Make the pledge to save Published Jan. 26, 2015 By Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Military and Family Support Center JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, Military and Family Support Center is hosting several events throughout the month of February in honor of this year's Military Saves Campaign, with a focus to "Build wealth, not debt." "Military Saves is a social marketing campaign to encourage service members, families and civilians to focus on savings," said Bobbie Seidel, MFSC Military Saves coordinator. "Often, savings is an 'oh, by the way' and we want savings to be an everyday part of your financial plan, Set a Goal, Make a Plan and Save Automatically." "By taking the Savers Pledge, you are making a conscious effort to put savings first in an effort to reduce debt that often occurs due to having no savings," said Seidel. "Taking the pledge is the first step, but having financial goals increases the likely hood that you will continue to save, especially when the financial 'wants' in life get in the way. Write down what you are saving for. It can be anything that will help you to focus on your savings plan. Tech. Sgt. James Martina, 305th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron vehicle NCO, had a goal and said it was a process, not an event. In 2013, he and his family made the conscious decision to reduce their debt and increase savings. After falling into the credit card trap and other unwise financial choices, they took stock of what led to the debt and pledged to be debt free. Were they debt free overnight? No, but they are closer to their goal. Eating out, deciding on needs and wants and focusing on being debt free is what helped them to reduce their debt by over half of what it was last year and to have money in their savings account. "Having money in a savings account and not having debt hanging over our heads allows us to focus on our family and the mission, instead of what bill are we going to pay this month," said Martina. Service members, retirees, Department of Defense civilians and their families are encouraged to take the savers pledge that can be found at www.militarysaves.org. The pledge urges participants to set and keep financial goals and provides planning and debt reduction tips in a monthly e-newsletter. This year, the MFSC is excited to offer financial workshops designed for families and a Financial Resource Fair, where attendees will have the opportunity to visit tables and obtain information about investing, debt management, banking and free to low cost things to do on base. Prize drawings for those that take the savers pledge as well as a document shedder truck will be on site. The MFSC is offering several new workshops to help people meet their financial goals and save for the future. Contact the MFSC for additional workshops and locations for the events. To learn more about finance classes available at JB MDL, call the Military Family Support Center at (609) 754-3154 or (732) 323-1248. Also, to learn more about Military Saves Week, visit www.militarysaves.org.