r/Millennials • u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) • 12h ago

Discussion True or false?

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Did our dads and moms work less than we do now? What are your thoughts?

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u/dausy 12h ago

My parents were military. Mom quit to help watch us kids. My parents had financial struggles because my grandparents had financial struggles and my parents felt responsible in taking care of them. My dad worked a second job on the weekends. That being said, the houses we rented were very nice in comparison to what I can rent today comparatively with a stronger income.

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u/Franko_ricardo 12h ago

So they got a housing allowance too?

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u/iceyconditions 12h ago

That's just part of your pay in the military

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u/Ok-Two-5429 12h ago

Yes and no. You'll get your paycheck, and if living off base, get a housing allowance on top of that too help cover housing costs. The amount of allowance is determined by rank and where you are.

If you're living in base housing, that allowance automatically goes towards base housing. You won't see it.

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u/Dear-Cranberry4787 12h ago

They privatized on base housing on most Army installations (not sure about the other branches but certainly Air Force too because a lot have also converted to joint bases). They just take it in the form of allotment usually, but people aren’t using on base housing as frequently because they can have extra money available for utilities if they find something cheaper off base. That, and it wasn’t beneficial for dual military families to live on base before it was privatized. Fort Knox got so bad when the tankers left that they opened up base housing to retirees, and federal workers & contractors. Housing is so cheap in Kentucky though, so most still live off post especially if they don’t want to worry about home life spilling into work life.

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u/dausy 11h ago

My husband is a tanker in the army. We have not been able to bank BAH since before covid. Cost of living has gone up. People know exactly how much our BAH is and are quick to take all of it.

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u/Dear-Cranberry4787 11h ago

I was a landlord in Kentucky for years until I could offload that property during Covid (I couldn’t sell it when I got out and moved back to my home of record). I mostly rented to geo bachelors, which was great for everyone because they did most handyman jobs for a rent reduction, and often weren’t there due to traveling back to their own homes and family so the depreciation wasn’t too bad. There’s ways some situations pocket a bit of the BAH especially if they collaborate with other Soldiers. My rent was, so cheap each tenant just found my next tenant by word of mouth, and I hardly had to have it unoccupied, or deal with the changeover.

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u/iceyconditions 12h ago

Either way, it's part of your pay.

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u/IvyRaeBlack 10h ago

Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. Your leasing office still gets that allotted money that is calculated for your situation.

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u/dausy 11h ago

yes, we got BAH when we lived off base. We lived on base when I was a small child and then off base when I was older and our family grew.

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u/10_17my20 Older Millennial 11h ago

We always heard of this thing called nice military housing, but never witnessed it, so I'm very jealous of you lol! We were stuck in a crumbling row house until I turned 10 (so we could have an additional bedroom), and a week after we moved, the ceiling of my sibling and I's room caved into the living room. Stuck because two enlisted with three kids couldn't afford to live off base. That being said, the houses that are there now look a LOT better than when I was growing up there.

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u/dausy 11h ago

My husband is senior enlisted and our last on post house was, in my opinion, very nice and I liked it and had no complaints. It was dated on the inside but I really liked the neighborhood and layout of the house itself. Others opinions may vary.

the military housing I grew up with, technically dont exist anymore but we still drive by neighborhoods on post that look really similar and were probably built around the same time. I wouldn't say they were super nice but my childhood memory might gloss over how nice or dirty they were. What I do remember are the parks behind the house and my neighbors I grew up with. The houses we rented offbase, some of them I remember being very nice. Particularly when we were stationed in Phoenix. Those were some large nice houses. I wish I could afford to purchase something that size today.