Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
just curious: BAH budgeting
I've always used about 65% of BAH on rent/util (except when I'm overseas and 100% makes the most sense).
Am I normal? Or am I really cheap? Or does your view of BAH vary on location?
H is trying to convince me that it's ok to look at using 100% or even a little more, but it just seems like such a huge unnecessary splurge b/c it gets us more than we need. Of course, it gets us what I'd really like, like a fancy kitchen and more than 1 bedroom, plus a great view, but none of that is what I need, so it seems unnecessarily indulgent, especially when I'll be alone half the year.
At least it makes the decision to live off base very easy b/c we can get a much nicer place using BAH than what they'd offer us.
So, I'm just curious how other people think.
Re: just curious: BAH budgeting
I think part of my hangup is that I'm in Hawaii, so BAH is really high. Of course, so is housing. But I keep seeing the dollar amount and it kind of freaks me out to spend that much. Seriously, BAH here is more than any take home pay I've ever had.
I think if I were somewhere much less expensive, I wouldn't care as much. 30% savings of not very much, meh. But 30% of a shitton of money, yea!
We are in SoCal, where it's a pretty HCOL. Still, when DH and I were living off base, I'd say we were using about 75-80% of our BAH, and that includes our cell bill (we didn't have a land line) and cable/internet. We were pocketing a pretty penny. We had a very nice 1 bed/1 bath house that was upgraded and in a good location. It just wasn't any bigger or fancier than what we needed. Now that we are on base and using every penny of BAH, we are REALLY feeling the difference!! I can't wait to get back off base.
ETA: If we had kids, it would be different. I'd definitely be more willing to spend a higher amount then, but since it's just DH and I, we are fine with feeling a bit cramped here and then for the benefit of pocketing extra money.
We vary based on base and even right down to the neighborhood.
Our BAH when we got to CA was $1201 for me, $1250 for H. I got promoted, but because BAH decreased for SSgt, I stayed at $1201. Our first house was $900/mo (large with a pool), but we were the victims of an armed robbery. Our second house was $800 (just as large, but didn't even have grass), but our truck windows were smashed out and items were stolen. We moved to a safer neighborhood, sacrificed square footage, and paid $1275/mo. With any of those options, we had plenty left over to pay utilities and the added fuel used to commute (30-40 minutes for each of us from any of those houses).
Now our BAHs are in the $700s and there's absolutely no rental market here. We purchased a home and use both our BAHs to cover mortgage, insurance, and property tax. Utilites come out of our base pay and it's been a bit of an adjustment. Our commute to base is about 25 minutes for me, 35 for H, so we're still spending quite a bit for fuel.
There is no way I could rent something for 65% of our BAH unless I wanted to live in a cardboard box under an overpass.
However, if you can find something that works for you and suits your purposes for less, I say go for it.
Click me, click me!
I just want you guys to take a look at craigslist for the island.
http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/apa/
You'll notice there are 1br apts for 3000. Of course, there are places definitely places that cost less. And there are places that cost a shitton more.
Renting a house for 800? I'm pretty sure that, if it is available, you don't want anything to do with that here, or it's way too far away.
and it's not even the prices that are as upsetting as the size. We have a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom that is 1,100 sq ft. And that is considered spacious by Hawaii standards. Our kitchen floor measures 3x5 feet. yeah, spacious.
Oh, yeah, I'm looking at 2br that are about 700sq ft. I have to have a 2nd bedroom, for visitors and throwing our stuff behind a closed door. It's the 2nd bedroom I'm now questioning.
Also, I have big furniture. So part of my housing budget is small place + storage unit or bigger place that costs more.
I saw a place that actually was great, but it had a built in queen size bed frame. Well, I have a king, that's awesome and fairly new. So, do I take the apt and sell/store the bed? Or do I pass? I passed, but I still feel pathetic passing on a good deal b/c it didn't fit my king. 1st world problems!
