Does the idea of saving up hundreds of thousands of dollars seem impossible? How about doing it while still living an enjoyable lifestyle?

For military spouse Martina and her husband, an E-5 in the Navy, accumulating a six-figure savings has become a reality. One might think that in order to save this much, it would take a great deal of sacrificing and forgoing a certain quality of life, but Martina and her husband would disagree. “Over the past few years (about five), we've managed to save almost $120,000 while mostly living on one income. We've learned so much about easy ways to save money and live a good life,” shares Martina.

Ryan’s savings journey started when he was an active duty airman. Frequent deployments and temporary duty assignments gave him the opportunity to save. By the time he transitioned out of active duty, he had built up a healthy rainy-day fund and had started to aggressively save for retirement.

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Later this month, the United States government will be implementing a payroll tax deferral for about 1.3 million federal employees. The White House order specifically targets a 6.2% tax that employers deduct from wages to help fund Social Security. The details have not been completely fleshed out, but if you are a federal employee, including a military service member, here’s what you need to know about this deferral:

Maintaining an emergency savings account may be the most important difference between those who manage to stay afloat and those who sink in debt. An emergency fund consists of a small amount of money, usually in a savings or share account, that you do not have easy access to. Keeping $500 to $1,000 of savings for emergencies can allow you to easily meet unexpected financial challenges such as: