Come on ladies I know some of you are peeved....I'm just peeved at others on another board that say if your dh is deployed and you move home with parents that you're committing fraud....

Yeah...he just sent me an email last night listing what he needed to provide by next week...

lindsey -- i don't think that's fraud at all. i mean, you gotta do what you gotta do when your spouse is away, and you still have to support the dependents when you're gone, especially if your wife is a SAHM.

what i think is fraud is when someone marries for the BAH, doesn't live with their spouse, collects the BAH, and then spends the BAH on themselves.

:puzz there's a debate? I didn't know there was one. I just handed my stuff over with no problem.

As for the fraud no I don't agree with it but I also don't agree with moving home when husbands deploy. But thats a whole nother topic in itself :heehee

Yeah...he just sent me an email last night listing what he needed to provide by next week...

what does he have to send in, rach?

you have to give a marriage cert...birth certs of kids....and a lease....and bill

i dont think that at all. and other people shouldnt either. thats horrible. i mean if your hubby is deployed and you move home just temporarily because you have family that can help you then i think thats great. why does that make people think you are committing fraud. to me thats not what fraud is. fraud is if a sailor marrys a woman just to get the extra money and isnt even in love with her. to me thats fraud and nothing else. every situation is different.

you have to give a marriage cert...birth certs of kids....and a lease....and bill

:yes not too hard. Takes about 5 secs to pull them out if you keep them in one spot in your files

:puzz there's a debate? I didn't know there was one. I just handed my stuff over with no problem.

As for the fraud no I don't agree with it but I also don't agree with moving home when husbands deploy. But thats a whole nother topic in itself :heehee

Some people on another navy board were saying that living with the parents rent free while DH is deployed is fraud if you're collecting from where dh is stationed....

you have to give a marriage cert...birth certs of kids....and a lease....and bill

ahhh makes sense. and if you live in housing do you still need a lease or just proof you live in a certain place?

oh we didnt have to give the lease. just the marriage cert and our sons birth certificate and my ssn# and our electric bill.

This is how I feel. If you move home while Dh is home the Navy should pay you which is ever is the lesser BAH. I know not all will agree but If he lives in Hawaii and you live in the hills of some small state than it is not right for you to get Hawaii BAH. JMO.

what does he have to send in, rach?

Well, a copy of her social security card and a copy of our lease agreement :D (since she's his dependent)

yeah it wasn't hard here either...except my marriage cert walked off somewhere :thinkin but i had another copy.....

oh we didnt have to give the lease. just the marriage cert and our sons birth certificate and my ssn# and our electric bill.


well, if you have an electric bill, chances are you have a place to live where you're personally responsible for the bills and thus live there...and more than likely rent/own/pay $ to live there

yup we had to take in our agreement

This is how I feel. If you move home while Dh is home the Navy should pay you which is ever is the lesser BAH. I know not all will agree but If he lives in Hawaii and you live in the hills of some small state than it is not right for you to get Hawaii BAH. JMO.


yea, but what if you live in housing? i certainly don't think you hould have to give up your house just because your SO is deployed and you want to be around your famiy.

(i'm no longer affiliated with the navy so we don't receive BAH or anything... i just happen to have an opinion on the topic... LOL)

There's a reason they're doing the audit, and that's because there are lots of people commiting fraud. I mentioned before a guys in DH's command racked over 10,000 dollars in debt from that crap. It's not only from pretending to be married or have dependants either, he racked that up by never going to PSD and changing his BAH zip code from San Diego, to Whidbey Island.

I don't believe moving your stuff to storage and going home to bank on BAH is part of that. Whoever thinks that is ignorant. Hello, it's your allowance to do with as you please, if you are not in housing, who cares where you live if you are getting BAH. I intend to do the very thing next year when DH is gone on deployment if I don't have a job yet.

well, if you have an electric bill, chances are you have a place to live where you're personally responsible for the bills and thus live there...and more than likely rent/own/pay $ to live there


yep thats exactly it.

I went and read the "rules" of getting BAH and it said it's based on where the Service member is stationed.... Before we did this last deployment we went to DH's COC and asked what we needed to do so that I could live with my family bc I can get clinically depressed they just said to have a "lease" agreement....My mom just made me chip in for some bills and grocery's......so techinically it wasn't free but it was cheaper than his duty station....

I am confused as to why you have to show social security numbers. A marriage certificate is enough to show BAH with Dep. if you are married. If it is a single person with a child then a birth certificate. It will be a cold day in hell before I had over ssn to anyone especially with identity theft nowadays

as jason puts it... "the audit is a good thing... if we have less fraudulant BAH, then perhas the navy could afford to advance more people"

LOL

Some people on another navy board were saying that living with the parents rent free while DH is deployed is fraud if you're collecting from where dh is stationed....

I don't think its fraud but I dont agree with it. Never have and never will. I think if spouses choose to move home while husbands are on deployment then that they should recieve half BAH or something. Okay after Ive been sitting here thinking it part of me does think its fraud. Ive seen way too many wives move home, collect the money, buy things new cars, etc. Must be nice to just move home with mommy and daddy every deployment. :rolleyes

I don't think its right to 'occupy' quarters while you are back home with friends and family while there are people sitting on a waiting list trying to get into housing. if you are going to pack up and move then give up your house to someone else who needs it.

I am confused as to why you have to show social security numbers. A marriage certificate is enough to show BAH with Dep. if you are married. If it is a single person with a child then a birth certificate. It will be a cold day in hell before I had over ssn to anyone especially with identity theft nowadays
Agreed. You dont get more BAH for amount of dependants like you did in the early 90's (BAQ and VHA which is now BAH) So I dont see that point. A marraige cert, lease and utility bill should be enough. I am VERY particular with my sons SSN

yea, but what if you live in housing? i certainly don't think you hould have to give up your house just because your SO is deployed and you want to be around your famiy.




I completely agree. If I were to go home to family in the case of DH getting deployed for however long, I'd still have to pay for the place we normally live in (rent etc), so it's not as if I would really see that money any more than I do when I'm home. You'd save on water and electricity if living off base but aside from that there isn't that much of a difference

troublemaker]yea, but what if you live in housing? i certainly don't think you hould have to give up your house just because your SO is deployed and you want to be around your famiy.[/B]

(i'm no longer affiliated with the navy so we don't receive BAH or anything... i just happen to have an opinion on the topic... LOL)

You don't have to give up your house if dh is deployed....

I am confused as to why you have to show social security numbers. A marriage certificate is enough to show BAH with Dep. if you are married. If it is a single person with a child then a birth certificate. It will be a cold day in hell before I had over ssn to anyone especially with identity theft nowadays

He provided the email his command sent him and it didn't list a birth certificate, but I'm sure that would be ok...Either way, we don't have a copy of her yet, anyways...

Oh and since we're not married and he's getting BAH, his dependent is her, therefore thats why he has to provide her documentation.

This is how I feel. If you move home while Dh is home the Navy should pay you which is ever is the lesser BAH. I know not all will agree but If he lives in Hawaii and you live in the hills of some small state than it is not right for you to get Hawaii BAH. JMO.

Yes, but military member is getting an allowance for having a dependant. It will generally be where he/she is stationed unless the family cannot make it for one reason or another and he becomes a geographical bachelor, which generally has to be approved by some higher up somewhere. While in Boot Camp, A School, C school and my first command I continued to get L.A. BAH because that was where my son was.

what's a kick in the nuts to the navy system are the young, new(ish) sailors who marry their HS sweethearts or an old friend from back home, collect the BAH, and don't do a lick to support them. if you're getting BAH, and you're NOT deployed, there should be no reason you can't live with your spouse, unless there are certain circumstances (ie you get PCS to a certain duty station and you own a home in another state, your spouse works in another state, or there is some tie keeping you to that state where you cannot just up and move your spouse with you)

yea, but what if you live in housing? i certainly don't think you hould have to give up your house just because your SO is deployed and you want to be around your famiy.

(i'm no longer affiliated with the navy so we don't receive BAH or anything... i just happen to have an opinion on the topic... LOL)

If you live in housing you can tell them you are going to be gone for a while and they will put it in the rocrds and nothing happens to your home. And you do not "get" your BAH anyway. It is people ( I will use my home town for example) live in Marysville, Ca and would get about $900 a month in BAH but Dh is stationed as an E-6 in SD and so they are getting $1900 a month. It was their choice to live seperatly and they should not get the higher BAH.

Ya know, I'm going to see if they will take the copy the hospital provided...You guys are right about not wanting to hand out SSN info.

If you vacate housing for more than 30 days you have to give it up, according to my housing manual from GL.

I think the military budgets $X per family for housing and it should be up to the *individual* whether they want to live on or off base, or go home with family. Everyone has different needs, and should be able to make their own personal and financial decisions.

What's next? Saying they'll only pay for your lease amount, so if you find a cheap apartment under BAH you'll still get screwed anyway??

