Need a little change? Save money with A&FRC

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Zachary Perras
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  The Airman and Family Readiness Center is launching a course Feb. 22 through Feb. 24 aimed at leading the Iceman Team down the road to balanced money management.

Military Saves covers a variety of topics such as banking and investing, vacationing in Alaska and even helping Airmen understand the Thrift Savings Plan.

While classes are offered year-round through the A&FRC to help Airmen learn about financial stability, this course is an annual week-long program under the national program, America Saves, dedicated to the theme of saving money.

"'Set a goal, make a plan, save automatically' is kind of the mindset of [this year's program,]" said Don Murray, 354th Force Support Squadron A&FRC superintendent. "Our goal is to have people come in and be able to understand that they need to establish long-range goals or short-range goals. But we want to see it on a scale of actually putting a plan down and making a pledge to themselves."

According to a survey done by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, 50 percent of military members do not have an emergency fund. From the same survey, one-third of military members have trouble making payments on monthly bills.

"The best practice for what we consider [good] financial health is a budget," Murray said. The classes offered will help Airmen develop a budget, or a spending plan. "We need to find out how to take care of ourselves."

A proper spending plan allows Airmen to see when and what they can spend money on, but, more importantly, it also helps them take care of their life without feeling restricted, said Murray.

Aside from attending classes here, Airmen also can log on to www.militarysaves.org to make a pledge to save money. The site will send monthly reminders informing users about changes on credit card data or new savings investment vessels.

For more information on saving or to RSVP for a Military Saves class, call the AFRC at 377-2178.