Air Force spouses teach during Military Saves Week 2014

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Luis Loza Gutierrez
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Two Air Force wives taught lunch and learn financial classes during this year's Military Saves Week hosted at the Airman & Family Readiness Center here.

Military Saves is a social marketing campaign designed to persuade, motivate, and encourage military families to save money every month, and to convince leaders and organizations to be aggressive in promoting automatic savings.

"Last year we [the A&FRC] had two military spouses teach one of our financial information classes during Military Saves Week, but this year was the first time I can remember in my ten years here that we ever had the wife of the wing commander and the wife of the command chief teach a class," said Thomas R. Slaughter, Military Saves Week campaign coordinator and A&FRC community readiness consultant.

"We were very fortunate to have Mrs. [Becky] Duncan and Mrs. [Bonnie] Bauman be part of this year's local Military Saves Week campaign. In fact, I thought it was terrific idea to have them teach their own class after I learned about their financial backgrounds and expertise."

Duncan, who holds a bachelor's degree in marketing and a master's degree in business management, taught a class focused on creating a financial action plan designed to motivate those in attendance to ask themselves the question--"What financial goal do you want to tackle this year?"

The information presented in class seems to have worked.

"One of the things that stood out to me during the class was when Mrs. Duncan said, 'Don't forget to pay yourself first,'" said Airman 1st Class Mongeriq Barron. "I think that's an important thing to remember because the goal I want to tackle this year is to come up with a better savings plan for retirement, which I think could help any first-term Airman like me avoid a lot of struggling in the future."

Barron's fellow 319th Medical Group colleague Senior Airman Devell Shanks also commented on the information presented in Duncan's class.

"Thanks to Mrs. Duncan's class I learned the difference between being proactive and reactive when it comes to my finances," said Shanks. "For example, it's important not to wait to the last minute to make a budget because it's a great tool that can be used to help you see well in advance how long it may take you to reach a financial goal like buying a car or paying something off. Not having a budget can result in a person buying something they may later regret because they did not take the time to make a budget or plan and see how it would affect their finances."

Bauman, who holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with a double major in finance and financial planning, wrapped up the 2014 Military Saves Week on base with a class on how to talk to kids about money.

Her class focused on strategies for raising financially responsible children in a debit and credit card world. Like Duncan's class earlier in the week, Bauman's presentation also generated a positive response from students.

Master Sgt. Genevieva Nordaune, the first sergeant at the 319th Operations Support Squadron, was one such student.

"I had been looking forward to attending this class because it was the first time I had ever heard of this type of class being offered," said Nordaune, a mother of two who attended the class with her husband.

Nordaune said she thought a class on parental skills related to money was a wonderful way to conclude military saves week because she thinks it's important that adults teach the next generations how to be financially responsible people.

She also described the strategies taught by Bauman as fantastic.

"I particularly liked the strategy of posting a family budget on the fridge and using it as a visual learning tool so children can become more aware of a family's financial goals and see how money is managed between wants and needs," said Nordaune. "I also liked the strategy of not paying a child for self-care actions such as making their own bed or doing their own homework because it teaches them to be more independent and responsible for themselves and their actions. It's kind of like teaching a new Airman about personal accountability in military."

Although the Military Saves Week classes have concluded, Military Saves is a year-round campaign and the A&FRC will continue to offer various classes and events designed to educate and inform service members and their families on how to succeed in reaching their financial goals or address other money-related concerns.

"Our base is full of talented, educated and intelligent people," said Slaughter. "We at the Airman & Family Readiness Center highly encourage anyone who would like to teach a class like Mrs. Bauman and Mrs. Duncan to sit down with us and show us what skills or expertise they may have, so we can figure out how those particular skills can be used to better our base community."

For information about the services offered at the A&FRC on Grand Forks AFB call 701-747-3241.