European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 13, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday september 13, 1985 the stars and stripes Page Arm Landers dear Ann Landers to dating and Middle aged in Kalamazoo where do you find those Dar Ling men who insist on picking up the Check i m a 36-year-old Divorcee who is tired of being asked to dinner then after dessert he lets the Check sit there until i Pix it up. Another adorable Guy invites me out for cocktails orders a second round and when the waitress brings them he says it s your turn to pay. Please give the girl a Nice  Down with women s lib it started All of this garbage. Give me a gentleman who will take me out and pay the Tab. None of these big spenders is raising two kids on a Secre tary s salary. . I also have to pay $2 an hour for the Babysitter. Sign me disillusioned and tapped out in Topeka Dew tapped Why do you attract such Kmen there must be better material in Topeka. Keep looking. The next letter Shook be or inter est. Dear Ann Landers my wife and i Are in our Early 60s. This is a second marriage for both. Our pre Vious mates died. My wife is financially Well off and so am i. Before our marriage year ago we agreed to share All expenses. Immediately after i found myself paying for every thing. Our household expenses amount to Over $1,000 a month. She has never paid a dime toward anything. Weeks go by and she does t open her Wallet. Neither of us has a relative in the world. When i asked her what she is saving her Money for she replied ii in t the Money it s the  As for travel dining out or taking a trip she says it s too expensive so we sit at Home and watch to. I never thought my Golden years would be spent like this. She is a Good woman in Many ways kind considerate and a marvelous Cook but i can t stand her Mise Liness. Any advice tired of it All dear tired in addition to being painfully stingy your wife has another problem. She s a Welsher. Why have you not reminded her of the agreement to share everything maybe you also have a problem no  s More wrong Here than just Money. It s poor communication. You two should be honeymooning still instead she s a stick in the mud and you re angry at her stinginess. Neither of you is having any fun. I recommend joint counselling before you find yourselves telling it to the dear Ann Landers 1 just returned from the Hairdresser and am close to tears. I explained that i want to Wear my hair Long but it needed to be trimmed slightly and evened up in Prepa ration for the new  turned my chair around so 1 could t see what she was doing. Before i knew it i looked As if i d been scalped. When i asked what in the world she had hone the replied this is new and it s what you should be  i realize my hair will grow Back but i am furious Al what that Dame did to me literally behind my Back. This sort of thing happens to women All the time. Why Hagerstown my. Dear my i used my Hairdresser Brian blah Chard. He said too Many a Twu rather be create than follow the cbe4 . The woman has a right to Tkv famous. She should find other  quarters allowance Exchange rate is explained 1 am a department of the army civilian Dac employee living in housing on the German Economy. 1 am currently receiving a living quarters allowance la based on a set Exchange rate of do 3.25 per is. For the last several months the mex change rate has steadily declined and 1 sought to inquire with our local co As to when this rate might be re adjusted to reflect the current economic trend. I was told that this was a policy decision that was made at another Agency s office and that i was not permitted to Contact them directly to receive a response to this question. Thus i am writing this letter to seek such a response. 1 have been employed Here in Germany for five months and when i signed a contractual agreement to move overseas with my family i was informed that part of the compensation for this agreement would be that All housing costs were reimbursed by the government. With the present Exchange rate of do 2.85 per Dollar my family and i arc reimbursed Only 88% of these costs. This is not in Confor Mance with our original contractual agreement. Could someone please answer two questions that would clarify matters for me and my family 1. What is the policy on la adjust ments in relation to fluctuations of the do Exchange rate 2. May we expect recompense for the 12% reimbursement differential at some time in the future or Are these funds lost to be taken care of by my family s finances i would appreciate a response on this. Thomas o. Dauer Frankfurt editor s note Elizabeth Reid Alq , civilian personnel Divi Sion replies the writer has expressed a common concern. How Are adjustments to the biweekly la payments made to allow for the fluctuation in currency conversion rates the writer has also surfaced a com Mon misconception that All housing costs Are reimbursable. They Are not. First let s look at How the la is administered. To initiate la the employee completes an of 1190, foreign allowances Grant application and report. The initial estimate of expenses is very important be cause if an employee overstates expenses thus receiving More la than actual expenses the overpayment must be repaid to the government. On the other hand if Esti mates arc Low any additional authorized expenses Are paid to the employee. Employees Are paid at the same conversion rate within the department of slate standardized regulation a sir maximum payment limits established Al the outset or annual review until fluctuations in currency coupled with maximum payment limits established by the department of stale dictate a change. Al that time he usar  authorizes . Army finance and accounting Center Europe Suafa eur to do is mass change to adjust the conversion rate and maximum rates for All employees. A mass change is anticipated in september. When currency conversion rates Are higher the a sir maximum payable is lower. However with the recent reduction in the Dollar the department of stale has authorized higher