20K on Combat Pay~the Intro

Here it is already, April. The Man is gearing up for his third deployment to the Middle East (only a year later than Big Army told him he was going to, thanks DA!) and it is time for a goal. With the full support of The Man, I have decided that I am setting a goal of saving $20,000 while he is gone. I know, I know what you all are saying in your heads-"But you're supposed to SPEND money while The Man is gone!!" Not me. I'm a saver bee. So far, I've saved $145, which is the amount that I usually spend at the gym per month on child care. The Army has this wonderful thing called the Covenant Card that gives you free child care at the gym, 16 hours of free hourly care at the regular day care per month, a reduced rate on any other child care you might use, Spouse's Day Out and Spouse's Night Out, and up to $300 worth of extracurricular activities for your children (gymnastics, dance classes, etc.,) when your spouse is deployed. Another big Thanks, DA! Just as an addendum, if the goverment shuts down and The Man doesn't get paid, I won't be able to save $20K. I'll just have to make another goal for myself. Like teaching myself how to run a household on $475 per month plus whatever we have in our savings account. Big shout out to emergency funds!!