Krista, Ko Olina? Isn't that a really long drive to basically everywhere? We drove in the area once, but I just felt like it was so isolated from everything.
28/100
LittleL 8/10/07
Baby E 11/27/10
Check out my makeup and reading blog:
Books and Beauty
This is the first time we've lived off post, we pay use about 90% of our BAH once we pay our utilities(including cable and internet). But our house is big, our yard is huge and we live in a good neighborhood. We could have found something a little smaller and still in a good neighborhood and probably paid less.
We're PCSing next month and we're going to be paying out of pocket for most of our utilities, it's a low COL area but they jack the rent up quite a bit from I've seen of houses to rent.
TTC#1 since 12/2010- 12/2011 Hyperthyroid with Grave's
DX 10/2012 Unexplained IF
IUI #2- 4/25/13- BFP 5/9/13- CP
IUI#4- 9/3/13- BFP 9/17/13- Due Date 05/27/14
First ultrasound 10/8/13- 7weeks 130bpm
We're using about 95% of our BAH. It's not ideal, we wanted to pocket more. But the Army moved in to our base and we watched rental prices skyrocket. Literally I saw a house on AHRN go from $700/month to $900/month in the matter of two weeks. It's insane. We also live in a nice neighborhood and have 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms, so I think it's ultimately worth it for us.
But, we wanted more space with a large backyard for the dog, so we were prepared to pay for our wants.
My husband works on Schofield and it takes him about 25 minutes to get to work. It takes me about 40 minutes to get to downtown Honolulu. But Kapolei is a large enough city that I have everything I need here, Costco, Target, restaurants, etc. I drive into Honolulu maybe once a week and the drive doesn't bother me at all. The only thing I don't like being so far away from is Boots & Kimos and Cinnamon's (both in Kailua) for breakfast
But I live in a safe, gated resort on the beach in a condo that's only a few years old. There's even a pre-school on the resort for my son. Living here is totally worth it. There's actually a very large military population in Ko Olina.
Yeah, 40 minutes would be a dealbreaker for me. I hope to find work downtown, and that's too much commuting to do daily.
I didn't realize there were so many military, although that explains why when we looked at it, and H was in uniform, they said welcome home.
Then you absolutely do not want to live here. If you have to drive in and back during rush hour it will take you two hours each way. I time everything I do in town for between 9:30am - 2pm. I get serious road rage on the H-1 in the morning or late afternoon.
When we were getting ready to move back to NoVA, I started looking at places that were a bit below DH's BAH so that we'd be able to use the remainder of BAH to cover utilities. That didn't work out as planned. We opted to rent a place quite close in to where DH works and 1.5 blocks from a Metro station. We are paying more in BAH than I ever thought we would. But, DH's commute is a dream by DC standards (he either takes the Metro or bikes in). When he gets home, we have more time with him, he's not stressed or crabby from battling DC area traffic. We are down to one vehicle. Our neighborhood allows us to walk to restaurants, and shopping. It is well worth the money, IMO. Plus, it's two years. Next Spring, we'll PCS again and will likely not be paying so much for housing.
Yes, there is sticker shock for certain locations. But, the military sets BAH at what is determined to be appropriate for housing, given rank and time in service. I am at the point where I would rather live somewhere I like and am comfortable than what is e least expensive reasonable option. KWIM? Good luck finding something that fits what is important to you and your DH!
When H and I were living in Charleston, we lived off base in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment that wasn't in a prime location- pocketing about 35% of the BAH after utilities. Since I wasn't working it was important to us to be saving more money, and that came in front of living in the best area.
After we moved back to Virginia, we wanted a nicer, bigger place in a great area- which came with an inevitable higher price tag. Now after utilities we're only pocketing about 10%. At first I kind of missed all the extra money, but it's totally worth it to be 10 minutes away from either of our families, have the extra space, be within walking distance to my work and a short commute to the base for H.
You just need to prioritize what's most important to you.