You don't have to give up your house if dh is deployed....

i meant if your spouse chooses not to live there while you're deployed, you shouldn't have to give it up... and it shouldn't be considered fraud. if someone were to state that you should have to give up your house during a deployment if your spouse goes and lives with family would be the same as stating its fraud to collect BAH while your spouse is deployed if you're not renting (because the SO is living with family)

if that makes sense... ;)

what's a kick in the nuts to the navy system are the young, new(ish) sailors who marry their HS sweethearts or an old friend from back home, collect the BAH, and don't do a lick to support them. if you're getting BAH, and you're NOT deployed, there should be no reason you can't live with your spouse, unless there are certain circumstances (ie you get PCS to a certain duty station and you own a home in another state, your spouse works in another state, or there is some tie keeping you to that state where you cannot just up and move your spouse with you)

I know some sailors that get the BAH, but their spouse is in college. I don't know how it all works but I agree. If you are married and can be together, why aren't you?

I know some sailors that get the BAH, but their spouse is in college. I don't know how it all works but I agree. If you are married and can be together, why aren't you?


well... in a sense that's different. however, i don't see why a person who is in college wouldn't a) go to college in the same state/town as their spouse or b) wait until college was over to get married so they could actually BE together


i thought the whole purpose of marriage was to BE WITH THAT PERSON and support each other.... so if you can't BE with that person... why the rush?

Im curious as to why you don't want to hand over your SSN? They double check it to whats in the DEERS system and the socials are already in the DEERS systems.

Im curious as to why you don't want to hand over your SSN? They double check it to whats in the DEERS system and the socials are already in the DEERS systems.


I don't know who doesn't want to hand over their SSN, but if their a dependant, it's already on your dependant ID card. So no biggie. ;)

well... in a sense that's different. however, i don't see why a person who is in college wouldn't a) go to college in the same state/town as their spouse or b) wait until college was over to get married so they could actually BE together


i thought the whole purpose of marriage was to BE WITH THAT PERSON and support each other.... so if you can't BE with that person... why the rush?

Devils Advocate... Then why marry a member of the military? They aren't home for alot of the time you are married. Like the Army they go on yr long deployments. So why bother getting married at all if the AD is just going to be sent away?

Im curious as to why you don't want to hand over your SSN? They double check it to whats in the DEERS system and the socials are already in the DEERS systems.
DEERS never required my sons SSN. The only thing they wanted was a copy of his birth certificate to update his page 2 etc.

I don't know who doesn't want to hand over their SSN, but if their a dependant, it's already on your dependant ID card. So no biggie. ;)

Thats what im saying

DEERS never required my sons SSN. The only thing they wanted was a copy of his birth certificate to update his page 2 etc.

Strange I needed both of my kids Social's to put them into the DEERS even Timmy when he was born, I had to go back to DEERS and update it with his social. I got sent away last month becuase I don't have Timmys Social and I tried updating his info with Trav's info. I had to go find his ID card with his social on it becuase Asshat couldn't get the card sent out to me in time.

What about the fraud of counting All your dependents to qualify for a larger house, even if they don't live with you just to ge a bigger house? How fair is that to those who really NEED a bigger house?

If you vacate housing for more than 30 days you have to give it up, according to my housing manual from GL.

I think the military budgets $X per family for housing and it should be up to the *individual* whether they want to live on or off base, or go home with family. Everyone has different needs, and should be able to make their own personal and financial decisions.

What's next? Saying they'll only pay for your lease amount, so if you find a cheap apartment under BAH you'll still get screwed anyway??


Totally agree. While I would never move in with my parents while Jason was deployed (if I needed to be near them, I would just rent an apartment or house close by), I do think it should be up to each individual and their needs.

With three kids, there's no way I could move back in and stay sane :ohno :shock :nutts :teehee

Devils Advocate... Then why marry a member of the military? They aren't home for alot of the time you are married. Like the Army they go on yr long deployments. So why bother getting married at all if the AD is just going to be sent away?


Yeah, but wouldn't you at least want to be together when you can be?

This is my opinion on it but....i think its fraud. If you are gonna move home to live with family and not pay rent and pocket the BAH then yes it is. If you move home near family but get your own place and pay bills with the BAH or live with family and pay rent then no its not. Also what i else think is fraud is having a housing unit and going home for more than a 3 weeks. If you aren't gonna occupy the unit then give it up, other people could use that unit. As i said these are MY OPINIONS and some may not agree with them but we don't have to agree.
:myop

http://www.defenselink.mil/militarypay/pay/bah/bah_primer.pdf

Read: Why is BAH based on my duty station rather than where I live.

Im curious as to why you don't want to hand over your SSN? They double check it to whats in the DEERS system and the socials are already in the DEERS systems.

Very true!

what's a kick in the nuts to the navy system are the young, new(ish) sailors who marry their HS sweethearts or an old friend from back home, collect the BAH, and don't do a lick to support them. if you're getting BAH, and you're NOT deployed, there should be no reason you can't live with your spouse, unless there are certain circumstances (ie you get PCS to a certain duty station and you own a home in another state, your spouse works in another state, or there is some tie keeping you to that state where you cannot just up and move your spouse with you)

Yeah but at the same time, thats a problem between the people, and not the Navy.. KWIM? I don't think the Navy should audit something like that.. how would they determine what is "fraud" or just a life choice to live somewhere besides where the hubby is stationed? All the money they would be saving from fraud would go into investigating that...

What about the fraud of counting All your dependents to qualify for a larger house, even if they don't live with you just to ge a bigger house? How fair is that to those who really NEED a bigger house?

I agree. I know some people that do that, purposely, with the child having no intentions of ever staying with that parent. Now, some people have their child part of the year so they need the extra space, understandable. When, DH and I married, I did get a 3 bedroom b/c of my son who wasn't living with us and my daughter who I was pregnant with but it wasn't on intentions of making that extra bedroom a guest room. That was my son's room from the beginning and we needed a place for him when we found him. Which luckily was a few months after we moved into housing, but I was very forthright with housing and they STILL gave us the 3 bedroom.

What about the fraud of counting All your dependents to qualify for a larger house, even if they don't live with you just to ge a bigger house? How fair is that to those who really NEED a bigger house?

I know in our case it is court ordered that I provide appropriate housing for my son when he is with me. Asshat put that stipulation in the order because he doesn't think that a brother and sister should be sharing rooms when Timmy is with me :rolleyes So I have legal document that require us to have a room for Timmy when he is here, and if I lived out in town I would still have to have a seperate room for Timmy and still rpovide proof to the courts.

BAH is supposed to be part of your pay package.

As to the extra bedrooms, we only have partial custody of one daughter.... so what, when she comes for the summer she's just supposed to sleep on the couch??

In my opinion, BAH is a benefit of working with the Navy.. if the SO wants to pack her shit up and move home or move in with a friend or whatever, and try to save some money, more power to her! People move into places that are cheaper than what BAH is, so should they have to give back the money too? No way! It's their entitlement, and they should be able to do with it as they please....

If they are living in Seattle and still getting San Diego BAH, fry em... if they are divorced and still getting dependent BAH, fry em... if they married some random person in Singapore to get BAH fry em...

Yeah, but wouldn't you at least want to be together when you can be?

True but Im sure the couples who have one in college want to be together too but don't want to sacrifice their education for maybe a lesser school or were already close to graduating at the school when they did get married.

This is my opinion on it but....i think its fraud. If you are gonna move home to live with family and not pay rent and pocket the BAH then yes it is. If you move home near family but get your own place and pay bills with the BAH or live with family and pay rent then no its not. Also what i else think is fraud is having a housing unit and going home for more than a 3 weeks. If you aren't gonna occupy the unit then give it up, other people could use that unit. As i said these are MY OPINIONS and some may not agree with them but we don't have to agree.
:myop



Sure, but I collected BAH 2 years ago while I lived my DH's parents for over 5 months. My DH was at 2 different schools for 3 months in one and 2 month in another, so WHY would I try and live somewhere for only 3 months? Why would I want to move to a new city, I know nothing about 6 months pregnant, alone and with 2 other kids. We were inbetween duty stations. So I should've just told the Navy, hey, I'm staying with my in-laws so just don't give me BAH? They would've said I was crazy and gave us the money anyways.


And what about people, with roommates, oh well, they aren't using all their money for housing so they shouldn't get all of it. Do you know the wasted man hours trying to figure out exactly how much each person or family should get? That's why they have a BAH rate.

We havent been Audited yet, but it's not a big deal if we do.

The debate part though i dont think it should matter where the person lives..... I mean at hte end of the year my DH will be having ot go to CT for a homeport change YET the nevy WON'T move us b/c our orders will be up in 3 months by then. So what we plan on doing is having our stuff stored at our next place and then I will take the kids to vist family in fl/ga/al for those 3 months..... How is that fraud?

This is why we are getting audited.

