Compare military pay and LES deductions with recurring housing, transportation, and household expenses.
Reviewed July 14, 2026
Gross cash pay combines basic pay and enabled allowances. The amount available for bills is lower after taxes, FICA, insurance, TSP, other deductions, and allotments.
Starting from net-after-LES avoids promising the same dollars to both payroll deductions and household expenses.
Annual insurance, registration, maintenance, travel, and subscription costs should be divided into monthly amounts when they are predictable. The calculator accepts recurring monthly values, so timing assumptions should be documented outside the money overview when necessary.
Use recent statements instead of ideal targets for the first pass. A second scenario can then show the effect of planned reductions.
BAH is income when received; rent, utilities, internet, and renters insurance are expenses. The BAH pocket metric compares housing allowance with entered housing costs without hiding either side.
Turning BAH off leaves housing costs intact. Turning BAS off leaves food costs intact. This prevents an entitlement switch from erasing real obligations.
The money overview combines gross pay, net-after-LES cash, deductions, expenses, BAH position, TSP, warnings, and leftover cash in one monthly view.
A negative result means the entered monthly outflows exceed the calculated cash available. Reconcile the inputs against a current LES and recurring bills before relying on the result.
The readiness score summarizes several conditions but cannot explain monthly cash flow by itself. Focus on surplus, shortfalls, duplicated entries, missing deductions, and the assumptions that changed between scenarios.
Recalculate the overview after promotion, permanent change of station, allowance change, tax election, vehicle purchase, lease renewal, or any new recurring allotment.