If you are receiving unsolicited phone calls from an entity pretending to be ACCC (a trusted non-profit credit counseling agency), please be assured that ACCC’s policy is NEVER to contact you unless you’ve explicitly requested us to call you. Also be cautious of emails from an unusual or unfamiliar domain. ACCC’s domain extension is @consumercredit.com, and any emails using a different extension should be treated with suspicion.

×

ACCC’s Client Login allows current clients to access their program information, including the due date, program benefits, and other documents.

Select a Client Login below based on the service that you are currently enrolled in:

Debt Management Program

Client Login

Bankruptcy

Pre-Bankruptcy Client

Post-Bankruptcy Client

Not yet a client, but looking to get started?

ACCC offers debt relief options to individuals and families that are suffering from stress related to credit card debt by providing effective credit counseling, helping to consolidate debt, and advising on debt management.

Get Started

Wait!

You are now leaving the Consumer Credit website and are going to a website that is not operated by ACCC. We are not responsible for the content or availability of linked sites.

Are you sure you want to leave?

No, return me to the previous page.

Yes

Military Budgeting Series: Pre Deployment

Being in the military has several implications to how you approach money management and your financial life. It can be an stressful affair for both you and your family. Therefore, it is important that you are financially prepared. American Consumer Credit Counseling’s military budgeting series will focus on financial tips pre deployment, during, and post deployment.

Follow our credit counseling tips for pre deployment finances.

Follow our credit counseling tips for pre deployment finances.

Military Budgeting Series: Pre Deployment Financial Management Tips

Who would Look After Your Finances?

Pre deployment, it is important to consider your spouse, parent, or other responsible person whom you trust to manage your financial well-being. Make sure you give the designated person a comprehensive briefing of your current financial situation. Organize your finances. Make a list of all of your bills and their due dates. How do you pay your bills? Is it automatic bill pay or do you write checks every month? Be sure your financial overseer is aware of which bills are due each month and when. Share account numbers, account information, pin numbers, and passwords for accounts so your overseer is prepared to manage your finances while deployed. This way you can ensure and stay on track on credit card payoff.

Make Sure You Choose a Power of Attorney & Draft a Will

By giving someone power of attorney, you are authorizing them to act on your behalf in a legal or business matter. You should give power of attorney to the person you chose as your financial overseer. This will allow them to pay your bills and rent/mortgage as necessary. Also, consider drafting your will to be sure your property and assets are properly handled if necessary.

Review the SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT (SCRA)

This federal law provides protections for military members. It covers issues such as rental agreements, security deposits, prepaid rent, eviction, installment contracts, credit card interest rates, mortgage interest rates, mortgage foreclosures, civil judicial proceedings, automobile leases, life insurance, health insurance and income tax payments. You should contact your nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program office to see if the SCRA applies to your particular case. 

Do You Know Your Entitlements?

If you and your financial overseer know and understand your entitlements, it will be much easier to create and stick to a budget.  For example, you may be entitled to a family separation allowance (FSA) if you are separated geographically from your family for more than thirty days. However, other restrictions apply. 

Establish a Budget & Create a Savings Plan

If you do not already have a monthly budget, now is the time to create one. It may seem tempting to spend the extra income you may receive from deployment, but you and your family should not inflate your lifestyle. Instead, you should use extra income to save or get out of debt. Others may experience a decrease in income during deployment. A budget is even more crucial in this circumstance. By maintaining and sticking to a monthly budget, you will better be able to save for financial emergencies and pay down debt. Use a budgeting worksheet to prepare you and your financial overseer for deployment.

These steps are necessary to ensure your finances are well taken care of while you are away. Your pre deployment plan has a great impact on your financial life while you are away, as well as post deployment. 

If you struggle to pay off debt, ACCC can help. Schedule a free credit counseling session today. 

ABOUT AUTHOR / Dilini

Dilini is a Marketing Communications & Programs Associate at ACCC. To anyone, managing finances can be a real challenge! Any tips and tricks to help get through this are great! Dilini will share her experiences, tips, and tricks along the way through the Talking Cents blog. Stay tuned!

View all author posts →

creditU

Say goodbye to the burden of debt

Struggling to manage your debt and improve your financial health is a thing of the past with the CreditU mobile app, an essential tool for anyone looking to manage their personal finances with ease.

CreditU Apple App Store CreditU Google Play
Dev Tool:

Request: blog/military-budgeting-series-pre-deployment
Matched Rewrite Rule: blog/([^/]+)/?$
Matched Rewrite Query: post_type=post&name=military-budgeting-series-pre-deployment
Loaded Template: single.php