MIAMI (Reuters (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060412/od_nm/crime_sailors_dc;_ylt=AjSdXGF2Fr2E_S383RitlVkSH9EA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--)) - Eight U.S. sailors at a Florida naval station fraudulently married Polish and Romanian women in order to collect extra housing allowances, according to federal charges filed on Tuesday The women did not live with their Navy husbands, but used the sham marriages to apply for U.S. citizenship, U.S. Attorney Paul Perez said in a news release.
The sailors, seven of whom are still in the Navy, were all stationed at the Mayport naval station in northeast Florida.
They were charged with conspiracy, marriage fraud and making false claims to the government to collect $35,000 worth of extra housing allowances.
The tax-free allowances for off-base housing are based partly on marital status and number of dependents.
"They only married them so they could collect that money," said Steve Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Joy, it's different for everyone. We have had separations not only for deployments and unacc pcs, but also because I had to go to court for MONTHS to get permission to move my daughter out of state. Now we live separately because I wanted to get us all settled in and have a job, etc, before he got out of the MC. We moved an extra year earlier than originally planned because he got orders overseas and I figured there was no point in staying there alone. He's been a geo-bach for over 2 years now, and comes home every possible weekend, driving 200 miles each way in Chicago traffic. But you think we shouldn't "bother" being married?

Many of my friends have situations where they are finishing school, don't want to move 3 times in a year and give up their good-paying job, or doing the custody battle from a previous marriage. Sometimes it just isn't easy! But EVERYONE should be able to make these difficult decisions for themselves and not be judged for them.

I moved out of housing this last deployment bc A. I can get clinically depressed and with no family in the area it would be horrid. B.So my son could be with his family who normally is 3000 miles away. C To help pay off some things that normally we're just making minimal payments on bc the salary ain't that great. D. We wanted a different housing area and in order to get it you can't currently be living in housing.....

I did pay some bills and grocery's but I was not paying all or ever close to all of my BAH

Joy, it's different for everyone. We have had separations not only for deployments and unacc pcs, but also because I had to go to court for MONTHS to get permission to move my daughter out of state. Now we live separately because I wanted to get us all settled in and have a job, etc, before he got out of the MC. We moved an extra year earlier than originally planned because he got orders overseas and I figured there was no point in staying there alone. He's been a geo-bach for over 2 years now, and comes home every possible weekend, driving 200 miles each way in Chicago traffic. But you think we shouldn't "bother" being married?

Many of my friends have situations where they are finishing school, don't want to move 3 times in a year and give up their good-paying job, or doing the custody battle from a previous marriage. Sometimes it just isn't easy! But EVERYONE should be able to make these difficult decisions for themselves and not be judged for them.

I think, you think, I am on the other side of the debate on this one. :giggle I agree with you. Maybe the way I worded it was backwards. I just get really worked up. This is an allowance my DH get's for having dependants. He/We should be able to do what we want with it. :D

I guess what I am saying is that they had the socials once already, why prove again? My name is on the lease as well as my husbands so that should be enough. They don't need my children's info for BAH at all because he receives BAH for me regardless of children. I don't like handing out personal info period especially now that some moron took records home without authorization and now thousands of veterans have to make sure their info isn't stolen

LOL...I'm not good with irony! :P Sorry! It's a hot button for me too.... we've had as much self-imposed separation as Marine Corps imposed and people give us a LOT of crap for making the only decisions we could at the time. My ticker isn't moving fast enough!!!

I guess what I am saying is that they had the socials once already, why prove again? My name is on the lease as well as my husbands so that should be enough. They don't need my children's info for BAH at all because he receives BAH for me regardless of children. I don't like handing out personal info period especially now that some moron took records home without authorization and now thousands of veterans have to make sure their info isn't stolen

Yes, but this has nothing to do with PSD, the command is required themselves to verify this information. My DH brought the paper work to work, showed it to Admin, and brought it home. Nothing was written down, it was more like a name on a checklist was marked off. ;)

In my opinion, BAH is a benefit of working with the Navy.. if the SO wants to pack her shit up and move home or move in with a friend or whatever, and try to save some money, more power to her! People move into places that are cheaper than what BAH is, so should they have to give back the money too? No way! It's their entitlement, and they should be able to do with it as they please....

If they are living in Seattle and still getting San Diego BAH, fry em... if they are divorced and still getting dependent BAH, fry em... if they married some random person in Singapore to get BAH fry em...


exactly :thumbsup

BAH is part of the whole pay package, as long as you're collecting legally.

I agree w/ Trey too :)

well the only reason why i gave my SSN and our sons SSN is because my hubby told me that they needed it. what i dont understand is why? my SSN is on my military ID and should already be in the DEERS system. Maybe when he turned that stuff in they told him he didnt need it but i guess he had it with him just in case. I dont like giving that stuff out either, but hopefully they told him that they didnt need it after all. We dont have any housing issues because wherever my hubby goes im going with him. we will always be together. i never want to live apart from him ever.

In my opinion, BAH is a benefit of working with the Navy.. if the SO wants to pack her shit up and move home or move in with a friend or whatever, and try to save some money, more power to her! People move into places that are cheaper than what BAH is, so should they have to give back the money too? No way! It's their entitlement, and they should be able to do with it as they please....

If they are living in Seattle and still getting San Diego BAH, fry em... if they are divorced and still getting dependent BAH, fry em... if they married some random person in Singapore to get BAH fry em...

THIS is exactly what I wanted to say! :yes I totally agree.

Am I wrong, or isn't BAH set by your rank....and VHA set by where you live? Aren't they 2 different entitlements? or have they combined them?

They aren't even doing it here in GL at my dh's command, atleast not yet. I told him we will go head to head with his command over the ssn thing. He said we shouldn't even have to show anything if we live in housing. I don't trust ONE person up there at dh's command anyways so they won't be seeing any personal info

Am I wrong, or isn't BAH set by your rank....and VHA set by where you live? Aren't they 2 different entitlements? or have they combined them?

They are combined.

What about the fraud of counting All your dependents to qualify for a larger house, even if they don't live with you just to ge a bigger house? How fair is that to those who really NEED a bigger house?

I am sure you are referring to me on this one Ellen, YES we do live in a 4 br, and there are only 3 of us right now living full time. We do have to provide Damian's daughter, my step dd with her own space when she is with us. When Matthew comes to visit, whenever that is, he also needs his own space. He is the only boy. We have gone to housing so NO fraud is being commited.

Have a nice day!!!

They aren't even doing it here in GL at my dh's command, atleast not yet. I told him we will go head to head with his command over the ssn thing. He said we shouldn't even have to show anything if we live in housing. I don't trust ONE person up there at dh's command anyways so they won't be seeing any personal info

We are in housing and still had to show proof our our marriage, and birth certificates for all the kids. They asked for a copy of our lease and we couldn't find one so they let DH bring in a utility bill.

I am sure you are referring to me on this one Ellen, YES we do live in a 4 br, and there are only 3 of us right now living full time. We do have to provide Damian's daughter, my step dd with her own space when she is with us. When Matthew comes to visit, whenever that is, he also needs his own space. He is the only boy. We have gone to housing so NO fraud is being commited.

Have a nice day!!!

I never said it was you Heidi. Sorry you took it personally. I do know alot of people currently and previously in the military.

Am I wrong, or isn't BAH set by your rank....and VHA set by where you live? Aren't they 2 different entitlements? or have they combined them?
They used to do BAQ and VHA. They have since combined it and it is 1 set rate that is BAH. It is determined by paygrade and area insitead of paygrade, area and number of dependants like before

They aren't even doing it here in GL at my dh's command, atleast not yet. I told him we will go head to head with his command over the ssn thing. He said we shouldn't even have to show anything if we live in housing. I don't trust ONE person up there at dh's command anyways so they won't be seeing any personal info



well i dont blame you for that. i dont trust anyone except my hubby LOL.. so if someone uses my info they are gonna fry and pay big time charlie. LOL. i need to ask him for sure if he even had to show our SSN's. i should have even questioned that or i did question it to him but it sounded like he was gonna get upset with me if i didnt give it to him so i have no idea why they need it.

I am sure you are referring to me on this one Ellen, YES we do live in a 4 br, and there are only 3 of us right now living full time. We do have to provide Damian's daughter, my step dd with her own space when she is with us. When Matthew comes to visit, whenever that is, he also needs his own space. He is the only boy. We have gone to housing so NO fraud is being commited.

Have a nice day!!!

I had the same situation with my son. He didn't even come visit us. He was kidnapped by his father and we wanted to ensure we had space for him when he was found. Housing understood and alloted us the extra space. I could get pissy that there are couples here in 3 bedroom homes with a pet but with no kids, but housing does what they like. Do I always have to agree? No.

