Money isn't the only motivator
Jacey Eckhart CincCHouse.com

I'm trying to forget how to read. I'd like my eyes to scan right by headlines that detail exactly how many millions we've lost in retirement income. I'd like to skip over that mailing telling me why we military folks shouldn't bail out of the Thrift Savings Plan. I'd like never to receive e-mails from the president of my insurance company assuring me that even in the midst of this turmoil, they remain strong and stand ready to serve my financial needs.

Thanks for thinking of me, insurance president dude. Hate to tell you, but the truth is that I'd just like to ignore the financial crisis and go right back to believing that everything is peachy dandy. I'd like to turn over and go back to sleep under a fluffy green blanket of money.

Because money is not my major motivator. I wish it were. I wish I were one of those women who make their own saltine crackers from scratch to save enough to pay off their mortgage 20 years early. I wish I were one of those women who drag their money into dark alleys and make it beg for mercy. Those women seem born to be genetically nosy about their money.

I am more like a kindly auntie to my money. I just sit around thinking good thoughts about it and hoping it will grow straight and strong all by itself. It isn't a very good financial strategy. Unfortunately, I have interviewed enough military members to know that I am not alone in my money avoidance. We military Families like spending money as much as anyone. We just aren't interested enough in saving it, investing it or making more of it.

Lack of interest is no excuse. Recent financial headlines are banging on our doors demanding that we pay attention to money.

So out of pity I am offering you my big military money secret. Ask yourself: If you aren't naturally motivated by the thrill of thriftiness or the agony of deep debt, what is your major motivator when it comes to money? It won't be the same as your neighbor's motivator. It probably won't even be the same motivator that your spouse finds compelling.

I've interviewed military Families who were money-motivated once they started spending cash only after seeing some expert on Oprah. I've met spouses who moved in together (with kids!) during a deployment to save cash. I've met spouses who are motivated by the fun of shopping. They can tell you exactly what groceries to buy on what days in which stores to cut the grocery bills in half. I even know a military wife who is specifically motivated by Nordstrom. She'd rather have one dress from Nordy's than a whole closetful from somewhere else. She has a very empty closet.

My own husband was suddenly money-motivated when our little girl started going to preschool. All of the sudden he started researching all the ways we could take his $167 raise and invest it for her college. Nothing like a pair of big brown eyes reading "Green Eggs and Ham" to make a guy feel frantic.

As for me, I've always been a big reader. About once a month I made myself get a book on CD about money and I'd listen to it in the car. I went through all the big money names like Dave Ramsey and Michelle Singletary and Suze Orman. Then I read "All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan," written by the mother-daughter team of Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi.

Since I am money-motivated by worrying about money as little as possible, I adopted their 50-30-20 rule. Now we spend 50 percent of our money on "needs" like housing, the car payment, groceries, gas and insurance. We spend 30 percent on "wants" like clothing, restaurants and my Starbucks fix. The last 20 percent is savings — which is why TSP and USAA want to be in contact with us.

We military Families don't have to be thrilled by or frightened of our money. We just need to admit that every dime we have, we earned the hard way. And we must be motivated enough to do something about it.