Know What You Can Afford Before You Move

Understanding what your current finances can realistically support.

For many Veterans, housing decisions get harder when income, benefits, or everyday expenses shift. What felt manageable before may not line up the same way now, and that’s often where things start to feel stretched financially. This theme focuses on helping your audience take a step back and figure out what they can realistically afford before making a move. 

Key Message: Start with what you can afford today, not what worked before. 

Featured Resources to Share

What Can You Actually Afford for Housing? A Quick Starting Point for Veterans: Use this one-page guide to help your audience quickly figure out what they can realistically afford before making a housing decision. It’s simple, practical, and easy to walk through in a conversation or share directly. 

Your Money After the Military Webinar: During this webinar with Armed Forces Mutual, we walk through common financial gaps, unexpected costs, and simple ways to build a financial cushion, even if you’re starting small. 

 

Additional Resources 

Use these to build on the conversation or provide more detail: 

Partner Post (Social Media) 

How to use: Share this post on social media to start a conversation about housing and affordability. If you do share, please tag us on social media! You can post as-is or adjust it to fit your audience. 

 

Suggested link: Pair this post with one of the featured Veteran Saves resources above or your organization’s housing support resources. 

 

Post Copy: 

Start with what your finances look like today. If your income, benefits, or monthly expenses have changed, your housing budget may need to change too. 

What worked before may not fit the same way now, especially during transition or after leaving the military. @VeteranSaves created resources to help Veterans think through housing affordability before renting, buying, or moving: [INSERT LINK]

Right click on the image and choose "Save Image As" to download to your device.

Sample Email Copy

Before making your next move, it’s worth taking a step back and looking at what your finances actually support today. 

Income, benefits, and everyday costs can change over time or during transition. What worked before may not line up the same way now. 

Start with what your finances look like today, not what worked before. 

Veteran Saves created a quick guide to help you walk through what you can realistically afford before renting, buying, or moving. 

Featured Resources: 

Action Step 

Encourage your audience to pick a target housing number. 

Ask them to set a rough monthly amount they feel comfortable spending on housing based on what they know about their income and expenses today. 

Ask them to think about: 

  • monthly income (their spending & savings plan) 
  • debt payments  
  • utilities  
  • transportation costs  
  • childcare or family expenses  
  • upcoming moving expenses 

Thanks again for sharing these resources to help keep your community informed about their housing decisions at every stage! If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at save@americasaves.org.