The military community is an interesting place. Where else can you go online and find out exactly how much money your co-worker or neighbor makes? http://www.militaryfactory.com/military_pay_scale.asp The pay is fixed too, so no matter how many hours you put in, you get the same salary. The only thing that's variable in a military couple's finances is what the wife earns.

There's a couple that we're friendly with...I'll call them the Jones. We all get together and bbq on the weekends. Well the Mr. Jones is of the same rank as my husband and so recieves the same pay as my husband. Mrs. Jones is currently looking for work, so we know that we're making a little more than them since I have a job. Only a little more though, since my job doesn't pay much and is part-time. Basically they make the same amount of money as we do.

That by itself isn't all that interesting. What's interesting about it is that the Jones seem to be doing much better than we are! They both drive new cars (one is only a few months old and the other is a year old). Our cars are 8-10 yrs old. They live in a nicer house, in a nicer neighborhood. Mrs. Jones is always out shopping for clothes, while my wardrobe hasn't seen a new addition in months!

So this new category will basically document what we do, versus what they do. Both our husbands are deploying within the next few months and while I'm planning on going back to school and saving the extra deployment pay, Mrs. Jones is already talking about the new furniture and new car she will buy!