European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 7, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday april 7, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 3 army allowances ease gis Dollar woes fro Pagal oct. I 1985, to keep Pace with the in creasing value of the Mark using an e-4 with three years service and Itrice family members As an exam Pleil worked out Here s not any differ ence Between june 85 and june 86 in the amount of a Marks hey gel for bad and Haj even though the Exchange rate was 1,04 and 2,20," Beck wort said. The same holds True today even though the Dollar has fallen to 1,80 Marks. Last month thai same e-4 living i Wuerzburg would receive $275.40 for bad and $252.60 for Oha Ai an Exchange rate of 1.bo Marks to the Dollar he would gel 950,40 Marks about 23 Marks More than he would have gotten in june 1985 Al an Exchange rate of3,04. In june 1985, the Soldier in Wuerz Burg would have received a bad and average rent plus payment of about $305 927 Mark Beckworth said rent plus was the predecessor of Oha. If thai e-4 rented an apartment that was priced at 900 Marks $296 in june1985, bad and rent plus would have covered rental costs. Paying that same 900-Mark rent today will Cost the Soldier about $500, about 649 a two tymm Trent film spec. 4 Kevin e. Reed and Bis wife Jerry Hare seen their Utility Bills jump from 300 to 1,300 Marks in the Lut three years. Haq and Oha allowance she receives. Bui service members still must be aware that paying for some essentials like utilities can empty their pocket quickly at the end of the year when the final statement Cornea in the mail part of the problem is a Lack of understanding of contract obligations said Michael Haze chief of Frankfurt s housing division if a Soldier pays 100 Marks a month for utilities then Al inc end of year unfortunately usually in no vember and december they get a Utility Bill for 2,000 Marks then they gel upset. Add to that other Bills like paying for a new car and App deferred  ment plan payments and you begin to see that they have overextended them selves and they cannot afford to live like they had  spec 4 Kevin a Reed a 24-year-Oldpersonnel management specialist from Chicago now living in Wuerzburg got one of those end of year shocks. I be been living on the Economy the last three years and i be been receiving a statement every year. 300 Marks torte fint year. It was about 600 Marks the second year. This year 1. Got one for1,300 Marks. Regardless Ofsha and everything that is coming out of your pocket Sut wit Lwi Bror Ujj Hoath my cwt it a Hun Wilid  budgets extra tight for non command sponsored b Brenda Hosier staff writer despite the fall of the Dollar a 3rdarmd div private tint class says he turned Down his company commander s offer of a command sponsored Tourand its accompanying financial Bene fits i did t want to spend 36 months in Germany said pfc. Lance Lochman so i just asked to bring Brenda Over on non command sponsored status so i could leave after my 18-month  however because of the army s new longer tour lengths Lochman now will spend 24 months in Germany Lochman who is assigned to co a 3rd support in Butzbach is among 4,440 non command sponsored sol Diers in Germany. They total 6 percent of the Force. His wife is one of 8,252 non command sponsored army family members or 3.4 percent of All family members. The air Force has 687 non command sponsored family members in Germany. Had Lochman accepted his commander s offer the army would have paid Brenda s Way to Germany and the couple would have qualified for household furniture support and shipment of their a Soldier s housing and Cost of living allowances can differ depending on whether he is command sponsored. This Chart shows the allowances paid to a private first class in the Rumburg area with two dependents and under two years of service non command sponsored non command with statement of sponsored non availability no statement command sponsored bad $253.20 $253.20 Oha $257.80 j 148.00 cola $ 81.00 $ 58,00 1253.20 none $ 58.00 household goods. Instead they paid for her Ravel and their apartment in Steinfurth was furnished by a generous landlord she said. Lochman said he knew the financial consequences of bringing his new Bride to Germany Long before he sent for her. It took me 2 a months to convince my commander we could handle in financially Lochman said. He made sure i understood All the hardships we might encounter if i brought Brenda Here in a non command sponsored  the 21-year-old medical lab technician said he sent his wife every extra Dollar from his paycheck. She saved in All and when i sent former we had Over $2,000 in our savings account he said. Without that savings they would have had a Tough time making ends meet especially when the Dollar took a plunge he said. One of the important things for us is that we had a healthy sayings account the Allentown pa., native said. Not Many Junior enlisted have that luxury. I Don t think we d be making it right no if we had a lot of debts and did t have extra Money to fall Back  also helping the Lochman Are the partial rates of quarters allowance and overseas housing allowance that he receives. Soldiers who arc command sponsored receive full payments of quarters allowance overseas housing allowance and a Cost of living allowance. Some who Are non command sponsored May receive full quarters allowance but Only partial Rales of overseas housing allow Ance and Cost of living allowance. See Chart Lochman also got a statement of non availability for government quarters so he collects More Oha than soldiers who Don t have the statement. Lochman said while he and Brenda Are managing their finances Many of his friends both command and non com Mand sponsored arc having a Lough Lime paying Bills with the Low Dollar to mar Exchange rate. Renting on the Economy i Lough even with Oha and cola he said. % you Don t have a budget it s even tougher. Thank god Brenda and i Don t have a lot of debts he said. We bought a cheap but reliable car so we Don t have payments or High insurance costs. It s top Lough to save Money and make in Here especially if you come Over in the  stranded couple saved by girl scout cookies Norton Kan a a couple stranded in their car for 11 Days survived on girl scout cookies diet soda blankets and prayer until a Farmer spoiled their car among the Root High snowdrifts. Nellie Obendorf 65, and her husband Orville 71, suffered Only minor frostbite to their feel from the ordeal. They were listed in satisfactory condition at Norton county Hospital on sunday the Day after Farmer Gale Schulze discovered them while Clearing Snow. There were several nights when we thought this could be it mrs. Obendorf said by Telephone from her Hospital bed. She said the couple survived with the help of iwo Bones of girl scout cookies Peanut Butler and mint eight cans of diet soda blankets conversation a copy of Good housekeeping and prayer mrs. Obendorf is diabetic but had insulin in the car. " along the last it got pretty scary mrs Oben Tomb Dorf said we thought of they re a. J never coming then a tractor came Over the Hill and i started to yell the Obendorfr had been touring the country Afier Selling their 40-acre Idaho farm and were in route to Iota to visit mrs. Of Bendorfs sister when they made a wrong turn off . 36 during a march23 blizzard. The car stalled As they tried to make it up a Hill Ona dirt Road and eventually in became stuck in a ditch. They ran the engine off and on to keep warm but they soon ran out of Gas. By Midnight the car s buttery was dead and the Power windows could nut be opened. Fly the third Day. The snowdrifts had receded so that Obendorf could open the car door and crawl out to the trunk to gel two Wool blankets. But then a second blizzard struck and the Cou ple feared their bitter cold car could become their meanwhile their son in Nevada had reported his parents missing and began to Call credit card Compa Nies in an Effort to race their whereabouts. But the couple had hardly used their credit cards during the trip. During the ordeal they Cpl track of he Days witha Small Calendar and prayed often. Even after 45 years of marriage inc Obendorf said they Learned new things about each other As they passed the Lime with conversation. When the soda ran out. They lore out inc car stereo and used Illo smash a Small Hull in the Windshield to grab melting Snow. The while lop of their car made it invisible to Kansas National guard aircraft shut circled Over head dropping Hay to stranded Eagle in the area. Finally the Farmer found their car while Clearing the Road for the mailman. They were Down to their last cookie