This is my opinion on it but....i think its fraud. If you are gonna move home to live with family and not pay rent and pocket the BAH then yes it is. If you move home near family but get your own place and pay bills with the BAH or live with family and pay rent then no its not. Also what i else think is fraud is having a housing unit and going home for more than a 3 weeks. If you aren't gonna occupy the unit then give it up, other people could use that unit. As i said these are MY OPINIONS and some may not agree with them but we don't have to agree.
:myop


I completely agree! Now, unless it's a family emergency, and you are going to be gone for a month or so, then I don't have a problem with it. I feel that if you aren't going to be living in your housing unit for almost the entire time the active duty member is deployed, then you do need to vacate. There are so many family members waiting for housing. Is it really fair to them??

I think that if you are going to be going back home to mommy and daddy, then you need to pay something to them, since the spouse is getting the housing allowance. IMO I do feel that is fraud, collecting on BAH and not paying a dime in rent regardless who you are living with. You don't get something for nothing.

Devils Advocate... Then why marry a member of the military? They aren't home for alot of the time you are married. Like the Army they go on yr long deployments. So why bother getting married at all if the AD is just going to be sent away?

i think that's a little different... i mean the reallllllly young kids who get married in/right out of HS... i think AD is a completely diff animal. ;)

In my opinion, BAH is a benefit of working with the Navy.. if the SO wants to pack her shit up and move home or move in with a friend or whatever, and try to save some money, more power to her! People move into places that are cheaper than what BAH is, so should they have to give back the money too? No way! It's their entitlement, and they should be able to do with it as they please....

If they are living in Seattle and still getting San Diego BAH, fry em... if they are divorced and still getting dependent BAH, fry em... if they married some random person in Singapore to get BAH fry em...


well said trey!!

I think that if you are going to be going back home to mommy and daddy, then you need to pay something to them, since the spouse is getting the housing allowance. IMO I do feel that is fraud, collecting on BAH and not paying a dime in rent.



Now, when I stay with my mom when DH is deployed next year is because of health reasons, if I can't find a Nanny to help me out here and I would definately offer to pay rent but she honestly is going to turn my money away. I don't feel guilty for pocketing money for an allowance that my husband is entitled to, to offset the difference between his job and civilian jobs. That is what it is there for, to make it worth staying in the Navy, including bonuses, bas, and per diem, so on. Do you guys (not specifically you Sarah but everyone) set aside your DH's BAS and ensure that money is spent ONLY on him? That is his allowance for food, so isn't that fraud too? I just think people (in general) can get really nit picky about these things. Who cares, so long as it is being used to take care of the family. :shrug

I have always made sure our "ducks" are in a row with housing. Once you loose it, it is a sad situation.....

In my opinion, BAH is a benefit of working with the Navy.. if the SO wants to pack her shit up and move home or move in with a friend or whatever, and try to save some money, more power to her! People move into places that are cheaper than what BAH is, so should they have to give back the money too? No way! It's their entitlement, and they should be able to do with it as they please....

If they are living in Seattle and still getting San Diego BAH, fry em... if they are divorced and still getting dependent BAH, fry em... if they married some random person in Singapore to get BAH fry em...


Yes, if you move into a place that is less than your BAH, then you are still entitled to that leftover money. You are still using that BAH for rent. So if you have money left over, then great. No big deal. Say your BAH is $900 and you move back home for a month and your parents charge you , say $300 (that includes food), then you still have $600 left over to save every month and do what you want with it. There is nothing wrong with that, since you ARE using the BAH properly. I just get irritated when people move back home and don't pay a single dime and they are holding onto the BAH. Basic Housing Allowance is to pay for HOUSING, not to use it for shopping sprees and pay off a credit card debt.

Now, when I stay with my mom when DH is deployed next year is because of health reasons, if I can't find a Nanny to help me out here and I would definately offer to pay rent but she honestly is going to turn my money away. I don't feel guilty for pocketing money for an allowance that my husband is entitled to, to offset the difference between his job and civilian jobs. That is what it is there for, to make it worth staying in the Navy, including bonuses, bas, and per diem, so on. Do you guys (not specifically you Sarah but everyone) set aside your DH's BAS and ensure that money is spent ONLY on him? That is his allowance for food, so isn't that fraud too? I just think people (in general) can get really nit picky about these things. Who cares, so long as it is being used to take care of the family. :shrug

well said:yes

I think that if you are going to be going back home to mommy and daddy, then you need to pay something to them, since the spouse is getting the housing allowance. IMO I do feel that is fraud, collecting on BAH and not paying a dime in rent regardless who you are living with. You don't get something for nothing.


but thats like telling a civilian person who gets a salary that part of their salary will be taken away because of their living arrangements. The BAH is part of the salary. Its one of the perks that make military pay not be COMPLETE and TOTAL shit. The BAH is like a built in part of what the servicemember is entitled. Without that, the pay is RIDICULOUSLY low.

Well some people also use the leftover BAH money if their rent is less then their BAH to help pay for their utilities too. thats what we do with ours. we dont use ours on frivilous things either. just our household expenses like electric bill, phone, cable etc... after we pay our rent. i dont see anything wrong with using it for that.

I agree that the pay is rediculously low Brandi. No one will debate that.

Look, I stand behind what I said, just like the rest of you stand behind your convictions. People are going to do whatever they want with the BAH. I might not agree with ya'll, but then again, you don't have to agree with me ;). We will agree to disagree.

Do you guys (not specifically you Sarah but everyone) set aside your DH's BAS and ensure that money is spent ONLY on him? That is his allowance for food, so isn't that fraud too?

Yes, we do. We don't count on that money from month to month. When dh's is in offcrew ( not the crew that has the boat ) we put that money in a seperate account. When he's the oncrew ( the crew that has the boat ) they take away his BAS, so that money that is in savings goes to pay his rec bill when he comes home.

Well some people also use the leftover BAH money if their rent is less then their BAH to help pay for their utilities too. thats what we do with ours. we dont use ours on frivilous things either. just our household expenses like electric bill, phone, cable etc... after we pay our rent. i dont see anything wrong with using it for that.


We did that when we didn't live in housing, and we will do that when we move and live off base.

Yes, if you move into a place that is less than your BAH, then you are still entitled to that leftover money. You are still using that BAH for rent. So if you have money left over, then great. No big deal. Say your BAH is $900 and you move back home for a month and your parents charge you , say $300 (that includes food), then you still have $600 left over to save every month and do what you want with it. There is nothing wrong with that, since you ARE using the BAH properly. I just get irritated when people move back home and don't pay a single dime and they are holding onto the BAH. Basic Housing Allowance is to pay for HOUSING, not to use it for shopping sprees and pay off a credit card debt.

I agree

Do you guys (not specifically you Sarah but everyone) set aside your DH's BAS and ensure that money is spent ONLY on him? That is his allowance for food, so isn't that fraud too? I just think people (in general) can get really nit picky about these things. Who cares, so long as it is being used to take care of the family. :shrug


When Bill was on a ship in SD, yes we did do that and that money was put into his account on ship. Since he has been up here, we haven't had to do that, since he has been home 24/7 and that money is obviously going to him. Now, with him gone, the money I send him every month is that exact amount of BAS. He didn't tell me to do that, I am doing it on my own free will ;)

We as military dependants know the bullshit in dealing with the military. I say and will continue to say that these "allowances" are not just benefits of being part of the military but compensation. It is the least they can do, and it is our money to do with as we please, luckily most of us are smarter than most and don't spend it frivilously. And EVEN with those "allowances" my family specifically still falls below the poverty level and it isn't like my DH is only making Airman or Seaman pay.

When Bill was on a ship in SD, yes we did do that and that money was put into his account on ship. Since he has been up here, we haven't had to do that, since he has been home 24/7 and that money is obviously going to him. Now, with him gone, the money I send him every month is that exact amount of BAS. He didn't tell me to do that, I am doing it on my own free will ;)


I thought they take away BAS when they are on ship? I know DH's is deducted.

I'm not saying that we have to agree. I don't expect that. All I was asking is why you feel the way you do. How would taking away an entitlement that the servicement is entitled to as part of their whole compensation package be fair? I don't understand the reasoning behind it.

I just found it funny that they tried to argue with DH he just looked at the PN and said regardless of if I'm married or not....I have a son(dependant) and I'm an E5 with almost 6 years in....I would be entitled either way!!!! The girl was just being a snot!

I thought they take away BAS when they are on ship? I know DH's is deducted.

You know, I think you're right. It's been a while. I know that half the comrats was given to him in his ships' account. My mistake. I was thinking about comrats

You know, I think you're right. It's been a while. I know that half the comrats was given to him in his ships' account. My mistake. I was thinking about comrats

;) No problem. It was just an example.

I live at home with my dad b/c of my wheelchair and my dh is in japan until August i'll have my dad get a lease and stuff a.s.a.p dh hasn't said if the marines are doing it yet

good idea just to be safe!

I think the whole thing started bc 7 sailor got caught committing fraud in FL....There's also been an Admiral that got caught...At least that's what DH heard

I'm not saying that we have to agree. I don't expect that. All I was asking is why you feel the way you do. How would taking away an entitlement that the servicement is entitled to as part of their whole compensation package be fair? I don't understand the reasoning behind it.


