FREE Over-the-Counter Meds for Military

I've been a navy spouse for eight years now, and was a navy brat for more than, well, I won't tell my age. I like to think I am a pretty well-informed military spouse, but I had no idea how easy it was to get over-the-counter meds free from the Bremerton Naval Hospital until recently!

I had heard that you could get certain meds free, but I always assumed that it would be a huge pain in the rear to do so, like so many "benefits" of the military are. But my good friend, Barbara A., told me to go check out the drive-through refill pharmacy at Jackson Park, near the Bremerton Naval Hospital.

Sure enough! It only took ten minutes, and I didn't even have to get out of my car. A really cool thing, especially since I am on crutches right now and had my three year old son in the car.

Take the second right turn off of Austin Drive into the Jackson Park navy housing complex, and the refill pharmacy is immediately on your right. As you pull in to the drive-through window, you will see a box of forms on the driver's side. Grab a form for each of your family members, and fill it out as you wait in line or pull back into a parking spot to fill it out if the line is short.

Military is allowed 3 unique products per family member in any 30 day period. I got adult acetamenaphine, children's liquid acetamenophine, cough suppresant, antacid, and a cream for hubby's athletes foot (welcome to hot days on deployment in the gulf in bad shoes and socks!). All free!

Do understand that these are not name-brand products, but they have the same ingredients and work just as well. When you realize how much it would have cost me to buy these items in a drug store, it was definitely worth the drive and a few minutes of my time. And, they are open on Saturdays!

PS I thought I was the only navy spouse who didn't know about this, but then I ran into my friends and past clients Chris and Tammy K. at Wal-mart, and they were surprised that it was so easy too!

What Can Your BAH Buy You?

Buying with BAH

“We want to buy a house, and we’re probably going to use our VA loan. Can you tell us how much we can afford? We’d like to keep our payments below our BAH.”

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard young military couples (and a few singles) tell me this. It’s a good goal, but I have to tell you that, depending on your expectations for a home, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish this goal. Don’t get me wrong, it does happen, but it usually takes some re-prioritizing and perhaps settling a little.

Allow me to explain…..

The Basic Allowance for Housing was put in place to pay rent for military service members who either can not or choose not to live in military housing. That’s right, I said rent. BAH was not designed to allow military personnel to purchase a home without taking any money out of their regular pay.

Also, different paygrades are given enough BAH to rent a home that is specific to the lifestyle that the military imagines that particular paygrade to have. For example, an E-3 with dependents are given enough to rent a two-bedroom apartment. An E-5 with dependents is given enough to rent a two or three bedroom townhouse. An E-7 should get enough to rent a single family home.

The same generalization applies to Officers and Warrant Officers too. The lower paygrades will have enough to rent attached family homes, while the higher paygrades will have enough to rent a single family home.

And remember, that is to rent a house, not to buy. Right now in Kitsap County, you can rent more hosue than you can buy for the same amount of money. In other words, you can afford to rent a nicer house than you can afford to buy.

With all that said, if you expect to buy a house and not pay more than your BAH, you will not be buying your dream home right away. Compromises will have to be made. And yes, you will probably end up taking money out of your pocket, as it were.

It all depends on what you are looking for, and what you can give up and what you absolutely can’t live without.

Sit down with your lender and your real estate agent and decide what you are willing and able to pay, and what you expect to get for the money. Do this before you start looking at houses – it will save you a lot of heartache.

DON'T send a Christmas card to "A Wounded Soldier..."

It's a nice idea, really. I was about to send one myself, until my husband, currently stationed aboard the USS John C. Stennis, stopped me.

"That's nice, honey, but it'll never reach anyone."

At first I didn't believe him, but then we watched the news last night. It was covered on at least ABC News and Fox News. The information has also appeared in the Associated Press and the New York Times.

Any mail not addressed to a specific soldier, whether they are currently stationed on a military base overseas, in the US or at a medical center, will not be delivered. According to officials at Walter Reed Medical Center, this has been a problem for years. The mail to "A Wounded Soldier" has either been returned to sender, or destroyed.

The fear is that terrorists will send contaminated mail to our soldiers. An understandable fear, in my opinion.

Have we gone overboard in protecting ourselves? Is this a violation of rights? How are we going to support our troops with rules like this "protecting" them?

There are so many ways that you can choose to show your love and support for our servicemembers. The group Soldier's Angels allows citizens to adopt a soldier. Freedom Is Not Free is a unique charity directed by current and former members of the military, the "Purple Heart Board". Finally, Salute America's Heroes does some simple yet effective support gestures, such as selling armbands for our vets and heroes.

