Misawa holds Military Saves week

[unhappycamper]

Misawa holds Military Saves week
By T.D. Flack, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, March 2, 2009

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Deanna Dlugiewicz, a community readiness technician at Misawa, can quickly tell you what the current gloomy economic climate means to the worldwide military community: "Finance is on everyone’s mind."

Dlugiewicz is coordinating this year’s Military Saves program for the base, part of the Defense Department’s stated effort to "persuade, motivate, and encourage military families to save money every month." While most bases held their Military Saves programs last week, Misawa opted to delay a week because of a previously scheduled exercise.

Although she’s focusing on Misawa’s program, running Monday through Friday, her message is universal militarywide.

"We say financial readiness equals mission readiness," she said. "If military members are not financially ready, the mission will not be possible."

Officials suggest that people seek financial assistance on their bases, and not just during Military Saves week. At Misawa, and other Air Force bases, that means going to the Airman and Family Readiness Center. Dlugiewicz’s own advice to those seeking to get rid of debt and build savings? Stop using credit cards and develop a spending plan.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61057