Ok, why should you be able to pocket BAH and not use it for rent?? I did explain my reasoning. Why do you think it's ok to not use it for rent? Yes, the service member is entitled to it for that reason, to pay rent or a mortgage and utilities. How do you feel about the spouse pocketing every dime of that BAH, and not paying for rent period?

I live at home with my dad b/c of my wheelchair and my dh is in japan until August i'll have my dad get a lease and stuff a.s.a.p dh hasn't said if the marines are doing it yet

You don't need a lease. Just proof of residence, since you are a dependant. The lease thing is applicable more to the single sailors, since they do "room" together alot and try and scam on rent.

I thought they take away BAS when they are on ship? I know DH's is deducted.

Trav's ship takes it away too.

There have also been cases of sailors getting married and living on the ship for ever just to get BAH to have more spending money.

Ok, why should you be able to pocket BAH and not use it for rent?? I did explain my reasoning. Why do you think it's ok to not use it for rent? Yes, the service member is entitled to it for that reason, to pay rent or a mortgage and utilities. How do you feel about the spouse pocketing every dime of that BAH, and not paying for rent period?


:agree thats why I do not agree with people who move home with mommy and daddy or friends just so that they can pocket the money for other things

Ok, why should you be able to pocket BAH and not use it for rent?? I did explain my reasoning. Why do you think it's ok to not use it for rent? Yes, the service member is entitled to it for that reason, to pay rent or a mortgage and utilities. How do you feel about the spouse pocketing every dime of that BAH, and not paying for rent period?


In my opinion, even if I felt morally obligated to return the money because I wasn't paying rent to my mom next year, the Navy would look at me cross eyed and tell me I was nuts. I got BAH for L.A., CA for my son when I was in the barracks in Pensacola. That was over $1300 BAH for rent I wasn't paying and the Navy knew this. I was in the barracks. Was I supposed to just rent a place to make myself feel better? No, I was entitled to the money and whether "rent" is where all the money went or not, the Navy was going to give it to me regardless because I had a dependant.


*and yes, I sent a portion of my earnings every month to support him at my Mother's while I finished school.

There have also been cases of sailors getting married and living on the ship for ever just to get BAH to have more spending money.

Those are the cases causing all this raucous.

Ok, why should you be able to pocket BAH and not use it for rent?? I did explain my reasoning. Why do you think it's ok to not use it for rent? Yes, the service member is entitled to it for that reason, to pay rent or a mortgage and utilities. How do you feel about the spouse pocketing every dime of that BAH, and not paying for rent period?


Because it's part of the whole package and I think if you qualify for it based on rank and having dependants, you should get it no matter what. You have no idea what individual's circumstances are. I personally don't think it's anyone's business since it's an entitlement and part of the compensation package that you get as active duty. I don't nitpick people about whether they really spend the $250 a month on their husband's lunch money instead of packing cheaper lunch and applying the money to use somewhere else. I just don't think it's anyone's place to say that they should not receive and entitlement just because they live in a different situation than you do. Do you ALWAYS apply every single cent of the clothing allowance to new uniforms? Do you ALWAYS apply every penny of the BAS towards lunch money?

Its just silly to expect someone to give up part of their salary simply because they move home for a little while, in my opinion.

You don't need a lease. Just proof of residence, since you are a dependant.
is that a letter with my name and adress or something like that?

is that a letter with my name and adress or something like that?

Probably a drivers license...or just something that has stated you are a resident of that state? :shrug

is that a letter with my name and adress or something like that?

yes, something mailed to you. prefferably (sp?) a bill.

Probably a drivers license...or just something that has stated you are a resident of that state? :shrug
I don't drive, (my wheelchair gets in the way) i do have a state id though.

. Do you ALWAYS apply every single cent of the clothing allowance to new uniforms? Do you ALWAYS apply every penny of the BAS towards lunch money?

Its just silly to expect someone to give up part of their salary simply because they move home for a little while, in my opinion.

Ok, I don't expect people to use every single penny of the BAH,uniform allowance or even BAS. As long as it's applied to what it's sole purpose is, then it's not being misused. If you have money left over, then great! When Bill gets his uniform allowance, he uses it towards uniforms. If there's money left over, or he doesn't have to get a lot, then we have extra money for whatever we want. The point is, it was used properly. I think you are missing my point Brandi. If you are given BAH and it is not being used for the reason it's provided, then I have a problem with that. I don't care if your parents charge you $10/month in rent and your BAH is $900. You are still using that BAH towards rent. You're right, I don't know what people's circumstances are. It's none of my business. Regardless they are going to do what they want, but I can voice my opinion about it just like everyone else.

I agree that people should not be given BAH just to pocket it or waste it. That money could be better used elsewhere like new housing or remodeling. Additionally, if you are going home for an entire deployment you should give up your unit. The wait list is outrageous in most areas. On the subject for extra bedrooms for children who do not live with you all year, I do think they should be entitled to their own room as stipulated. However, if that child never comes for their visits and you knowingly got a bigger house under false pretenses then it is wrong. Rules should be followed by everyone. I cant stand dishonest people.....

I have to disagree with you Sarah (that's a first!)... How is moving home and keeping the $900 any different than paying $10 in rent and pocketing $890? It's not! The money is an entitlement, and the service member should be allowed to do with it whatever he sees fit. If a spouse moves home and lives in a small bedroom with her child, then she is sacrificing living in a nice home or apartment, and can take that BAH and use it towards something else.

I have to disagree with you Sarah (that's a first!)... How is moving home and keeping the $900 any different than paying $10 in rent and pocketing $890? It's not! The money is an entitlement, and the service member should be allowed to do with it whatever he sees fit. If a spouse moves home and lives in a small bedroom with her child, then she is sacrificing living in a nice home or apartment, and can take that BAH and use it towards something else.


I have to agree with this. :yes

During dh's last deployment I freaked out two days before he left. I didn't want to have our baby alone and what was I going to do with the other kids if I went into labor. Sure I had friends, but I needed my family. I gave up our apartment. We still had to pay for it since we broke the lease, but our landlords were very nice and only made us pay for one month. I moved back in the middle of July and stayed until Nov. Yes we kept the BAH. We used it to pay bills we had and used the rest for a down payment on our van. I don't care if people do not like what we did. At the time it was the best option for us. We no live in housing and had we not paid off what we did we would be hurting financially now. We knew living in housing was going to take all the BAH and we were used to having that extra $300 a month. Do I think i'll ever go back home for a deployment again, No. I'm going home to visit for a month and i'm not giving up my housing either.
I guess everyone needs to do what they need to do for their family. I'm not here to judge. I do think it is wrong to use bah for the wrong reasons, ie marrying for bah.

I do think it is wrong to use bah for the wrong reasons, ie marrying for bah.

Which is WHY there is an audit and I think some people are losing sight on this.

Which is WHY there is an audit and I think some people are losing sight on this.

:yes

Which is WHY there is an audit and I think some people are losing sight on this.


I agree with you Jen on that 100%

:deadhorse anyone else?

:deadhorse anyone else?

:teehee I love that smilie!

oh thats too funny LOL

Which is WHY there is an audit and I think some people are losing sight on this.

Your so right!

Ok, here's the deal. It's not wrong or fraudulous to move to your home of origin (or location of support) while the service member is on deployment and keep the BAH to do with what you will. To back this up, the Navy (more exactly, the CNO) just recently released a NAVMESG stating that the Navy is already, in a few cases, "PCS-ing" family members to their home of origin for those Sailors who are called up to go IA. And they will still receive their BAH, but it will be adjusted to the new geographic location. In my opinion, as crappy of a pay system that the Navy currently has, I think the family members should find whatever means they can to make their lives better. Lord knows, they sacrifice enough, so why not?

very well said Jason . thank you. and you are exactly right on this.

Ok, here's the deal. It's not wrong or fraudulous to move to your home of origin (or location of support) while the service member is on deployment and keep the BAH to do with what you will. To back this up, the Navy (more exactly, the CNO) just recently released a NAVMESG stating that the Navy is already, in a few cases, "PCS-ing" family members to their home or origin for those Sailors who are called up to go IA. And they will still receive their BAH, but it will be adjusted to the new geographic location. I my opinion, as crappy of a pay system that the Navy currently has, I think the family members should find whatever means they can to make their lives better. Lord knows, they sacrifice enough, so why not?


:yes ROCK ON MR. DOOP!! :thumbsup

Ok, here's the deal. It's not wrong or fraudulous to move to your home of origin (or location of support) while the service member is on deployment and keep the BAH to do with what you will. To back this up, the Navy (more exactly, the CNO) just recently released a NAVMESG stating that the Navy is already, in a few cases, "PCS-ing" family members to their home of origin for those Sailors who are called up to go IA. And they will still receive their BAH, but it will be adjusted to the new geographic location. In my opinion, as crappy of a pay system that the Navy currently has, I think the family members should find whatever means they can to make their lives better. Lord knows, they sacrifice enough, so why not?

