The above picture is the reason for my post.
Someone out in the interwebs land was brought here asking the question "Average amount of money a sailor spends on deployment?"
I can not answer the average but I can tell you what works for me!
When my hubster and I first went through port calls we set a certain amount of funds per port. If you read my post about the challenge of deployments then you would have known there was something in there about communication and money.
For us we set an amount of $250. If it is gone with his first tour, it is gone. Most places the USD goes rather far and we have never had an issue. Now that we are in a situation that we are more stable we sometimes alot a bit more.
If you are aware of family separation pay (Navy, not sure about other branches) then you would know that is also $250. In my personal opinion our husband (or wife) is away from home. They deserve a nice dinner or drink (no matter how bad YOU want one too!) and that amount of money will get at least one of those!
We also communicate about this subject a lot. Seeing that I have the kiddos at home my hubby never wants us to go without so he can have fun. There have been situations where $250 just does not go as far as you would think. For example, Singapore. While for $100USD you would get $140SGD things there are very expensive. It is not a cheap place to visit. Then there are places for port calls that $250USD would last a long long time!
I also take into consideration how my husband will get around. Will he rent a car? Will he take a taxi? Those are not cheap.
There is really no average. I think it is what works for you and your significant other decide.
This is such a big deal for my hubby's ship right now. The guys are currently on deployment and some wives have been left with nothing to eat but rice until the next paycheck. My husband is one of the blessings and is extremely attentive of how much he spends and makes sure he's within what we agree. We have agreed on 45 dollars per week and 200 dollars a port visit. If he wants or needs to spend more then he just has to check in with our bank account via me... But some places are definitely more expensive. Trust me, I used to live in Singapore!
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