TheFly

No debt, additional source of income and spending discipline. You must resist the temptation to spend what you do not have. Sometimes that includes forgoeing social activities or the latest gadget, but it's what must be done.

dr650

I was able to get by on first year pay by living in domicile in the NYC area. I didn't need a car, public transportation was easy. I rented a room in a quiet house instead of commuting and using a crash pad. I set budgets and stuck to them. Even with a student loan payment of 450 a month I was able to save a few hundred dollars every month. I lived close enough to the airport that I didn't mind picking up a turn or two for a pilot who was trying to catch a commute home.

Jfgriff

Roommates, a partner that understands a year of cheap activities, look at the costs you can control and do without the ones you know you don't need.

Tom a Hawk

It's really easy to nickel and dime yourself to death on food and drinks out that first year. Training is long and you need distractions at times. Airport food is expensive, a good cooler is worth the money. Also living in base helps this, makes day trips or two days easier and reserve soooooo much easier. I grossed under 20k my first year. I also recommend get rid of the extra stuff that isn't improving your life much. I cancelled cable, kept a dumb phone, walked or rode my bike more to cut down the gas bill, and learned to cook better from scratch. I also managed to bid weekends in December and throw boxes for UPS during the week that Christmas season. If you've got a significant other; hiking, museums, or an exercise routine are all cheap ways to spend quality time. Good luck! Where are you looking? What are your quals?

Tummy

I haven't done it yet, but I'm looking at doing it in about a year and a half. I'm just trying to save as much money as I can in the first place. This will be my first adult non-military job, so maybe I'm being overly cautious, but I'm trying to save at least one year worth of present living expenses and then cut down my lifestyle once I make the switch.

bjkirby2000

It's starting to sound like you're on your own and doing this by yourself and already making some good decisions. Someday, you'll reply to "How'd You Do It?".

throttleweenie

Potatoes are cheap and so is day-old bread. You get cookies and juice when you donate blood, or I did 30 years ago anyway, when I was paying my way through college as a CFI. I qualified for food stamps my first two years at my current carrier. No names, but it used to have a tulip on the tail, and it's not the Express version.

Unless you have the Midas touch, another job, or a sugar-significant other, t's a matter of sucking it up. No more, no less.

TW

rotorhead1026

And spring for a Costco membership if there's one close by. Free snacks and cheap pizza will pay the cost back quickly, as long as you're in base enough to visit frequently.

HeavyDriver

More then 25 years ago...My Eagle paycheck minus per-diem/after taxes...was $428 every 2-weeks...I made it work by these steps.

-No debt
-Crashpad and $00.25 noodle diet
-Girlfriend had a job and made more money then me
-drove the car of my nightmares.
-delivered pizza at night on days off(when the car worked)
-got out of Eagle ASAP.

John Carr

It can't be stressed enough, but the live within you means in the BEST advice. But you are in a more unique situation compared to others. The saying needs to be changed to "live within the means that you will NOW find yourself". Going backwards in lifestyle isn't easy.

Years ago I took a furlough, got hired at the bottom somewhere else. It entailed about a 60% pay cut. I had a pretty healthy savings account built up. And at that time, my lifestyle was on 2nd year FO rate, but I was making 5th year CA rate. So I was well within my means, but STILL had a mortgage to pay. Which is where my savings came in. But with all that said, even as frugal as I was before being furloughed, going from ABC income to JUST A income wasn't easy. Like I said, going BACKWARDS in lifestyle can be hard, even when you're prepared for it.