:yes :five

I have to disagree with you Sarah (that's a first!)... How is moving home and keeping the $900 any different than paying $10 in rent and pocketing $890? It's not! The money is an entitlement, and the service member should be allowed to do with it whatever he sees fit. If a spouse moves home and lives in a small bedroom with her child, then she is sacrificing living in a nice home or apartment, and can take that BAH and use it towards something else.


exactly. as long as you're supporting the family, whether that means food, rent, utilities, etc... thats the purpose of it...and yes, its an ENTITLEMENT.

I have to disagree with you Sarah (that's a first!)... How is moving home and keeping the $900 any different than paying $10 in rent and pocketing $890? It's not! The money is an entitlement, and the service member should be allowed to do with it whatever he sees fit. If a spouse moves home and lives in a small bedroom with her child, then she is sacrificing living in a nice home or apartment, and can take that BAH and use it towards something else.


Well, we can agree to disagree. I have said how I felt about the topic, and I am sticking to my guns, just like I'm sure you are as well.

Hey, first time disagreeing with me. Not too bad ;)

Come on ladies I know some of you are peeved....I'm just peeved at others on another board that say if your dh is deployed and you move home with parents that you're committing fraud....

All you have to do is get a waiver. DH's command has had several guys turn in waivers.

Ya know, I'm going to see if they will take the copy the hospital provided...You guys are right about not wanting to hand out SSN info.

When they turn 10 they will require it in order to get their ID card. Use to it was only the servicemembers SSN on the id cards, now its' both.

You know Rach, it's the Command doing the checking and you are right. There is NO need to for them to have a copy of their SSN. The e-mail I recieved from the Command, stated NUMEROUS different pieces of identification we could use, SSN one of them. You have an option and they did accept the birth certificate I have for Kahley from the hospital, we've been bad and haven't gotten the actual one yet.

The BAH is part of the salary. Its one of the perks that make military pay not be COMPLETE and TOTAL shit. The BAH is like a built in part of what the servicemember is entitled. Without that, the pay is RIDICULOUSLY low.

I disagree. If it was part of the salary then it would go towards retirement. When a servicemember retires their retirement pension is bases soley on BASE pay. Not on any of the extra entitlements and bennies we received the rest of the 20 years. That's also why when it comes to pay increases I'd rather see a pay increase in base pay rather than BAH, COLA or any of those extras. Base pay counts towards retirement.

I disagree. If it was part of the salary then it would go towards retirement. When a servicemember retires their retirement pension is bases soley on BASE pay. Not on any of the extra entitlements and bennies we received the rest of the 20 years. That's also why when it comes to pay increases I'd rather see a pay increase in base pay rather than BAH, COLA or any of those extras. Base pay counts towards retirement.

It is considered part of your salary because it is considered part of your gross income when going to buy a home, get a loan, or apply for food stamps (in most states). No, it may not be taxed, that is why they allot it as an allowance so it's not taxed but it does apply as salary 99% of the time.

Ok, here's the deal. It's not wrong or fraudulous to move to your home of origin (or location of support) while the service member is on deployment and keep the BAH to do with what you will. To back this up, the Navy (more exactly, the CNO) just recently released a NAVMESG stating that the Navy is already, in a few cases, "PCS-ing" family members to their home of origin for those Sailors who are called up to go IA. And they will still receive their BAH, but it will be adjusted to the new geographic location. In my opinion, as crappy of a pay system that the Navy currently has, I think the family members should find whatever means they can to make their lives better. Lord knows, they sacrifice enough, so why not?
:agree very well said

As far as them doing this, I don't think it was a big deal...it was pretty easy and done in a day for us.

As far as moving back home...I'm planning on doing this when DH goes on his 6 mo deployment, but I'm from here, so we're really only going to the other side of town...the BAH wouldn't be any different. The only reason I'm doing it is so I don't have to work for at least the first 6 months of our baby's life. The BAH is basically going to supplement my income, but it won't be as much as if I was actually working. If we weren't having the baby or I wanted to go right back to work, then we would just stay in the house we are in. Moving back in with them is basically what's going to allow me to be a SAHM, which I am REALLY looking forward to. We wouldn't be doing it if "back home" was a different state or city though.

ETA: We are saving the money we don't have to use on the kids to save fore a down payment on a house, so I guess technically the BAH will still be used for what it's meant for, just all in one sum when it's saved.

DH thinks BAH changes are coming. This audit is only the start. I know in some areas if the guy is living in the barracks, no matter where his wife is, he only gets "single BAH" (about 1/2 I guess) Some areas aren't even letting married guys into the barracks and if they are - they have to pay for the room (use to have it for free).

They use do a BAH check every year but it gets to costly for the military to do that paperwork now (not sure I understand that)

DH thinks BAH changes are coming. This audit is only the start. I know in some areas if the guy is living in the barracks, no matter where his wife is, he only gets "single BAH" (about 1/2 I guess) Some areas aren't even letting married guys into the barracks and if they are - they have to pay for the room (use to have it for free).

They use do a BAH check every year but it gets to costly for the military to do that paperwork now (not sure I understand that)

To have cost free barracks they AD has to be geographical bachelor, approved by the command. They still get full BAH for dependants. If they don't have that, then, it will cost them to stay in the barracks, yes. It has nothing to do with only being "married", I recieved full BAH for my son and stayed in the barracks, cost free as a geographical bachelor. I was enlisted, and have now been a dependant for 4 years and not once in that time did I or my spouse have to do a BAH check. This audit stems from numerous people collecting BAH fraudulently. It has nothing to do with "where" the dependant is located. There are regulations that cover that issue separately.

We can sit here and pick it apart all day long but the bottom line is that while active duty, the BAH along with the other entitlements are part of the whole packaged salary. When you sign up, it's all part of the deal. You're entitled to the BAH as long as you are eligible and active duty. As it stands right now, even if the spouse is living with parents "rent free", the servicemember is still eligible :D I don't think that's going to change any time soon.

The fraud and audit are in regards to people doing illegal things like not reporting their correct marital status, not reporting the correct zip code they are living in, collecting BAH for two different places, etc. It is perfectly legal for spouses to collect it while living at home, as long as they are reporting the correct area they are living in.

I don't think its fraud but I dont agree with it. Never have and never will. I think if spouses choose to move home while husbands are on deployment then that they should recieve half BAH or something. Okay after Ive been sitting here thinking it part of me does think its fraud. Ive seen way too many wives move home, collect the money, buy things new cars, etc. Must be nice to just move home with mommy and daddy every deployment. :rolleyes

I don't think its right to 'occupy' quarters while you are back home with friends and family while there are people sitting on a waiting list trying to get into housing. if you are going to pack up and move then give up your house to someone else who needs it.


This gets to me BAH is your money touse for housing ,if I choose to live in a one bedroom appartment in the getto and pocket alot of money it would be the same as living with my parents and giving them rent and pocketing the rest, personaly I think it is wrong for you to judge people when you dont know there situation. for instance my situation Im pregnant ,my huby isnt going to be here for the birth. We are put ing all our stuff in storage and I am moving to san diego and in with my "mommy and daddy" . Not to bank money because im not a free loader and im not changeing my BAH to San Diego were I would get like 600.00 more a month .Im not doing it because im a free loader but because I could help them out money wise and my family can help with my son. Even if I was doing it to bank money its none of anyones consern but mine!!!!!!!!!

This gets to me BAH is your money touse for housing ,if I choose to live in a one bedroom appartment in the getto and pocket alot of money it would be the same as living with my parents and giving them rent and pocketing the rest, personaly I think it is wrong for you to judge people when you dont know there situation. for instance my situation Im pregnant ,my huby isnt going to be here for the birth. We are put ing all our stuff in storage and I am moving to san diego and in with my "mommy and daddy" . Not to bank money because im not a free loader and im not changeing my BAH to San Diego were I would get like 600.00 more a month .Im not doing it because im a free loader but because I could help them out money wise and my family can help with my son. Even if I was doing it to bank money its none of anyones consern but mine!!!!!!!!!

I don't think anyone's opinion was specific in nature. Just opinions. ;)

obviously I am late
but I personally feel it is wrong to collect the BAH for where your dh is stationed and you living somewhere that is half the COL. I feel it is wrong to marry for BAH.
And I do not agree that BAH is in the "package" for pay. it is an allowance period they could take it away tomorrow and then what would everyone do? The military doesn't "have" to give us that.
JMO

lindsey -- i don't think that's fraud at all. i mean, you gotta do what you gotta do when your spouse is away, and you still have to support the dependents when you're gone, especially if your wife is a SAHM.

what i think is fraud is when someone marries for the BAH, doesn't live with their spouse, collects the BAH, and then spends the BAH on themselves.

I agree there.