maximum rates for la. Al the end of the pay year normally mid december there is a reconciliation to give employees the Benefit of All allowable expenses for the year. Employees Are required to substantiate the estimate for expenses with an of 1190, attaching receipts for rent and utilities. Department of state regulations provide that reimbursement May be made for rent and utilities costs not included with rent such As heat Light fuel Gas electricity and water. Expenses which Are not reimbursable Are sewage garbage and trash removal Chimney sweep Tele phone Garden or Lawn service servants wages and other extraneous expenses not directly related to rent. The maximum la payment limits established by the department of state for each quarters group determined by Grade with or without family for each Post for the pay year is averaged to determine the maximum la payable. The Dally currency conversion Rales Are averaged to determine the average currency conversion rate for the pay year. Employee expenses Are converted to dollars using the average currency conversion rate for the pay year. The Dollar amount of employee expenses which does not exceed the department of stale maximum is the amount the employee was authorized for such expenses during the year. This information is provided by letter to the employee and finance. The maximum authorized la is then matched against the amount actually paid by finance. The resulting computation by Usa Facer is the Over or under pay mint. Employees Are then advised by letter of the amount they must pay or the amount they will be paid. This reconciliation of 1190 also determines the amount payable for the forthcoming year. Although time consuming we believe the even amount payment procedure and an Nual reconciliation allows maximum Bene fit to employees and clearly provides for payment of All allowable expenses within the department of slate authorized Maxi mum. The procedure is currently being automated. This should greatly reduce the pen pals t would like id correspond Ullh people irom All Over the world. I am 2� rears old. I Entov dancing motor cycling Reading magazines seeing movies and going to Church. Maria Margarita our an Bunno North Flo a Dumaqu be Colv negro Oriental.  i would like pen mis from Al Over the world. I am ii veers old. I Entov reeding mag airtes going to Church cooking and writing pen friends. Maria Chona Duran Piunno North Road Dum Aguele Clov Negros Oriental Hlll pertes i would Ilka pen pah from a Over the world. I am 25 veers old. I in Kra Reading and writing pen friends cirm.1,1. Pel Luna Bunno North Road Oum Egue Clov Negros Oriental Philippines i would ilk pan pals from All Over Trie world. I am 14 years old. I enjoy dancing seeing movies going 10 Church and singing. Marl Wenlu Duran Bunno North Road Durst mute Clov Negros Oriental Pnno planes pleas publish  name in your pen pal column. I a u wars Young. Vert of mlle 33 Procter House re duh Bristol Psi Eph England we re in filipinos working in saudi Arabia and would like our names to be published in your pen pal column. We re very willing to correspond with people All Over the world. Lime it now lakes to compute allowable expenses average conversion rates and maximum payable amounts. Further. I s Afa eur will not have to audit t to computations when they Are computed a  department of slate regulations also specify that when government quarters Are not provided free of charge the la is authorized to pay substantially All costs for rental of quarters. Employees Are advised that the maximum Rale for their Post or area can change without notice. Therefore if employees wish to have most of their quarters costs paid by the la they Musl rent quarters thai Are Well within the department of state maximum Rales. Fur ther As discussed earlier the la is not designed to cover All costs. Expenses such As sewage and Irish removal Are not reimbursable. There Are a number of criteria governing the payment of la. Employees Are advised to report any changes in their Situa Tion such As number of family members changes in quarters sharing quarters with other subleasing quarters Etc. Employees Are reimbursed Only for quarters which they occupy and travel to and from their place of work on a daily basis. An employee who transfers to another Post cannot rent a room at the new p to and continue to collect la for family members Al Ike former Post. If you have questions concern ing your particular situation Contact Ike allowances staff in the technical services office of your co. Thank you for the Opportunity to explain the system for paying la and some of the requirements for receiving this important Benefit which is not subject to Federal taxes. The stars Romy p sierras Bert no Dato de Isle nes Duenas Bonne Coslo Dlo sic Basel Royal saudi Navel Force protect . Bohi Riyadh. 11411 kingdom of saudi arable please publish my name in your column. I am a 19 year old full plan. My hobbles Are biking playing bad minion Reading cooking writing and doing household chores. Marina Cargar Osmeno Avenue Guthu Tjart Negros Orlen Lel Sis Philippines i am 21, and t would like pen pals. My hobbles Are ballgames Reading writing and cooking. Mind bul alld t. Beach Cul Huangan Negros Oriental 57s Philippines please Prini my name in your column. I am 20 veers old and i like or Llano collecting Stamps and Ealing. Arlont v. Apello Mart to la Leberle Negros Oriental a Philippines i am 19 years old. End i would i be pen pals. Pkwy publish my in in your column. My hobbles arg Elluna Archery end swimming. Fienau Aquirre Sligo do. Vim Aat St. Gul Hutsean. Negros Oriental Iii Philippines european Edmon cart Dale k. Patterson us Edillor in chief co Jeffrey s. Zakem. Us Deputy editor in Chi cd Black Well m. Proctor do. Mcdermott production Maneker managing de. Okcu Htom Mac name thu twi paper k in Oulaw line unofficial Puttie i ton for member of the military we let Over at. Con Lent of the Sian end sir Lei Are not  the  View of or to sorted by the . 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