistance, Emergency Assistance, Scholarships and more... The site is www.nmcrsmayport.org. Our phone number is 904-270-5418. Remember to make NMCRS MAYPORT your first resource, not your last resort!

YOU ARE PREY

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re being hunted? That you’re being tracked down, targeted? The answer is that you are. Every military member has a giant “X” on his back. Actually, the target is a little lower and located on the pocket. The pocket where your wallet is located.

You are being targeted by unscrupulous businesses. Drive down Mayport Road and the list of predator cash advance places, pawnshops and rent-to-own stores are everywhere. And each of them has the same goal: To entice you with the lure of easy money, easy own, just plain easy.

Some companies use your own fear against you—that’s right—F-E-A-R, misguided as it is. You wrongly assume that when you’re in a financial jam and need to seek help from Navy-Marine Corp Relief Society with an INTEREST- FREE loan, it will land you in hot water with your command. The truth is that NMCRS does NOT report to your command. NMCRS does not condemn or judge you. They are there to help you and your business is confidential. NMCRS raises funds for its Sailors by its Sailors. That is one if its goals: Have Sailors help their shipmates.

Other companies use your steady pay as a way to get you in the door by using catchy slogans like, “Have a job? Get a Loan” or “No credit, bad credit, no problem”. The truth is that companies are in business to make money. PERIOD. Statistics show that people with limited income have a tough time paying bills and are more likely to default on a loan/payments. So predator companies, who assume this is true with Sailors, will get you in the door and will charge you sky-high interest rates. They also assume that you won’t default immediately, another reason for the sky-high interest—they plan on getting their cost of their product out of you in a fairly short amount of time and anything over that is cake, icing and the cherry on top. Many will and do go after you when you default. They will call you at home, at work and will threaten to call your command. They will send mail to your home and to your command and then when you’re in so much financial hot water and are made to pay them (in many cases you will be sent to NMCRS)—they then charge you a huge late payment fee!!! And don’t forget the deposit. Most places also charge a deposit. In many cases, this equals nearly half of their cost. So, after 2 payments, they’ve already recouped most of their cost. Not a bad deal—for them!

In all cases but one, every single place that will let you buy something or take out a loan with bad or no credit, will charge you an interest rate well above the norm. Read your contract. How badly do want the plasma TV or X-Box 360? Enough to pay a huge percentage over the list price? READ your contract before you sign. Bring a calculator with you! Do your homework!

Here’s a true scenario. If you borrow $500 from a cash advance place and they charge $50 every two weeks until you pay the full amount back (no partial payments are allowed) and it takes you 5 months to save up $550 to pay it off, how much will it have cost you to borrow that $500? That’s right—Five Hundred Dollars on top of paying back the principal. And if it took you a year? Twelve Hundred Dollars in interest PLUS the $500 for the original loan amount equals a whopping $1,700. $1,700 DOLLARS!!!! If you were get a loan for $500 from NMCRS and took a year to pay it back, how much interest would it cost you? Answer: Zero. Borrow $500 from a predator lender, take a year to pay it back, total cost: $1,700. Borrow $500 from NMCRS, take a year to pay it back, total cost: $500. (Priceless)

I know most of you think it’ll never take you that long to pay it back. Really? How did you get in the position to need to borrow $500 (or $200, etc)? Because you were rolling in the dough? In most cases, the person who takes out the loan isn’t going to have an extra $550 of extra cash lying around in 2 weeks (that’s what those predators are building their business on). In fact, you’re going to now be $50 behind where you were before you took the money, so how will you be in a better position to pay it back with less money than you had before? If you take another 2 weeks, then you’ve now blown $100 in a month and still have nothing to show for it and you will continue to need to pay back the original amount, plus $50. And that’s how it starts…they prey on your need and your hope.

So, you have a choice; allow yourself to be a victim trapped in their predator’s nets or do you do something about it?! Call NMCRS. Make Navy-Marine Corps RELIEF Society your first stop in any financial crisis. They can help you with a budget, they can make interest-free loans to meet basic needs. Stay away from any and all Cash Advance or Payday Loan places. Seek RELIEF from Navy-Marine Corp Relief Society, your “First Resource”, and Call 270-5418 for an appointment.

School is in and your money is out

For many of us, August is more of a budget buster than December. We know Christmas is coming all year and many of us plan for it, but there’s something about August that just kind of sneaks up on you! Maybe it’s the lazy, hazy days of summer fogging the mind, but it just seems to creep up and the next thing you know bam!! you’re swimming in back-to-school debt.

I think it’s easier to buy Christmas presents a few months ahead or set money aside each month, but it just seems odd to be buying school clothes and supplies before they even get out of the previous school year! Two months of summer just isn’t enough.

Some of us get the double whammy. Kids going back-to-school mean that childcare costs go down, but unfortunately, it doesn’t mean getting a month break in between. So, are you are in July paying childcare and trying to purchase supplies, etc? Not good. And, how about having to pay for school pictures, PTO dues, weekly readers, music instruments and whatever else your school decides just can’t wait and you have buy to now?! I won’t even talk about the cost of fall sports! Wouldn’t it be great if the schools could hand you a bill of estimated costs for the entire year and then let you pay a little each month? But, we live in the real world where life is messy and not cost effective.

