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Military housing, putting a limit on utilities spending
I had heard of this happening before, or rumors that it would. A friend ( from Highschool) just posted this status
"So apparently housing is supposed to start billing us for utilities if we go over the "average" amount. What the hell is the point of living in military housing if we have to pay as much as we would out in town? ** you, marine corps. "
I told her that I don't understand why it's a problem. Just don't go over the amount and you won't pay. This is a great way for the DOD budget to not waste it's money on people that live on base and waste energy. It was extremely generous to say " Here, live in this house and don't pay anything, use as much electricity and water as you want." Especially with the budget cuts, I think this is a great idea.
What do you think?
Re: Military housing, putting a limit on utilities spending
lol tell them its nothing new. There are several bases where this has been implemented for a while now.
Sure its nice to not have to worry if you accidentally left a light on for 5 hours but I think its a good thing. Especially with budget cuts, like you said.
::shrug:: Not that big of a deal to me.
That's good. I was going to say that I totally support charging people more when they use extra, but then people who use less should pay less. That's part of why I like living off base.
67/200
That's very interesting and I can certainly see that as being a neat way to handle it.
The statistics junkie in me really wants to know about the use of the word "average" in this case. If the amounts are actually based on a true average as in the mean or 50th percentile then I'm not sure that it sounds too great. If they're basing it more on people whose bills are higher than, say, the 80th percentile then I'm more okay with it.
Reasonably speaking some people feel that the amount of money that would hypothetically be their BAH is quite a bit and that they shouldn't be overly restricted on utilities as a result. I also acknowledge the flip side of that argument concerning the military needing to save money due to the economy and entitlement attitudes etc.
Exactly. She said it wasn't a risk she could afford to take, and is constantly talking about how the MC is the root of her financial and personal problems.
Haha, I thought that might have something to do with it ;-)
And I'm sure she conveniently leaves out how the MC also pays for the roof over her head to hold all the purchases that have put her in financial trouble.
There is very little that makes me feel as stabby as entitled spouses do who blame the military for everything wrong in their life, or expect everyone to wipe their ass for them.
So can I ask why you lived there or stayed there then?
If you're overpaying by a ton compared to out in ton then I could see being pissed that they are adding on for utilities. But if it was that grossly overpriced I guess I just don't understand why you would stay there.
Fair enough. I wasn't judging or anything, just curious really.
We used to live on base at one of the bases that was early in the implementation on this. It has a couple goals - both to save money, and to be more environmentally concious. I like both reasons, to be honest.
It was relatively simple - they calculated an average based on the usage of similar units (ie: end units compared together, middle units compared together, etc). If you were above that, you paid the difference. (I think they had a 10% band or something like that, within which you didn't have to pay, but it's been a number of years since we lived there, and we went over the average a grand total of once the entire time the program was running...)
When you use less than the average, you get the difference back.
The idea is that your BAH covers the whole unit - the home/apt, the parking, the utilities that are included (ie: trash, water, electric, gas, etc), most of which you would have to pay for seperately from rent off-base. By including the average usage as part of the BAH, it makes sense that if you use more power, you pay more, and if you use less, you get money back.
I had no problem with the program. I'll admit, we pretty much knew we'd be low on usage compared to most folks, but even if we had to pay, it wasn't much (the rate for the power was substantially lower than I've seen off base elsewhere, so if you went over by x number of units, the cost was less than a comparable cost for that many units off base.).
There was a wife whose H was PCSing out of the command, but only about an hour away from the old base. She was a complete idiot who set up their HHG shipment to a house as soon as they applied for it, and then didn't end up getting the house. So then their PCS was getting delayed and they were possibly going to have to do a DITY move instead because they needed to do it ASAP. She was bitching all over FB for days about how effed up the Navy and the command was and they were trying to screw over her family because they don't have money to pay for this move and blah blah blah. Then someone called her out for the fact that her husband's rate had just gotten a $5k bonus literally 2 weeks before that, and she was all over FB posting about shopping and getting her nails done, and going out to eat everyday without thanking the Navy, but now she is blaming the Navy for having no money. She lost her shiit and called the girl a see-you-next-Tuesday for broadcasting her financial situation on FB when it's nobody's business. She was deleted pretty much instantly.
BAH advance!
I, too, think that holding residents responsible for exorbitant use of utilities is fair and reasonable, but only in housing the is energy efficient and can fairly be monitored. Real life means turning the lights off, not running three fridges and keeping the temperature set at "meat locker" in the summer and "sauna" in the winter. And, FWIW, if done in a well thought-out manner, I am not opposed to co-pays or cost sharing for dependents (but it needs to be done right, not haphazardly and with little care, thought or planning).
IMO, it sounds like this chick is incapable of taking responsibility for her actions. I wonder what other problems the MC has "caused"--probably high credit card debit from consumer spending. She was so stressed out that she simply HAD to go shopping! LOL!
Edited because I don't want to look like I slept through English class.
Really? Lol I didn't see that. She has such a haaaaaaaard lyyyyfe.
Probably not. "All Marine Corps wives are B!tches, any one who she might even consider hanging out with doesn't live around there."
Yes, definitely sounds like the problem is them O_O
FTW! She makes me angry. But I keep her on as a friend, hoping to offer helpful advice at some point or another. And that maybe, just maybe, she will realize this is not the attitude to have.
FTW! She makes me angry. But I keep her on as a friend, hoping to offer helpful advice at some point or another. And that maybe, just maybe, she will realize this is not the attitude to have.
This is nothing new to me. We always get a statement, in the winter we do go over a little bit but never enough that they have actually charged us.
And I have to agree with pp she sounds like an entitled brat.
We've always been very grateful not having to pay electric and water and have never really over used, if we aren't in a room the lights in that room are off, it's not too hard to flip a switch on or off!
They started doing it at our first duty station 6 years ago, we haven't lived in a housing area that's done it though. We're getting ready to move on post at our current duty station and will have to pay if we go over, and I'm absolutely okay with that. It really pisses me off when people b*tch about this or how their house on post isn't big enough for their family, you have the OPTION to live on or off post. Not to mention, in my personal experience with friends who have lived on post and had to pay when going over, it's never been more than $20. Don't abuse the privilege you have of living on post by wasting electricity and you won't go over.
On my phone, sorry for mistakes.
TTC#1 since 12/2010- 12/2011 Hyperthyroid with Grave's
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It's what we ended up doing because we had to move out right after the wedding and I still wanted a mini honeymoon (lol). You go to IPAC, show them the lease paperwork, and they will give you up to a month's worth of BAH (or move-in costs), whichever is less. Usually you get it super quickly (like within a couple days) though we had a problem because our lease was signed online. Then they take it from your BAH over the next year. So our move-in cost was like, $1500 at our place, so we pay $125/month back for a year. H's BAH is not noticeably less because we rent a 2/2 for so much less than his BAH.
Haha, nice. What a twat.
I think this is welcomed news and a great way to cut down on the budget. I nannied for another military family who lived in base housing and their electric bill was consistently $400+/month. They left every light on in the house, had these crazy humidifier/air purifier things in every room running 24/7, tv's on all the time, computers, I mean it was insane. I also think it would be a nice incentive if they refunded anything under the limit that you did not use to encourage conservation.