no but U could buy three MINIs haha

 

Buy two Mini's. One for a DD, and the other to play with. That way you won't break your DD and you won't have to hurry on some of the major Mods -- you can take it apart and do it right, and still have the DD to make parts and/or beer runs.

I recommend a JCW to play with and a Clubman "S" for the DD. You, of course, get to pick your own colors.

I figure that you will have two cars, and about $10 to $15K to spend on go-fast parts.

An enviable position to be in.

Now keep your friggin' head down and watch your step so that you come home with the same number of parts you left with.

God Speed young man, we really are proud of you.

 

Ok not trying to be a downer at all. Where are you stationed? You have to be getting BAH because E3 does not make that much without it. My first deployment I was not receiving BAH so I was only making with the hazardous duty/imminent danger pay and tax free at E4(2yrs in) around $2500 a month. So you will comeback with a pretty good amount of money but, don't expect a hung number. People are going to tell you what to do with it and it boils down to as a person what you are going to do. I saw many a person buy a nice car and either get it repossessed or wreck it. I was in my buddy's EVO 9 when he wrecked it. There is going to be all kinds of stuff that you are going to want to do. You are going to want to buy a new tv, computer, video game console to name a few plus you are definitely want to go home which plane tickets ain't cheap. By the time you do that and party because trust me you are going to want to you are not going to have a large amount of money well not as much as you thought you were going to have. What I did on my 2nd deployment was I went to the Bank and opened a money market account which is pretty much a high interest savings account and put all of your money in there while deployed so it will get you a little bit more. If you have all these intentions of modifying the crap out of a MINI go for it but buy used. It will be cheaper and you will have more money to modify with. Plus you don't want to void the warranty because of mods and then be mad when something breaks. I agree with a lot of people who say make the money work for you and put it somewhere you will get payback but, I also know that there might not always be a future in the military deploying to a combat situation. Plan and Plan for when you get back but please be aware that it might not be all rainbows and flowers when you get back and your plan might not work out to the exact way you want it.

 

In 10 years the MINI you buy will be worth next to nothing. However if you INVEST it you may even double your money. Have some fun with SOME of it but not all. Try these numbers: Remeber investments generally double every 7 years [yes, I know the econmomy sucks right now]. Assuming you will be 22 when you get back and you work until you are 65 or so and assuming you save half of it:
22: $35000
29: $70000
36: $140000
43: $280000
50: $560000
57: $1120000
64: $2240000

Tha'ts just from investing half and spending the other half. Trust me. I'm 46 and trying to play catch up with my retirement funds. It is a scary propostion to be 46 with 15,000 and a small pension set aside. Made me think twice about that '89 vette that I bought new. It [and the money] are long gone.

 

That's 2.24 Million dollars at retirement from doing nothing but investing in an Index Fund at the age of 22. Any other retirement money you can set aside is icing on the cake.

Please, please, please look really hard at that number... enjoy your mini and your retirement! :^)

 

This really is a depressing thread. As an E2, in 1968, I cleared $98.00 a month. Re-up bonus at E5, after three years and a combat tour was $2,000.00. Of course gas was only 35 cents a gallon and I still could have bought a Mini.

Jim

 

BTW Corpsmen in the Navy and most of the Navt no longer get reenlistment bonuses. You can tell him to invest till you are blue in the face it is up to him. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

 

Oh I'm not endorsing NOT spending SOME of the money on something that is fun but dod it wisely. Just going out and "Blowing it" is foolish. A hard lesson to impart to the young. As I said I have, and have had all the toys. Boats, bikes, cars, nice house but when you are 65 and trying to squeak by that is no fun. I am slowly getting myself on track but I wish I had been frugal in my early years.

Right now I wouls like to be a little more dull and lot more wealthy!

Back to the topic. To OP by a JCW with everything you want on it so that you are happy with it. Keep it for 10 years and use some of the gains from your investments to buy another toy.

 

I just had a similar conversation with my son. He will be deployed in December and has said the M word (motorcycle). I totally agree with saving most of the $$$ even though thats a) not what you asked, and b) totally boring. I will also go on record as saying that R56's don't seem to take kindly to being super modified. I have been researching for more than a year and nearly every modification is either very complicated or comes with some kind of adverse effect. My advice : put 5k down on an S with a few options and get yourself some more credit. Spend some dollars on an RMW tune, an exhaust of your liking, nice wheels, big brakes (because they look cool), and a set of coilovers. Put aside some $$$ for a few track days or even some professional driving lessons. After running my bikes on the track I came to realize how little difference my "modifications" made compared to the amount of talent I was lacking. Good luck and stay frosty.