Please, don't be upset because your Christmas Cards may not get to the wounded soldier that you wanted to receive it. Be thrilled that the government is doing their best to protect our military, and find another way to show your gratitude. It's so easy, there are so many choices, and they really need our support!

Military: Scholarships Available for Military Kids

Your eligible child can receive scholarship money for winning an essay contest sponsored by military commissaries!

Every commissary that receives an entry from an eligible applicant will give away $1,500 in scholarship funds through the 2008 “Scholarships for Military Children” program.

Applicants must be under 21 and planning to attend or currently attending college, or under 23 and currently attending college. Scholars must have a 3.0 GPA based on a 4.0 scale, and must be in the DEERS system, meaning he or she must hold a current military ID card.

Scholarship funds are available to unmarried children of active-duty, retired, Reserve and Guard service members. Children of deceased service members are eligible as well. Applicants must be enrolled or planning to enroll in an accredited college or university as a full-time student for the fall 2008 term.

The question for this year’s essay is “Every able-bodied citizen should be required to serve a two-year period of time in the military. Why or why not?” Applications can be found at any military commissary or by clicking here.

Military: Grants for Military Spouse's Education

Military spouses often have special challenges finding and maintaining a career when following a spouse between different duty stations. Many career fields are not “portable”, and those that are often require special training. Child care and cost of education becomes an issue.

Many military spouses who maintain a career often sacrifice high-paying jobs to follow their active duty sailor or soldier every time they a relocated, which can happen as often as every six months to two years. Military husbands and wives find it difficult, if not impossible, to train for a new career in high-demand, easily-transferable fields, due to the cost of education, tuition, books, and child care. Many military spouses just give up, accepting the fact that they will not have a career of their own until after their spouse retires from active duty.

However, help is now available in the form of financial grants for military spouses. The Military Spouse Career Advancement Initiative is designed for spouses who move frequently and meet income requirements. The grants are backed by $35 million from the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor.

Participants must be married to an E1 – E5 active duty service member, or an active duty junior officer O1-O3. Eligible spouses need to have either a high school diploma or their GED.

Spouses are eligible for up to $3,000 per year in grant money for training in the health care, education and information technology fields, among others. The program will begin in January of 2008, and is being unveiled at 18 military installations across the country.

In Washington State, participating bases include Fort Lewis, McChord Air Force Base, and Naval Base Kitsap. For more information, call Robin Moeller at the Fleet and Family Services Center at Naval Base Kitsap at 360.396.1768.

To see if you qualify, or for a list of other participating military installations, see the Military Spouse Support Center at http://www.military.com/spouse/cf/0,,cf_CAA_111407,00.html.

Military: USS John C. Stennis Education Fair

This is the chance to advance in your career and begin planning for your career after retirement!

Use your GI Bill benefits to get your degree while still receiving your military pay check!

The USS Stennis is sponsoring an education fair, featuring more than 25 colleges and universities from around the country offering a variety of degrees in different areas of concentration. The fair is free to members of the active duty military community.

The fair will be held on Wednesday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (1000 to 1400 in Navy lingo) on board the USS Stennis barge. For more information, call 360-476-4282.

Start planning now for your time after military service has ended. It's never too early!

Military: Give Life to a Military Service Member!

You have the ability to save the life of a wounded service member or a member of their family!

By donating blood through the ASBP, you support our military and their families. All blood donated through ASBP goes directly to military men and women, both at home and abroad, as well as their families. Whole blood and blood platelets are needed daily for transfusions for our injured combat troops, cancer patients, transplant patients and many more.

As a transplant recipient and the spouse of a naval officer, I can not emphasize enough the blessing of receiving those blood donations. I have no idea who my blood came from during those eight hours of surgery, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart. By encouraging others to donate, perhaps I can return the favor.

Donating whole blood takes less than an hour of your time, and could save a life. The ASBP will be in our Kitsap County several times before the New Year. December 6, the ASBP will be accepting donations at Naval Base Kitsap - Keyport, Building 105. December 12, they will be at Naval Base Kitsap - Bangor. Although they will be located at the Trident Training Facility, access to dependents, retirees and contractors can be arranged through the TTF Security Desk.

The ASBP will also be taking blood donations at the Bremerton Naval Hospital on December 18. As long as donors have base access, they may donate blood at this event.

Military service members, dependent family members, retirees and their family members, and civilian government contractors are encouraged to give blood. To see if you are an eligible donor, please go to http://www.militaryblood.dod.mil/.