How many of you make a budget and plan ahead and on paper you have oodles of dough left? But, then a few days before payday—poof! it’s gone? How does that happen?! That’s where the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society can help. They can show you how to budget your finances all year and they can find that illusive money gremlin that seems to make your surplus funds disappear (that little bugger is on my hit list!). They can help you get back on track, recover from the back-to-school financial blues and help you set up a plan that keeps those sneak attacks at bay. Call now for an appointment and make NMCRS your first resource not your last resort-- 270-5418.

Did You Know?

Did you know that the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society has a visiting nurse program? The program attempts to identify and meet needs not being met by other military or civilian programs in the area. The main function of the Visiting Nurse is to provide health education and information about health-related resources. This program is comprised of both volunteer and paid staffs that are Registered Nurses.

Not only do they provide tips about feeding newborns, postpartum care and parenting skills, they can also monitor your recovery. The Society's Visiting Nurse Program has also published the Your Baby and You: Birth to One Year — a publication designed to provide useful information on how to care for a child at home and also help decide when a healthcare provider should see the child. These handbooks are offered free of charge.

Think they are limited to seeing and educating only new moms? No so. The Visiting Nurse is available to make hospital or home visits to eligible clients in the interest of improving their quality of life by promoting understanding of information about the individual's health issues. Visits are frequently made to patients recovering from surgery, and to patients with chronic health problems. The Visiting Nurse will see patients of any age. All Navy and Marine Corps members, active duty or retired, their family members, and their survivors, within a 25-mile radius of the program site may be eligible for Visiting Nurse services. The Visiting Nurse may be able to offer resource information by telephone or mail to individuals outside the driving area

Military or civilian doctors, nurses, or social workers may make referrals to the Visiting Nurse, or the patient may contact the Visiting Nurse directly by calling the local Society office—270-5418.

As with all of the Society's programs, Visiting Nurse services are delivered free of charge.

The Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society is here to help you!

No Day at the Beach

Your leave is arranged. Your plans of bliss are prepared. With visions of sugar and spice and everything nice, you start your drive to Daytona to see your honey. Your transmission decides it has other ideas. The side of I-95 with 18-wheelers blowing by seems to be where it wants to die. No string bikinis, oiled flesh and a salty breeze for it--it prefers cigarette butts, aluminum cans and fast food bags for its resting place.

Too bad all the bucks in your wallet have to go to getting Betsy towed to a garage (goodbye romantic beachside dinner). The estimate you get to fix her is about what you paid for your new laptop (after all, that money was just sitting in your savings doing nothing and it was on close-out sale!). You call your sweet stuff to tell her the bad news (the, I told you so, is hard to take!) You call your buddy for a loan and help. He can pick you up from the garage in a couple hours, but the moola is a no go. You then whip out your trusty blackberry and proceed to call everyone in it (except work). During this laugh fest, you’ve been hanging out in Bubba’s Garage for 2 hours and he isn’t getting any satisfaction just looking at your dead car. An angry Bubba is not a pretty sight. His finger is not going to be doing any walking over his keyboard to order you a new trainny until you can assure him you’ve got the means.

Bubba, being the smart guy he is, tells you that his patience is gone and you’d better get your baggie-clad body over to Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and get some help. Now.

But, you whine, my command will kill me. The Financial Specialist on board has already told me I need to get my act together. If they get a call like this, my sweet weekends with Tiffany will be a thing of the past! Sage old Bubba tells you that NMCRS does NOT report to your command (well, not unless they think you’ve robbed a bank or something equally illegal). You ask how he knows this. He tells you he’s had many an unprepared sailor darken his door and has accepted many a check from NMCRS.

So, you ask, they’ll give me a loan for a new trainny? What do I need to do? Bubba tells you to take your latest LES, license, registration and insurance card there with the estimate. He tells you that as long as you can show you can pay back their interest-free loan, you should be good to go. He tells you to call him when you get approved and he’ll order your new transmission. He also wonders why he knows more than you…

Remember, NMCRS is a helping hand and should be your first resource, not last resort! 270-5418.

ONE STOP HELP

Need help with college tuition? Or car repairs? Emergency travel? Are you out of diapers, cash and food? Having a baby? Have free time on your hands? Need a financial review? Need a nurse? Want to keep things confidential?

If you answered yes to ANY of the above questions, then I have the place for you—Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. They can help with Emergency Transportation, Funeral Expenses, Medical/dental Bills (patient's share), Food, Rent, and Utilities, Disaster Relief Assistance, Child Care Expenses, Essential Vehicle Repairs and Unforeseen Family Emergencies.

NMCRS 's education programs help eligible Navy and Marine Corps families pursue their academic goals by providing a source of education financing. Awards are provided solely on the basis of the applicant's financial need, in accordance with policies established by the Society's Board of Directors.

