Money Matters

The Society devotes considerable attention and significant resources to educating servicemembers and their families in the basics of responsible money management.

Services Available

Budget Reviews. All NMCRS locations can help servicemembers and their families review and understand their monthly budget and make recommendations for improvements. If you are interested in better understanding where your money is going each month, contact your nearest NMCRS office and ask for an appointment to review your budget.

Other Counseling Resources.

Command Financial Specialists trained in personal financial management are available at most Navy and Marine Corps organizations to assist members of their commands.
Family Service Centers on many Bases have a professional financial counselor assigned who can provide both individual counseling and group training.
Other organizations offer various kinds of helpful personal financial management information and planning assistance. Links to some of these organizations' web sites are listed below.

Links to Military Information and Financial Management

	CinCHouse.com — Help for military families regarding pay, relocation, job opportunities, health and fitness, legislative update, and more.
	The Women's Institute for Financial Education — Non-profit organization dedicated to financial education for women.
	ElderWeb — A guide for seniors in obtaining information regarding health, housing, retirement and lifestyles.
	Budget Central — Budgeting basics.
	Kelly Blue Book — Car buying guide.
	CarPoint — Information on new and used car buying.
	TRICARE — Health benefits information.
	Lifelines — Military Quality of Life issues.
	Department of Veterans' Affairs official Web site.
	United States Navy official Web site — Information about and for Navy Personnel.
	Fleet Reserve Association — a resource for military-related web sites.
	U.S. Marine Corps official Web site — Information for and about Marines.
	CareGuide.com — A guide to care giving resources.
	Dollar Stretcher — Budgeting information).
	Social Security Administration — The official Web site for the Social Security Administration.

Assistance to Commands. In many locations, Society counselors and trained volunteers assist commands in providing personal financial management education. Annually, NMCRS presents money management seminars, workshops, and training to over 100,000 people. This training includes:

	Command Financial Management Training
	Formal class presentations
	Command briefings, including basic information, pre-deployment, and personal financial management portions of general military training.

If you are interested in attending this training, contact the closest NMCRS office for information about opportunities in your area.

Family Seminars and Workshops. NMCRS also conducts seminars and workshops for family groups. One of the most popular is our Budget for Baby workshop. This 2½-hour seminar is conducted regularly at many of our sites and is open to Navy and Marine families who are expecting a baby or who have just had one. Its purpose is to make servicemembers and their families aware of the increased living expenses that come with a new baby, and to discuss effective ways of making adjustments to spending and saving habits. Contact your nearest NMCRS location for information on seminar schedules. If the seminar is not available at your location, you can make an appointment with them to review your budget and help you understand the impact of a baby on the budget.

Layettes (Junior Sea Bag). A family who attends the seminar or who receive a one-on-one "Budget for Baby review" during the period from six months prior to the Baby's birth until one month after, will receive a free layette from NMCRS.

For a quick reference booklet on military pays and allowances, select the picture to the left. This will open an Adobe Acrobat .PDF file which you are free to print. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat on your computer, you can download it free from the Adobe web site.