I talked to my dh about this last night and he said no worries the marines haven't started it yet.

obviously I am late
but I personally feel it is wrong to collect the BAH for where your dh is stationed and you living somewhere that is half the COL. I feel it is wrong to marry for BAH.
And I do not agree that BAH is in the "package" for pay. it is an allowance period they could take it away tomorrow and then what would everyone do? The military doesn't "have" to give us that.
JMO


They would NEVER do that though because it IS part of the total package. No person in the military (except the obvious like some highers ups) could live off of what is considered "basic pay". Could you and your husband pay for any type of house or apartment, utilities, food, gas, and every day living expenses without the money for housing? of course the other option would be to live in government housing but they don't have enough for everyone to live in housing at this point in time. So, what would you do if you had no housing available and the military just up and decided to take away the housing allowance? They would NEVER do that and if they did we would end up going back to a draft or something because NO ONE would stay in. It IS part of the whole "package".

Could you and your husband pay for any type of house or apartment, utilities, food, gas, and every day living expenses without the money for housing?

I know we could live just fine without BAH :dunno

I highly doubt they would ever take it away, but they do adjust it all the time. We got a raise in BAH the last time around but I know several areas it went down.

I know we could live just fine without BAH :dunno


Well, as an E6, after taxes, my husband gets $2,400 a month. Where we live, you can not find a 3 bedroom for under $1500-1600 a month (BAH in this area for E6 is $1527). If we had to pay that $1600 out of pocket, that leaves us with $800 a month. OK, lets figure in about $250 for gas (which is VERY expensive up here), electric and water. That would leave us with $550 just after paying for the ESSENTIALS of having a home. Can you honestly tell me ANYONE would stay in the military and give up double, triple or quadruple the pay they could be getting as a civilian?

Bottom line is that the military will NOT get rid of housing allowance because it IS part of the whole salary package. Most people in most places could NOT live without either being in housing or getting the BAH.

if you could make it on $550 a month to cover gas, groceries, car payments, insurance, cost of having kids, clothes, etc, then GOOD FOR YOU. You are one of the few who could.

I know we could live just fine without BAH :dunno
than you must be making a hell of a lot of money because there is NO WAY we could afford to live on just my husband's Navy salary. It pretty much just pays the bills.

Well my husband is an E-5, and I don't know of anyone that could live, HAPPILY, on about 17,000 a year. Not when you have been at a job for 6 years, and work full time... that is a RIDICULOUS wage for that kind of time and experience. I made more than that working at a restaurant for a year!

If we could afford to live on what my husband makes- than why the hell would we be in the Navy?!?!? :rolleyes We could make more flinging burgers at Jack in the Crack!!! I wouldn't have to deal with deployments either! Just a little worry about an acne problem! :lmao
The will not get rid of BAH, 90% of THE ENLISTED community could not live without BAH/Housing.

DH and I had to do the no BAH thing for a little bit before we were married because he was waiting for it to be approved by the command. We did it, and it was only because I have a somewhat decent paying job, but we were tight. If we had had his daughter with us at the time, or was only on his salary, there is no way unless we lived in the ghetto, and I mean way run down where we'll end up being on the murder statistics in Jacksonville ghetto

It is an allowance period they could take it away tomorrow and then what would everyone do? The military doesn't "have" to give us that.

As far as BAH getting taken away ... the other person that could authorize this scenario for the Navy is the CNO, ONLY after getting the go ahead from the Secretary of Defense. And since that would mean the same thing across the board for all branches, you could pretty much rule this out all together for any future chances. The government knows how difficult it is for military family. It is ludacris to believe that they would ever take it away.

than you must be making a hell of a lot of money because there is NO WAY we could afford to live on just my husband's Navy salary. It pretty much just pays the bills.

Same here!

In my opinion, BAH is a benefit of working with the Navy.. if the SO wants to pack her shit up and move home or move in with a friend or whatever, and try to save some money, more power to her! People move into places that are cheaper than what BAH is, so should they have to give back the money too? No way! It's their entitlement, and they should be able to do with it as they please....

If they are living in Seattle and still getting San Diego BAH, fry em... if they are divorced and still getting dependent BAH, fry em... if they married some random person in Singapore to get BAH fry em...

:thumbsup Exactly!!! This is what I did last time because Dh and I got married 5 days before he left on cruise and I was not about to quit my job, move to a new town where I knew no one and be away from my family!!! That's crazy!!! And I will probalby do it again.. this next cruise! It's just my dog and I, so why not pack up my shit and go home to be with my family for a little while!!! I dont see anything wrong with that.. I dont live for free, of course help my mom out with bills and such!!
Edited to add that I am giving up my house when I go back home because I know there is a wait for them!!! :)

As far as BAH getting taken away ... the other person that could authorize this scenario for the Navy is the CNO, ONLY after getting the go ahead from the Secretary of Defense. And since that would mean the same thing across the board for all branches, you could pretty much rule this out all together for any future chances. The government knows how difficult it is for military family. It is ludacris to believe that they would ever take it away.
I NEVER said it would happen but it could!
Many things that have been "guaranteed" to vets and such have since been taken away.
So I am just saying that with the military nothing is a "given"

I never said that we live on his Base pay
But if we want to get technical we survive on his 1st half pay check
the 2nd half is for us to do with as we please
So yeah Jen my dh is an E6 with 12 years in we do make a bit more than you guys but we have been where you are.

I know we could live just fine without BAH :dunno


Tell us your secret because I know 99% of us couldn't say that.

They would NEVER do that though because it IS part of the total package. No person in the military (except the obvious like some highers ups) could live off of what is considered "basic pay". Could you and your husband pay for any type of house or apartment, utilities, food, gas, and every day living expenses without the money for housing? of course the other option would be to live in government housing but they don't have enough for everyone to live in housing at this point in time. So, what would you do if you had no housing available and the military just up and decided to take away the housing allowance? They would NEVER do that and if they did we would end up going back to a draft or something because NO ONE would stay in. It IS part of the whole "package".
OK I understand that it would be hard to survive and with the way the world is going who says the draft won't come back?

Joy I clip coupons and only buy on sales
We just got back from cancun last night. I stocked our entire fridge on 85 dollars and I bought enough food to last us atleast a week and a half probably 2 weeks.
I budget well and dh doesn't get the whole "extras" while deployed
call me a bitch or what ever, but he admitts to everyone, that if it weren't for me he wouldn't have shit, cause he can't budget money.
We have a house with descent payments for this area, a 2005 car that is paid off, a motorcycle that was paid for with cash in full at the time of purchase, a 2004 that will be paid off withing the year. My kids don't want for anything and neither do dh and I. It is all in how you budget it. And trust me I didn't learn it from my parents!! :D

People are saying that BAH is NOT a component of our salary. Well, I dont' think NPC is wrong.


Basic Pay (http://www.dod.mil/militarypay/pay/bp/index.html), Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH (http://www.dod.mil/militarypay/pay/bah/index.html)), and Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS (http://www.dod.mil/militarypay/pay/bas/index.html)) are the fundamental components of military pay. Members who are married or have legitimate dependents are paid at a higher rate.

http://www.npc.navy.mil/CareerInfo/PayAndBenefits/

Joy I clip coupons and only buy on sales
We just got back from cancun last night. I stocked our entire fridge on 85 dollars and I bought enough food to last us atleast a week and a half probably 2 weeks.
I budget well and dh doesn't get the whole "extras" while deployed
call me a bitch or what ever, but he admitts to everyone, that if it weren't for me he wouldn't have shit, cause he can't budget money.
We have a house with descent payments for this area, a 2005 car that is paid off, a motorcycle that was paid for with cash in full at the time of purchase, a 2004 that will be paid off withing the year. My kids don't want for anything and neither do dh and I. It is all in how you budget it. And trust me I didn't learn it from my parents!! :D

We all budget. I have 3 kids and know how to budget. DH's pay was screwed up and we made $450 a month work for over 1.5 years, that was our paycheck, not after bills, not after allotments, that was it. Budgeting isn't the issue. The issue is that it BAH is specifically made to offset costs in a area. Like I stated before, it is to bring our SO's ridiculous pay comparable to their civilian counterparts. You live in Texas? I did a cost comparison from Austin, TX (don't know exactly where you specifically are) to San Diego, CA. It is 96.7% more expensive to live in SD. . If you moved to Bremerton, it would be 25% more expensive. But guess what, your pay will not change. Your BAH will to offset that cost of living.


I know we have gotten way off track the original question but there is no way they will take BAH away.

