View Full Version : Pay --Is it enough?
TreeHuggerInc
03-21-08, 04:29 AM
Before anything, let me just take a minute to introduce myself.
My name is Eric Quintero and I am going to enlist. I am hoping to qualify for either a Linguist or Intel MOS. No, I am not trying to be Recon.
I have spoken to several Marines and Recruiters, but I always seem to forget to ask about Pay vs Daily Living Expenses.
The following questions are aimed primarily at Enlisted Personnel, however, anyone else should feel free to answer.
How do you all feel about your Basic Pay versus your Daily Living Expenses? Is it enough? Are you just scraping by? Or are you able to save money? And on average, after all monthly expenses are met, how much are you left with for personal/recreational use?
And after four years what paygrade should I expect?
Pay is enough if you know how to manage your money. If you're stupid though, you'll be broke.
Do a search though, this was just discussed last week.
Old Marine
03-21-08, 07:46 AM
The pay is never enough.
As far as the paygrade goes, if they are passing out stripes in the Mess Hall you could be a SgtMaj after 4 years.
jackson07
03-21-08, 10:20 AM
Linguist is a 5 yr contract. After 4 you could be a Cpl, maybe a Sgt but prob not.
rvillac2
03-21-08, 10:22 AM
What are your daily expenses? Your meals are paid for. You have an issue of uniforms to wear each day. You don't need to pay for housing. If you consume what the Corps gives you, you won't be spending very much money on a daily basis.
Here's possible ways of money flowing out of your pocket:
Buying chow at Burger King instead of going to chow hall.
Smoking/dipping/chewing.
Taking taxis/renting cars to go into town frequently.
Renting motel rooms in town.
Renting women in town/tipping strippers.
Buying drinks for cheap women.
Buying clothes at the mall because a female saleslady told you it looks fantastic on you and she'll meet you at the club.
These are just a few examples of how many can ooze out of your wallet. If you are disciplined or your lifestyle doesn't include these things, you can save a lot of money.
You should expect to be a L/Cpl or Corporal at the end of 4 years. There's a small chance that you could be a Sergeant but many factors determine that. Note that the jump from L/Cpl to Corporal is the biggest pay raise and feels quite nice (especially if you're single).
smoking gunz
03-21-08, 12:01 PM
Like said before it depends how you manage it. I did very well but thats only due to saving money being out in the field frequently and you make a good amount of money on deployments. But deployments are the same concept. Spend on stupid stuff and come home broke. Between never spending money cuz of being in the field and deployments while i managed my money closely. I did very well for myself. So it depends on you
drillinstructor
03-21-08, 02:01 PM
Before anything, let me just take a minute to introduce myself.
My name is Eric Quintero and I am going to enlist. I am hoping to qualify for either a Linguist or Intel MOS. No, I am not trying to be Recon.
I have spoken to several Marines and Recruiters, but I always seem to forget to ask about Pay vs Daily Living Expenses.
The following questions are aimed primarily at Enlisted Personnel, however, anyone else should feel free to answer.
How do you all feel about your Basic Pay versus your Daily Living Expenses? Is it enough? Are you just scraping by? Or are you able to save money? And on average, after all monthly expenses are met, how much are you left with for personal/recreational use?
And after four years what paygrade should I expect?
When I was a youngen, all my money went to the titty bars. I was a SSgt before i grew up and stopped living payday to payday.
Noone can answere your question because we do not know your bills. Do you own an RV that you make $100111111111111195686867 a month payments on or do you have a car your mommy bought you that is payed off. The bottom line is being a Marine is worth it no matter what your pay is.
Wyoming
03-21-08, 02:48 PM
Pay --Is it enough?
Enough for what?
yellowwing
03-21-08, 02:53 PM
The pay is not nearly enough compared what we do for America. But The Corps makes sure you eat and have a decent place to sleep.
I keep telling the tale of a Sgt that sunk half his pay in savings bonds. No he did not party every weekend but after six years he had enough money to do what ever he wanted to do next.
davblay
03-21-08, 03:26 PM
When I was a youngen, all my money went to the titty bars. I was a SSgt before i grew up and stopped living payday to payday.
Noone can answere your question because we do not know your bills. Do you own an RV that you make $100111111111111195686867 a month payments on or do you have a car your mommy bought you that is payed off. The bottom line is being a Marine is worth it no matter what your pay is.
Good one TOP! You get everything you need to exist if you stay on base. Three hots and a cot! What else is there? You have base buses that will take you where you want to go for free, and unless you have debts out the ass, you can actually save some money. But the Savings bond is a good idea. Have them hold enough each payday for a $100.00 savings bond and see how that mounts up!
If you don't drink, smoke or party, you are good to go, or you might be one of those that eats at the mess hall 26 days a month because you are broke! The choice is yours! I would eat at the mess hall every meal, sleep on base every night, use the entertainment provided on base, it's a whole lot cheaper. Buy your cloths at Walmart, if that is cheaper than the PX.
Plus there are ways to make extra money. I have a frined that is a L/Cpl, he allows himself $50.00 a month to party, the rest he saves. He irons uniforms for other Marines, takes thier guard duty on the week ends, washes cars, you name it for extra money from the PARTY MARINES! They think he's crazy, so do I....like a fox! He more than doubles his salary each month from the guys that want to Party. He cleans the whole room and the other Marines in the room pay him. So you get my drift!
I'll hush now!
Semper Fi,
Dave
Phantom Blooper
03-21-08, 03:34 PM
If you keep huggin' the tree and not the hoe in town or port...as stated you should have sufficient money for haircuts,uniform maintenance and to save a little.
