The leaves have fallen, the air is crisp, and the flavors have shifted from pumpkin spice to peppermint mocha. Yes, it’s winter and time for the television programming lineup to be filled with movies that have improbable plot twists and lots of foreign princes. Yet aside from the epically decorated houses, the fake snow, and the cheesy love stories, you can actually learn some money lessons from these holiday flicks.

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:

Did you know that you have a ‘Money Personality’ that gives insight into your relationship with money, your impulses, how you save, and how you spend? At Military Saves, our goal is to encourage you to save successfully. Knowing your money personality type can give you clues on how to be most effective on your journey to saving more, reducing debt, and starting to build wealth.

When living the military lifestyle, you just accept that there will be many things you can’t control. One thing you can control? How you spend and how you save. While that may look different every time you PCS to a new duty station, having a spending and savings plan (aka a budget)  in place is so important.

We’ve created an easy to use, but thorough, Spending and Saving Plan tool to use. Before you get started, here are some tips to help you #ThinkLikeASaver, ensuring that your money is working smarter and harder for you.