I know we all budget JOy and we are in Corpus
but I do know SD is a higher COL but Corpus is higher than VA and our pay wasn't any different there. And speaking of SD we were pretty much in the same boat as Jen in SD as an E3, so I have been there done that and that is what I was referring to :)
I know what you are saying.
I do have to say though that things are WAY better than they were when my grandfathers were in the military. and like I said earlier the military and and does take things back. I highly doubt it would ever happen BUT anything is a possibility in the military!
ETA: Housing is the only thing that is reasonable here. and it is getting higher and higher every day

Oh and just on a side note, I know lots of civillians who make it on a lot less than the military so if it came down to it I am sure we could all figure out a way yes it would be hard as hell on most etc... BUT it can be done when it HAS to be done

I know we all budget JOy and we are in Corpus
but I do know SD is a higher COL but Corpus is higher than VA and our pay wasn't any different there. And speaking of SD we were pretty much in the same boat as Jen in SD as an E3, so I have been there done that and that is what I was referring to :)
I know what you are saying.
I do have to say though that things are WAY better than they were when my grandfathers were in the military. and like I said earlier the military and and does take things back. I highly doubt it would ever happen BUT anything is a possibility in the military!


;) I understand and yes we do have it MUCH better. That I am grateful for. Plus, in 8 years when my DH has been in for 12 years and a E-6 (hopefully) I'm sure we'll be able to have and do the things you have and do now. But right now, he is an E-5, not even getting paid for E-5 and if they tried taking our BAH, you can count me as one of the people banging on the White House doors. :D

:D I would be there with you even though we can survive I wouldn't want to :D

:D I would be there with you even though we can survive I wouldn't want to :D

:giggle :five

than you must be making a hell of a lot of money because there is NO WAY we could afford to live on just my husband's Navy salary. It pretty much just pays the bills.

he's an E5 with 6 yrs in Oct. I know that WE could make it without BAH but thats us :dunno

he's an E5 with 6 yrs in Oct. I know that WE could make it without BAH but thats us :dunno

We could all "make" it. Survival isn't the issue. I'd just love to see what you would have to say if they did take it away. I'd guarantee 75% of people in the military or more would get out. Why stay in without the compensation they deserve.

We could all "make" it. Survival isn't the issue. I'd just love to see what you would have to say if they did take it away. I'd guarantee 75% of people in the military or more would get out. Why stay in without the compensation they deserve.

If they did take it away, I'd know that more than likely my dh would want to stay in...he loves his job and love the navy. If it was all about money he would have left already, as he could make TONS more out in the civi world.

If they did take it away, I'd know that more than likely my dh would want to stay in...he loves his job and love the navy. If it was all about money he would have left already, as he could make TONS more out in the civi world.

You know, my DH would make TONS more money out in the civi world too. But when you have a family to support it is all about the money. My husband knows his #1 responsibility is to our family and if the Navy wasn't giving him the means to support us, he would say PEACE OUT, in a heart beat, regardless that he absolutely loves his job and the Navy.

You know, my DH would make TONS more money out in the civi world too. But when you have a family to support it is all about the money. My husband knows his #1 responsibility is to our family and if the Navy wasn't giving him the means to support us, he would say PEACE OUT, in a heart beat, regardless that he absolutely loves his job and the Navy.

As does my dh, and if BAH stays or goes WE both know my dh's income can support our family.

As does my dh, and if BAH stays or goes WE both know my dh's income can support our family.

If you say so.. $2300 a month after taxes? Maybe where you are at, with one child. Maybe. It's your family, your money, your business. And it's not going to happen anytime soon, so I really could careless.

So for now, I will agree to disagree.

I agree with you Joy. There is no way in hell we could live down here with that much a month... We could live in a DUMP for like 750 a month, maybe.... and after bills, groceries, diapers, car payments, etc, we would have nothing. I agree with you also that is basically a cost of living adjustment depending on where you live.

As far as BAH getting taken away ... the other person that could authorize this scenario for the Navy is the CNO, ONLY after getting the go ahead from the Secretary of Defense. And since that would mean the same thing across the board for all branches, you could pretty much rule this out all together for any future chances. The government knows how difficult it is for military family. It is ludacris to believe that they would ever take it away.

Actually IF that hypothetically happened, which I'm sure it wouldn't, it would be Congress that would have to give that approval. CNO, SEC Navy doesn't matter. ALL defense budget goes through Congress which the President has to sign off on yearly.

They do give it b/c they know that FAMILIES are unable to live on the base pay alone. But again, that goes back to also if they allot it as an allowance, when one retires they know that money goes back into the pot so to speak and does not become part of ones retirement "pension" which is based off base pay.

If they did take it away, I'd know that more than likely my dh would want to stay in...he loves his job and love the navy. If it was all about money he would have left already, as he could make TONS more out in the civi world.

Same here. We've had alot of friends get out to make more in the civi world and some are happy, some are not.

Wow, there are some many of you that you living in a dream world. It they ever did take away the BAH and other housing allowances, there would be no way 90% of the current service would re-enlist. Why you say? Because as MEN, we would not want to come home to a scenario of constant bills, not having additional money for leisurely activities with the family, and having no time to spend with our SO due to the fact that they would have to get a job to supplement the income. You can sit there and say, "We could survive" all day long, but at what cost ... being miserable? It's about living comfortably and having a job that allow that. That's all I am going to say on this topic, because I am sure that it will going on for another 4 or 5 pages with, "I could do it" or "We could budget enough" ... blah blah blah :rolleyes

Wow, there are some many of you that you living in a dream world. It they ever did take away the BAH and other housing allowances, there would be no way 90% of the current service would re-enlist. Why you say? Because as MEN, we would not want to come home to a scenario of constant bills, not having additional money for leisurely activities with the family, and having no time to spend with our SO due to the fact that they would have to get a job to supplement the income. You can sit there and say, "We could survive" all day long, but at what cost ... being miserable? It's about living comfortably and having a job that allow that. That's all I am going to say on this topic, because I am sure that it will going on for another 4 or 5 pages with, "I could do it" or "We could budget enough" ... blah blah blah :rolleyes

Some of us are barely getting by WITH the BAH due to the COL and no COLA lol

Wow, there are some many of you that you living in a dream world. It they ever did take away the BAH and other housing allowances, there would be no way 90% of the current service would re-enlist. Why you say? Because as MEN, we would not want to come home to a scenario of constant bills, not having additional money for leisurely activities with the family, and having no time to spend with our SO due to the fact that they would have to get a job to supplement the income. You can sit there and say, "We could survive" all day long, but at what cost ... being miserable? It's about living comfortably and having a job that allow that. That's all I am going to say on this topic, because I am sure that it will going on for another 4 or 5 pages with, "I could do it" or "We could budget enough" ... blah blah blah :rolleyes
Just remember money isn't everything :rolleyes
A lot of us know how to budget without consolidating, filing Bankruptcy etc.... so yeah so of us could make it period!! we wouldn't like it but it can work if it had to be done for some!
I don't know if my dh would reup "IF" it ever happened, we would have to start at the bottom of another job and when we have done our research in the past with experience and all it would be "less pay" or making really good money but considered seasonal so you never know if you will be needed tomorrow or 6 months from now.

Just remember money isn't everything :rolleyes
A lot of us know how to budget without consolidating, filing Bankruptcy etc..


And some of us can also debate without trying to take cheap shots and low blows :rolleyes



Anyhow, the debate has gotten way sidetracked and I think we can all agree to disagree. ;)

Breezy- :shame There is no need for that... And we haven't filed for bankruptcy, but we couldn't survive on that either, so that has absolutely nothing to do with it and nothing to do with this argument. It is not about budgeting. And nowhere did Mr. Doop say it's about money, he said it's about living comfortably and providing for his family... HUGE difference. Regardless.. it's an ENTITLEMENT to the servicemember and it WILL NOT be taken away. To believe so, or to say it "could" be taken away is ridiculous and foolish. I :quote could :quote spontaneously combust and I :quote could :quote survive if I fell off of a 100 story building too... :rolleyes

I agree with Brandi 100%. There is a point when people will fight something just to fight it and that is where a debate stops and arguments begin, so I am done with this too. :hi

Ok I never POINTED fingers at anyone.
But I am not the only person who said that "we" could get by!
Take it personal if you wish but I didn't point fingers so what ever!

Breezy- :shame There is no need for that... And we haven't filed for bankruptcy, but we couldn't survive on that either, so that has absolutely nothing to do with it and nothing to do with this argument. It is not about budgeting. And nowhere did Mr. Doop say it's about money, he said it's about living comfortably and providing for his family... HUGE difference. Regardless.. it's an ENTITLEMENT to the servicemember and it WILL NOT be taken away. To believe so, or to say it "could" be taken away is ridiculous and foolish. I :quote could :quote spontaneously combust and I :quote could :quote survive if I fell off of a 100 story building too... :rolleyes

I agree with Brandi 100%. There is a point when people will fight something just to fight it and that is where a debate stops and arguments begin, so I am done with this too. :hi
Ok to say that it could :quote NEVER :quote happen is more foolish than saying it can. Look at all the things that Vets have been :quote Promised:quote :quote Guaranteed:quote that have been taken away.
I said I would not :quote WANT:quote to survive on it but I could if it came down to it.

I think if the government ever took away the entitlement of BAH, the would increase the base pay. This would mean more taxes for the service member to pay as well.