For more information, call 253-968-1903. And thank you for supporting our heroes!

Military: Free Class on VA Loans Offered to Military

Be prepared when you buy your first home!

Military home buyers are invited to a free seminar on using a VA loan to purchase a home. The class will be held on the Bangor Submarine Base on November 6, 2007, from 6 to 8 p.m.

The class is free to active duty and retired military and their families, as well as reserve service members.

The class will cover various topics regarding VA loans, including the general process of buying a home, benefits of a VA loan, steps to obtaining a VA loan, and avoiding common first-time homebuyer pitfalls.

For example, you can use your VA loan more than once. Also, there is no such person as a VA inspector. Credit, eligibility, and negotiating are also discussed.

This information is offered by Kym Mason of Mason Mortgage and Marlene Scheffer and Terry Wimmer of Realty Station. The instructors are real estate professionals experienced in VA loans. Marlene Scheffer and Terry Wimmer are military spouses and have first-hand experience purchasing homes with a VA loan.

To register or for information on base access, please call Terry at Realty Station at 360-377-5699.

A True Moving Story

My husband told me of a conversation he had with one of his fellow service members on the USS John C. Stennis. I met this man and his wife a few weeks ago, very nice couple that I am looking forward to getting to know better.
This couple had moved here recently, and had packed their personal vehicle differently this time than the last time they moved....
Several years ago, they moved from the Norfolk, VA area. Their belongings were stored for a time before they arrived at their new duty station. When they arrived at their destination, their belongings did not. When they called the navy to find out when their household goods were to arrive, they were told about a "problem". Apparently, a levy had broken near where their goods were being stored, and had flooded the storage lockers. Everything was gone, everything!
People think that the navy pays for everything when service members move. Far from the truth, in the case of damage. The navy offers service members extra insurance, but if the service member chooses not to purchase it, then service members need to have receipts. If not, the military pays for replacement value at 2X depreciation.
In other words, if you have a tv that you bought 7 years ago for $700 and you don't have the receipt, you're doing good to get $50 for it.
This couple lost everything. The husband said that they actually did have receipts for many of their items. But, guess where their receipts were? Yup, in their personal goods shipment. Flooded, in a warehouse. Gone.
Moral of the story: When you move, be sure to pack your personal inventory list, pictures of your personal inventory, and most importantly, pack your receipts in the car and transport them with you!
For more moving tips, feel free to contact us for a free brochure.

Military: VA loans and the military home buyer

In the past several years, FHA and VA loans have become unpopular. Withe so many other options, options that were often "easier" for loan officers to get and process, federally-insured loans largely fell by the wayside. Now, the mortgage industry has tightened their guidelines significantly, and all those 100% loans are all-but-impossible to get in todays mortgage market.

Well, guess what? 100% financing is still available for some home-buyers, specifically those who can qualify for an FHA or VA loan.

I'll address buying a home with an FHA loan in a later post. For now, I'd like to discuss many of the myths and misconceptions held about using your VA loan to buy a home.

First, you do have to be a veteran, retired or active duty military. Many members of the reserves will qualify as well.

Second, you do not get your VA loan directly from the VA. You will need to apply for a VA loan with a loan officer at a mortgage company, just like you would for any other mortgage. The VA guarantees the loans for the lender in case of loss, they do not actually grant the loan.

Third, there is no such thing as a VA inspector. There is a VA appraiser. The appraisers job is to be certain that the house really is worth what the bank is giving you for your loan. The appraiser works for the VA, not for the borrower or buyer. The VA appraiser usually willl not look in, let alone go under, crawl spaces. The VA appraiser will not usually climb up into an attic. The VA appraiser will not usually remove the front of an electrical panel to check the wiring in back. Buyers need to hire their own home inspector, apart from the appraiser.

Fourth, you can use your VA eligibility more than once. The funding fee structure varies slightly the second time you use it, but you can use it again. You can actually use your VA loan many times, as long as your eligibility has been restored.

Fifth, and most importantly, please be sure that your real estate agent has experience helping clients buy homes using VA loans, both professionally and personally, if possible. Be sure your lender has also had numerous successful experiences using VA loans.

Our office actually teaches classes to all eligible service memebrs, retired and active duty, in how to use the VA loan to buy a home. We have had such a successful response to the class, that we are offering the classes on a monthly basis. Feel free to contact us if you would like more information. Realty Station can be reached at 360-377-5699.

My assistant/partner Terry and I are well-versed in VA loans, being Navy spouses and having used VA loans to buy our homes. We enjoy helping other military families make successful home investments!