For married veterans, scarce funds mean prioritizing

By Rob Moritz, New York Times News Service

Monday, April 3, 2017 | 2 a.m.

BRYANT, Ark. — Sometimes Tanya Brashers can almost forget about the financial situation her family is in.

Tanya and her husband, Chris, are military veterans — Tanya is a former member of the U.S. Navy and Chris of the Marines — living in this bedroom community southwest of the state capital.

In mid-February, Tanya, 41, lost her $37,000-a-year job with a nonprofit veterans group in North Little Rock when grant funding dried up. In early April, the Brashers and her teenage son from a previous marriage must vacate the house they have been renting for $1,200 a month because their landlord plans to sell it. The couple has about $50,000 in student loan debt.

“The more I talk about our situation, the more grim it seems,” she said. “We prioritize everything: our rent and utilities and our food comes first … It’s a huge splurge if we go out to dinner or something, but we feel like it’s important to do that every so often. And I do feel guilty for it.”

The couple has decided to move to Fairhope, Alabama, on the Gulf Coast, hoping it will bring new opportunities.

Tanya’s Arkansas social worker license is valid in Alabama. Chris, who has a degree in engineering but is trying to build a business as a freelance photographer, researched the area and thinks there are more freelance jobs there. They will also be near several military bases, an employment option if they cannot find full-time work, she said.

Money worries are not new to Tanya, who grew up in poverty in Yazoo City, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. She remembers moving often as a child because her parents could not pay the rent. The water and electricity were frequently cut off.

Tanya said that growing up in poverty and seeing poverty every day had a significant influence on her political choices.

“Given that there are a lot of economic issues right now, social welfare programs are essential and help people from being homeless to keeping people from having their health become detrimental,” she said.

Money was also scarce during her five years in the Navy. “So you kind of get used to living very basic,” she said.

The first time in her life that she thought she had enough money was after she was discharged and moved to Reno, Nevada. “I started to make good money in the civilian world … and I lived a little more lavishly, maybe too lavishly, and ended up in bankruptcy,” she said, and “then, of course, I reverted back to the basics again.”

Chris, 46, grew up in Arkansas; he also filed for bankruptcy after leaving the military because he lived beyond his means.

While Tanya no longer has a paycheck she can count on, she receives disability compensation of nearly $2,000 a month for a back injury she suffered during a training exercise in the Navy.

Chris, who served during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, was also receiving $2,000 a month in disability compensation for a number of physical and emotional issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder. But in December, that payment was halted for six months after a paperwork error resulted in his being overpaid.

The couple has health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs; Tanya’s ex-husband covers their son’s insurance.

While they drive newer vehicles, they shop for things marked down to the lowest price and closely monitor their utility costs.

Chris said he is hopeful about their situation, and he likes a lot of what President Donald Trump is doing. “Like wanting to renovate the VA system,” he said. “That would really impact us, but how is he going to do it?”

Tanya said she is not sure of their future. “We are happy with living simply,” she said. “We tried to find the least extravagant house in the neighborhood.

“I’m at peace with the fact that I don’t have to have a lot of money to be happy."