67/200
As others have said, it's all about what your priorities are in your home. We want a home that we feel comfortable in and can have people come visit us in, not just somewhere to live for the time being. So for us it was important to have 3 bedrooms, even though we don't have kids yet. We wanted to have a guest room, and H wanted a "man zone," which can also be a second guest room. Also we need the storage of both extra rooms and closets. For our current place we spend about 90% probably on rent and utilities. When we move to the Norfolk area next year we will probably be about the same percentage, if not more, depending on where we choose to live.
We live on base here. They take all but about $150. BAH doesn't even begin to cover housing out in Denver and living around base here is suicide. Not a lot of options. Theres a new subdivision fairly close to base that we're looking at if we end up staying the rest of his enlistment. Even if we stay on base we're moving to the next level of housing when he puts his new rank on b/c our current neighbors are pretty inconsiderate and loud.
I WISH I could find housing here so we could pocket a lot more of his BAH.
We were stationed in Hawaii during the housing boom and everything was as expensive as it is today. We had to use 100+% of our BAH. I think you may get lucky and find a house or apt that is less than your BAH (there's always hoping!), but you should psychologically adjust yourself to knowing that you will likely spend all of your BAH. But you also get COLA, which is awesome and may offset that loss that you have with not getting to keep a portion of BAH. Also, even though Hawaii is expensive, so many activities are free, you'll likely spend less on entertainment. We were very financially healthy when we lived in Hawaii despite the HCOL.
I wish Army and Air Force would communicate more on base. We tried to go to a marriage retreat J's unit told him talk to the chapen (which is Air Force) the chapel told us to talk to his unit. Needless say it didn't work out.
Our mortagage is about 85% of his BAH but we also pay utilities out of pocket so it usually come to right about his BAH. or a little over. But having a good yard for the dogs is more than worth it.
The Dogs and Us
We lived there before Hawaii. Finding housing was incredibly frustrating! The options (besides townhouses) were brand new subdivisions over BAH or cheap, crappy, old houses. There was very little in between. When we finally found a moderately priced, not too old house, we bought quickly and kept it as a rental.
We're in San Antonio now (I can't figure out how to change my location on here), but yeah, the housing in AL is so weird. The prices are really inflated b/c of Fort Rucker - they set rent based off of BAH, it's crazy.
I too am in Hawaii and yes the BAH is pretty high. As a matter of fact my BAH is more than my base pay is lol Anyways, DH and I dont have a problem using all of our BAH for housing because it means a garage and central air conditioning. To us those "luxaries" are worth the extra money
BFP #2 02/05/2013 EDD 09/19/2013
We also are stationed in Hawaii, so I feel your pain about the HCOL and housing situation! My H works on Hickam (he's Army, but for some reason works on the AF base), as do I (as a nanny), and we initially started looking for a place to rent off-base in the area and were pretty appalled at what we would be able to get for our money. Very frustrating.
I'm jealous of the PP who got a place in Ko'Olina! We love that area, but it is too much of a commute to Hickam each day. Anyway, we lucked out with a decent 2bed/2bath townhouse on Hickam with a fenced in backyard, central air, spacious (for us, as we have no kids or pets), nice quiet neighborhood. We are happy with it, even though it does use up 100% of our BAH (and in another state this place definitely would not be worth $2000/mo)..but like someone else said, COLA helps make up for some of that.
We'd be eligible for about the same housing on Hickam, Esquared, a 2/2 townhouse. At your BAH, I can definitely see how it makes sense, but they give us a little bit more, so I think I can actually do better off base. It seems 2k is right about the tipping point.
I'm surprised about the PP's Denver comment. I lived there until last December, and I had no problem finding decent housing. In fact, we lament that we're not finding any neighborhoods like the Highlands which I loved. I'd be willing to spend a lot of money to live in a place like that again. But I also lived in a small house, so maybe for a family it's not as affordable.
Thanks for all the input. I think I'm adjusting my brain to use 100% of it. I'm resigned. I can always save more in the future, right?