Whom is say how much is enough? Donald Trump and Warren Buffet are billionaires and still don't have enough because of the extravagant lifestyle they lead. If you are a Pvt and are spending money as a Sgt then that will only lead to problems and if you do wrong you can have UCMJ proceedings.
You don't have to live a life of the hermit...but choose your activities wisely...visit those tittie bars for the initial experience then leave em' alone.
You will have three hots and a cot and a paycheck....budget your money and save during your enlistment and you may have enough to hug something besides a tree!:evilgrin:
Wyoming
03-21-08, 03:35 PM
I had half of my pay go to the credit union, automatically.
My 1st year in, I mostly stayed on base and went to the EClub.
Went to the RVN. Saved a bit for R&R in Thailand. Nookie and beer was cheap.
When I got back, I was used to having only a certain amount of pay.
Maybe that is why I have 2 homes, a sailboat, and a few extra dollars today.
I may sound stingy, but I can do and go as I please.
Linguist is a 5 yr contract. After 4 you could be a Cpl, maybe a Sgt but prob not.
There's no reason he shouldn't be a Sgt. after 4, considering after 4 = 48-60 months for his contract. And any Marine that ain't a Cpl after 2 years...well, nevermind.
SGT7477
03-21-08, 06:07 PM
I can tell you what many Marines would be broke payday because of gambling and if it wasn't for the mess hall they would have starved, I made Sgt. under 3 years, our SSGT's at the time said if you didn't make SSGT in 5 years you are wasting your time that was back in the middle 70's. My base pay starting out in 1974 was 135 bucks and I ended up saving pretty darn good money my time in the Corps.
jackson07
03-21-08, 10:32 PM
There's no reason he shouldn't be a Sgt. after 4, considering after 4 = 48-60 months for his contract. And any Marine that ain't a Cpl after 2 years...well, nevermind.
Some of our linguist cutting scores are in the 1700s at times, and close out for months at a time. There is a good chance he won't be a Cpl by his two year mark. It takes most linguists more than two years to pick up Cpl currently.
TreeHuggerInc
03-22-08, 12:53 AM
Fantastic. Im not a big spender. And I save most of the money I make. I would join the Marines regardless of whether I made a dollar or a million dollars...I just wanted to get an idea of what to expect. Thanks guys :D
Although... the tittie bars might make things harder ;)
Phantom Blooper
03-22-08, 06:13 AM
Although... the tittie bars might make things harder ;)
TMI!:evilgrin:
I ate out almost every day and worked hard to spend my money but I still managed to save half of my pay. Of course I didn't have a car, girlfriend, nor did I drink.
egbutler1
04-13-08, 11:37 PM
first off don't expect any rank for any amount of time your are enlisted you could be and e1 or your could be an e6 in 4 years but i don't think you should expect anything. As for the money i thought it was good especially when deployed cause you don't have anything to spend it on. But we could always use more money. I did end up having to eat at the chow hall on the 3rd of the month or the 17th of the month on many occasion because i ran out of money, but than again i spent it all on booze and food. Just don't look at joining for the money. I was 18 years old and a grunt i didn't have any bills but you can always use more money.
Big Jim
04-14-08, 02:00 PM
When I was a youngen, all my money went to the titty bars. I was a SSgt before i grew up and stopped living payday to payday.
Noone can answere your question because we do not know your bills. Do you own an RV that you make $100111111111111195686867 a month payments on or do you have a car your mommy bought you that is payed off. The bottom line is being a Marine is worth it no matter what your pay is.
The Top said it best and here's another saying that should define your dedication: "The US Marine Corps, where every meal is a banquet, every is a payday a fortune and every formation is a parade!!!"
Its all in how you see it...if its NOT enough, then it won't be, but if you can make it work then it becomes enough!!
Every formation is a family reunion and every meal a feast. Set up a savings allotment. There will come a time when that money will come in handy. Used to improve the lifestyle of some ladies of the night on hotel street every payday. Better off skipping that.
yellowwing
04-14-08, 04:19 PM
Every formation is a family reunion and every meal a feast. Set up a savings allotment. There will come a time when that money will come in handy. Used to improve the lifestyle of some ladies of the night on hotel street every payday. Better off skipping that.
Advanced Leave and Advanced Pay seemed to take forever to pay back.
I had two concience checks over the years.... one in the philipenes and one in Hawaii.... they test you for everything. Had a sailor tell me that if I kicked him he would kick me back ... that was right before the bore punch.
Adam1988
04-14-08, 04:27 PM
There's no reason he shouldn't be a Sgt. after 4, considering after 4 = 48-60 months for his contract. And any Marine that ain't a Cpl after 2 years...well, nevermind.
most grunts get out lcpl's with 2-3 deployments + combat actions + good cookies
Bore punch .... a cuetip much like what is used to clean guitars is inserted to retreive a sample LOL. By the time it is over you're wishing lorena bobbet was taking the sample. Not forgetting a corpsman hanging on to your goods and avoiding a kick.
SlingerDun
04-14-08, 08:21 PM
Bore punch ....Cringe! Once i was settin on a bail smokin and taking a break watching a baby veterinarian take a steel shafted bore punch to an old gelding that had a caked up weener. She probed and he fired a savage cow kick and she moved her face but the hoof tagged her ear. She ouched and danced around then went to the van to load a syringe of tranqs for the patient but her hands were shaking so bad she dropped the bottle on the concrete smash, and had to sit down. So i field stripped my smoke, scotch hobbled old pard, layed him down and sprawled on his neck so she could work in relative safety. That ear was big and angry and started to darken before she left the farm and next time i saw her although a handsome young woman she had herself a junior cauliflower.http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/images/icons/icon11.gif
--->Dave