Need help with finances? NMCRS can help servicemembers and their families review and understand their monthly budget and make recommendations for improvements. If help is needed in a monetary fashion, when the servicemember can afford to repay, financial assistance is provided as an interest-free loan, which is normally repaid by allotment. If repayment would cause a hardship, assistance may be provided as a grant or a combination of grant and interest-free loan. NMCRS does not, however, assist with the purchase of non-essentials, nor does it supplement the income of persons who live beyond their means.

Need food help NOW? NMCRS operates a Food Locker that provides balanced meals for short-term needs. Infant diapers are also available. In the absence of a food locker, the local NMCRS office may issue you a check to the local commissary.

Need a nurse? The Visiting Nurse program attempts to identify and meet needs not being met by other military or civilian programs in the area. The main function of the Visiting Nurse is to provide health education and information about health-related resources. They also make home visits to new moms and those recovering from surgery, when warranted.

Having or have had a baby? The Layette program, run entirely by Volunteers, is designed to help new, or prospective, parents learn about the impact that a new baby can have on the financial situation of the family unit. Through a program of preventive education, clients learn about variations in pay and increased expenses, common consumer pressures targeted to new parents, and entitlements available through both government and private sources.

The Layette (also known as a Junior Seabag) is issued to any eligible recipient who has recently had a baby or whose child will be born within six months. It consists of a coordinated set of bedding and clothing, a baby book, and a handmade item (either sweater set, afghan or quilt), packed in a tote or duffel bag. Layettes will be given to recipients after they attend a "Budget for Baby" class or complete an individual budget session with a Society caseworker.

What to make a difference? More than 3,000 trained Volunteers, both ashore and aboard ships, accomplish the major portion of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society's work. A small cadre of employees supports them. The Society enjoys an active partnership with the Navy and Marine Corps and benefits extensively from the active involvement of the command structure at the bases where the Society maintains a presence. The commanders themselves, as well the senior enlisted leadership, chaplains, and family service center personnel interact with the Society regularly.

Please call us today if you require our assistance in a non-judgmental, confidential way. Bring your ID card and latest LES, if available, with you. Make Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society your first resource, not your last resort! 270-5418

Can't Wait

Most of us can’t wait to leave home, to be FREE! We count the days until we’re our own bosses, the Master of our Universe. So, when that first pay hits our bank account, we can’t help but want to spend it without mom or dad telling us how. And it feels good. When we finally get to live in our own apartment, even if we have to share it with a buddy. We just can’t help wanting to go out and finance that 62” Plasma TV and of course, we HAVE to have 10 channels of digital ESPN and Speed. And what is Plasma TV without surround sound and a killer stereo system? After all, we have a job and can live the same way as we did with the folks— even better ‘cause they’d never go for 62”!!.

Too bad the payments for the TV--$150 a month and the cable--$80 a month and the surround sound--$50 a month don’t leave enough to pay the car insurance (who’ll ever know we don’t have insurance coverage or can’t keep our other bills current?). We’ve got our priorities straight—eat all meals on the ship (must have games for the XBOX 360 & PS2), buy gas ($100), pay for the TV, tunes and cable and then pay the electricity ($75). Oops, forgot the encyclopedias--80 more dollars sucked out a month On even months, make car payment ($250) and on odds pay on the phone ($45), water ($25), credit cards ($100—had to buy the XBOX 360 & PS2), cell phone ($80—got to have a Bluetooth!), continue robbing Peter and always check caller ID for the creditors.

And then, we get pulled over on base. They check to see if our car insurance is current…and the balancing act is over. The command may be notified that we’re driving without insurance. The next thing we’re standing being yelled at by our Chief (who’s decided some extra duty on the ship for a few days sounds good. What no plasma and we have to work on our weekend?!). Then we see the Command Financial Specialist, who sends us to Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society because we are in DEEP. NMCRS goes over a financial plan with us to see if maybe, just maybe there is enough wiggle room for us to get an interest-free loan from them to help pay for car insurance. They figure this could happen, but perhaps the digital cable needs to go (as a start). But, hey, we say, what’s plasma without digital?! Well, they say, we could give up our car instead and then we wouldn’t need insurance or have car payments. But we can’t LIVE without a car! Being on your own is about choices. We can forfeit the 62”, tunes & cable, but we can keep the car, pay insurance and maybe actually have enough money to get a date (and buy groceries) or we forfeit the car, but keep the TV joy ride, buy groceries and of course, get a date. Or we could call home and beg Mom and Dad for LOTS of money. At which time, they’ll yell at us, give us another lecture about finances and continue to treat us like we’re twelve (hey, what about the money?!).

If this is hitting too close to your life, I suggest a visit to NMCRS to get a budget done BEFORE financing all of those gimmes. With a little restraint and some proper planning, you can live the life of your plasma dreams, but just not this second.

MAKE NMCRS YOUR FIRST RESOURCE; NOT YOUR LAST RESORT!